New Research Shows Automation Driving Growth in U.S. Tech Support Market

Parks Associates tech support research shows new automation strategies are starting to resonate with consumers, as 38% of U.S. consumers who have experienced PC problems would prefer to fix future problems themselves, with the use of self-help tools. Improved user interfaces have also made setup of new tablets, smartphones, and smart TVs more intuitive, and currently 51% of consumers prefer to set up new devices independently.

In the new report Automating Consumer Tech Support, analysts note that as self-help and cloud-based automation tools improve, they will dramatically improve productivity and scalability in support services. Currently tech support providers estimate one-in-five service calls can be solved by consumers and as many as 50% of calls on mobile devices can be solved through self-help channels.

“Given the competitive landscape of the digital home, high-quality customer service is critical, especially for service providers. Consumers are more than twice as likely to leave a mobile or broadband provider if dissatisfied with the customer service," said Patrice Samuels, Research Analyst, Parks Associates. "Automating technical support increases the efficiency of the process, allowing providers to address more consumer concerns while reducing errors and the overall cost of support."

The Future of Support: Intelligence Managing Technology, a whitepaper from Parks Associates, developed in partnership with EchoStar, analyzes the risk to service providers that do not address subscribers' needs. It also presents the opportunities for being first-to-market with an intelligent, comprehensive support solution, where the total U.S. tech support market will grow to $8.25 billion by 2017. This whitepaper can be downloaded at http://www.parksassociates.com/future-of-support.

“Support providers boast improvements in efficiency and customer satisfaction metrics, including 29% improvement in the Average Handle Time (AHT) and 50% improvement in renewal rates of premium technical support services,” Samuels said. “Our new report shows automating consumer technical support services can further reduce costs throughout the support process, including service initiation, diagnosis, resolution, CRM, and marketing and sales.”

For more information, contact [email protected], 972-490-1113 or go to www.parksassociates.com.

About Parks Associates: Parks Associates, a woman-founded and certified business, is an internationally recognized market research and consulting company specializing in emerging consumer technology products and services. Founded in 1986, Parks Associates provides business intelligence and research services through its proprietary methodologies developed over decades, including quarterly surveys of 10,000 internet households.

The company's expertise crosses many industries: home security and smart home, streaming video, broadband and pay-TV services, digital media and platforms, gaming, Wi-Fi and home networks, connected health, support, consumer electronics, home control systems, energy management, and tech solutions for the multi-dwelling (MDU), small-to-medium business (SMB), and commercial building markets.

Each year, Parks Associates brings thousands of leaders together for its webinars and annual events. The firm hosts the annual executive research and strategy conferences CONNECTIONS™, Connected Health Summit, Smart Energy Summit, Smart Spaces, and Future of Video. https://www.parksassociates.com
 

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