As an Airtel employee, I had always thought that there was
better scope for a great online interface. In the era of ecommerce, the website
was a disgrace to the otherwise superb technology interface of Airtel, let
alone an app interface. Last month, when Flipkart and Myntra closed their
mobile website and shifted to app only versions, I wondered whether Airtel had
missed the ‘app’ bus. But thankfully, there have been some great developments
recently namely
1)
My Airtel App-for customers
2)
Improved and elegantly designed Airtel site for
all
3)
Airtel Genie and Airtel IT app-for employees
I updated the App from Google Play, and then registered my
number with an OTP. To my surprise, I noticed an awesome interface with the
latest unpaid bill as a reminder on top! That too saved as ‘Anandh Gurgaon Bill’
with awesome options to get coupons. Though not on the same scale as
Paytm/Freecharge, it is still trying to drive recharges through own platforms,
as also give a better customer experience.
The three features I most like are
1)
Proactive bill reminders on top of the app with
the cute ‘ringing bell’ symbol albeit silent one!
2)
Option to apply for a new service and
(presumably) get a call back-this is much better than having to call 121 or
Google for online form submission.
3)
Options to get coupons through recharge without
any service charge/handling charge like done for Freecharge.
Some points of improvement could be
1)
Adding new numbers(prepaid/postpaid/DTH/Fixed
line) could be more intuitive.
2)
Updating registered phone number of other
services through the app
3)
There should not be any need to enter the
details all over again while re-updating the app. In my case, this seems to
have happened.
In this electronic age where customers get freebies from utility
and retail companies to transact online, it is not the case with telecom
companies which still depend on retailer driven recharges, and channel partner
driven acquisitions. Of course, a lot of this is due to the prepaid nature of
business and rural/financial inclusion, where telecom companies need to be
accessible to all and sundry and this is only possible through multi retailer
outlets like retailers. But there is still room for improvement like focusing on
own base, employee/customer driven referrals and own channel fulfillment
through own retail, ARC etc. This would
albeit lead to channel conflict but there are precedents for this. For example,
the financial services sector was heavily dependent on channel partners to source
credit cards and loans, but with the wide proliferation of bank branches and
ATMs, banks now encourage customers to apply online or at ATMs, to get
reduced/waived processing fees. Suppose this works for telecom postpaid/broadband
acquisitions, then the impact could be immense.
Of course, the journey of a thousand miles starts with the
first step. Customers need to be comfortable interacting directly with the
company and that too online. For this, things like Airtel My App is a great start.
Do visit http://www.airtel.in/myairtel
to download the app and see more.
