As much as consumers crave convenience, a new report finds they still prefer human interaction when it comes to customer support. In its annual Global Consumer Customer Service Report, Computer Generated Solutions (CGS) examined consumers’ preferences for service interactions, specifically chatbot usage. According to the study:
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• Only about half of all respondents said that they would turn to a chatbot for a quick customer service need. Another 25 percent say they would reach out to a company via email or social media.
• Beyond simple customer support, many consumers still prefer human agents to chatbots. Nearly 50 percent of U.K. respondents and around 40 percent of U.S. respondents said they'd prefer a person.
• CGS recommends using artificial intelligence-powered (AI) solutions to manage quick service requests and using human agents to take a more strategic role in the contact center, focusing on detailed, complex customer inquiries.

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Verizon has implemented changes in speed restrictions for emergency workers in wake of California’s largest wildfire on record. The telecommunications company had slowed firefighters’ internet service while they battled the blaze in August, crippling an emergency communications truck’s data speeds and forcing firefighters to use other agencies’ internet connections and their personal cellphones.

Under its internet plan, Santa Clara County had used up its monthly data capacity, which allowed Verizon to significantly slow service. Although the high-speed wireless data plan provides an unlimited amount of data at a set monthly cost, speeds can be reduced if the consumer exceeds certain levels of use during that billing cycle.
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Verizon restored full speeds only after the department subscribed to a more expensive plan, a move the company has since called an “operational error,” as they should have lifted the data cap as soon as firefighters called. 

Are you concerned that Verizon is slowing your service? Connect with a broker to learn more about which plans are right for you.

Small business owners’ optimism touched a 35-year high last month, with businesses setting records in terms of job creation and hiring, while also being able to increase prices.

​In July, the NFIB’s Small Business Optimism Index marked its second highest level in the survey’s 45-year history, at 107.9 – just shy of the July 1983 record-high of 108.
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• 23 percent of businesses are planning to create new jobs, while 37 percent of business owners said they had job openings that they could not fill in July.
• 35 percent of owners expect better business conditions, while they said the availability of qualified workers was their No. 1 problem.
• 59 percent of firms were hiring or trying to hire, while 52 percent (88 percent of those hiring or trying to hire) reported few or no qualified applicants for the positions they were trying to fill.
• Twenty-three percent of owners said their biggest business problem was finding qualified workers.

Are you starting a business? Find out if you're using the right telecommunications systems by connecting with a broker. 

Rather than a set of rules that can be changed regularly by the FCC, Congress may soon vote on a new bill that would set net neutrality down as a matter of law. Rep. Mike Coffman (R-CO) recently introduces the “21st Century Internet Act,” which would ban blocking, throttling and paid prioritization, while eliminating all questions of jurisdiction.

The bill would modify the Communications Act of 1934 (greatly built upon by the 1996 Telecommunications Act) and add new stipulations specific to internet providers. Rather than debating whether the FCC has authority to write the rules or not, and then quibbling over the rules themselves, the act codifies the rules as law and sets the FCC as the official watchdog.

"The fight to keep the internet open belongs in Congress, not at the Federal Communications Commission," he said in a statement. "The American people deserve to know that their elected officials, not unelected bureaucrats, are fighting for their interest. That fight begins with my bill, which will create an ‘internet constitution’ with the foundational elements of net neutrality."

IN short, the bill would put to rest the question of whether the FCC wants to have net neutrality rules or not — net neutrality would be the law and it would be the Commission’s job to enforce it.

Some are praising the bill, including Vimeo and the National Association of Realtors. Critics believe broadband providers will oppose the bill saying they've pledged to follow the rules voluntarily. 

​We will continue to monitor the bill. Subscribe to our newsletters to learn more.

FierceTelecom recently released its picks for the companies having the biggest impact in the telecommunications space in 2018. According to the report, “On-demand services, whether they're in the form of video clips or business applications, have created an insatiable demand for bandwidth that keep IT and network engineers continuously looking for new technologies and techniques.” 

The companies that made this year's list include:
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• Affirmed Networks 
• Apstra 
• Aryaka Networks
• Big Switch Networks
• Cumulus Networks 
• Silver Peak 
• VMware 
• Versa Networks  

Not sure which telecommunications service is right for you? Connect with a broker.