Personal mentors for customers bamboozled by mobile phones
Telstra today announced a one-on-one personal mentor service for its customers in Melbourne, that will see experts come to the customer at their convenience, to help them understand and use their mobiles. Telstra Business Executive Director, Ms Cathy Aston, said the service would be particularly popular with timepoor, business people.
"Customers will have their devices tailored to their individual needs and be shown how to be more efficient so they can operate their business better while on the move," Ms Aston said. "Business is increasingly turning to mobile technologies for email, internet browsing, video conferencing and business applications.
"Small and medium enterprises (SME) will benefit greatly from this service, particularly high use customers accessing mobile and PDA features to do more than ever before."
Did you know?
- 75 per cent of Australians in the workforce use their mobile phones for work.
- 61 per cent do not access internet services via their mobile phone.
- Men make more calls for business purposes, women use mobiles for social connectivity.
- 33 per cent of Australians say it would be difficult to do their job properly without their mobile.
- Over 50 per cent of Australians believe the mobile helps their work-life balance. More than half of mobile-owning workers who have high levels of satisfaction with their family interactions regard the mobile as having increased their ability to find work/life balance.
- Mobile phone use varies with age but it is so universally diffused that use is unaffected by income levels and occupation. Only 12 per cent of 14 to 17 year olds do not have a mobile. The lowest number of owners (74 per cent) is found among those aged over 60 years.
- There is a very high awareness of 3G (86 per cent of males and 73 per cent of females). But 66 per cent of respondents indicate that they do not access any internet services via their mobile phone. Those who use more of the functions of the newer handset and the 3G network, use it for email, information services, banking and music.
One such customer who has already benefitted from the service is Ms Dene Brentnall, Owner Director of 'iknowho' - a marketing recruitment business in Sydney.
"Our business is about connecting people so it's vital for my colleagues and I to be contactable while on the go! From just one session with the Mobile Mentor our business is now using mobile data technology daily most importantly email, calendars and we are also using whereis (on my phone!) to locate our customers or meeting places!"
"The session was informative, collaborative and insightful. I would highly recommend the service to those looking to find ways to enhance the productivity of staff via technology solutions," Ms Brentnall said.
Following on the heels of last month launch in Sydney, Telstra's exclusive partnership with Mobile Mentor in delivering the Australian first service to qualifying customers is now expanding to Melbourne. There are also plans to roll the service out to other cities in the months ahead.
Telstra Consumer and Channels Executive Director, Mr Martin Mercer, said many customers need help to use the full range of features available on the latest handsets.
"People now have access to more things on their Next G mobiles than they ever have before like email, internet browsing and video calls," Mr Mercer said.
"The Telstra Mentor service will send an expert advisor to customers who will listen to what customers need and provide one-on-one assistance so customers can better access and use these features easily and efficiently," Mr Mercer said.
Telstra customers can also access "[my]place" experts in T[life] stores who are ready to give free personalised one-on-one consultation on Telstra mobile, internet, fixed or Pay TV services. Melbourne customers can also visit the new T[life] store in Melbourne, or go to www.telstra.com.au/tlife/ to book a session.