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Targeted service hits the mark

Belgacom takes the guesswork out of customer interaction.

by Nicole Sikora Heschong

Wim Casteur, business intelligence manager for fixed-line services at Belgacom.

As one of Belgium's important market players in fixed-line, mobile, broadband and Internet services, Belgacom is out to prove that its home country has more than world-famous chocolate, beer and the headquarters of the European Union and NATO—it also has some of the world's best communications experiences.

To better serve its customers and to maintain customer loyalty, Wim Casteur, business intelligence manager for fixed-line services, oversaw the integration of a Teradata Warehouse in 1997. The data warehouse has always allowed the company to transform raw data into knowledge, but more recently Casteur has been driving a campaign to consistently capture all customer contact data. Beyond billing and call detail records (CDRs), the company is collecting call center information, visits to walk-in customer service "teleshops," repair records, marketing communications and other event-based information.

Using this data, Belgacom can make more informed business decisions on campaign management, customer tariff plans, call center and e-channel development, and customer value management programs. Further, by leaving fewer details of customer contact to chance, the company can ensure that customer communications are more meaningful and effective.

Case in point: In 2006, target interactive voice response (IVR) menus will be added for customer callers reaching a Belgacom call center. For example, if you've just been sent a bill, your profile in the data warehouse will trigger an IVR menu that's most likely to be specific to your needs—and it will be a different menu than if you've just installed an Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL), which allows users to access the Web over their existing telephone line while the line still remains free for use. Likewise, Belgacom may avoid an IVR for elderly people and patch them directly to an operator for better communication.

Casteur says the technology is creating better business processes. "We are starting to use customer events to drive operational processes," he says. "Every time a customer appears to be unhappy about our service, we can check—'What are the events that happened just before?' This is helping us find processes that are not properly working. It also enables us to measure afterwards to see if the problem is effectively solved."

Belgacom will continue to emphasize to employees the need to capture both strategic and tactical customer data, Casteur says, as these are the keys to success. "It is not about buying a tool," he notes. "It's really about company culture, about having good processes and having the whole company working toward that goal." T

© Teradata Magazine-March 2006

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