Design of Automated Customer Service System

TABLE OF CONTENT

Chapter one

Introduction

Preamble

Background of the research

1.2   motivation

1.3   purpose of the study

methodology

1.5   scope of the study

Expected contribution to knowledge

Chapter two

Literature review

2.0   preamble

2.1     review of related literature

2.1.1   automated customer service

2.1.2   customer relation management

2.1.3   benefits of customer relation management

2.1.4    challenges faced by customer relation management

2.1.6   security concerns

2.2    history of short message service (sms)

2.2.1   text messaging outside gsm

2.2.2   short message service today

2.2.3   global system mobile (gsm)

2.2.4    implementation of sms in customer service system

2.2.5   gsm modem

2.2.6   message server

Chapter three

Methodology and design

3.0   preamble

3.1   research methodology

3. 2 data description

3.3 input specification

3.4   output specification

3.5   system flowchart

3.5.1  usecase diagram

3.5.2  class diagram

3.5.3  activity diagram

3.6   software and hardware requirement

• Software Requirement
• Hardware Requirement

3.7 choice of programming language

chapter four

system development and implementation

4.0 preamble

4.1 system testing and evaluation

4.2  system implementation

4.3   system monitoring and maintenance

4.4   documentation of the new system

4.4.1  system sample output

chapter five

summary, conclusion and recommendation

5.0  preamble

5.1  summary

5.2  conclusion

5.3  recommendation

reference

appendix: program codes

CHAPTER

INTRODUCTION

1.0 PREAMBLE

This system is designed to provide effective interaction between service providers and their customers. This may include questions about their services or even complaints the customers may have. The system will focus on receiving the complaints from the customers and distributing complaints to the customer care representatives solving customer’s problems according to some stipulations. The project can be used by a telecommunication company to provide online assistance to its customers.

This chapter focuses on analyzing the problem statement which is to outline the problem affecting the system. The scope of the project is also discussed in this chapter, where we shall see the solutions to the problems in the problem statement. The aim i.e what the researchers want to achieve is also discussed, as well as the importance of designing the system

1.1BACKGROUND OF THE RESEARCH

“Customers satisfaction is the primary priority of any responsible business”. Customer support is a range of customer services to assist customers in making cost effective and correct use of a product. It includes assistance in planning, installation, troubleshooting, maintenance, upgrading, and disposal of a product. Regarding technology, products such as mobile phones, televisions, computers, software products or other electronic or mechanical goods, it is termed customer support.

Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. According to Turban et al. (2002), “Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation.” A customer service advisor, or CSA, (also customer service associate and customer service representative) is a generic job title in the service industry. It covers a variety of customer facing occupations, primarily in call centers and stores.

From the point of view of an overall sales process engineering effort, customer service plays an important role in an organization’s ability to generate income and revenue. From that perspective, customer service should be included as part of an overall approach to systematic improvement. A customer service experience can change the entire perception what a customer knows of the organization.

Some companies have argued that the quality and level of customer service has decrease in recent years, and that this can be attributed to a lack of support or understanding at the executive and middle management levels of a corporation and/or a customer service policy. To address this argument, organizations such as MTN have employed a variety of methods to improve their customer satisfaction levels, and other Key Performance Indicator (KPI). Performance Indicator or KPI is an industry jargon term for a type of Measure of Performance.

KPIs are commonly used by an organization to evaluate its success of a particular activity in which it is engaged. Sometimes success is defined in terms of making progress toward strategic goals, but often, success is simply the repeated achievement of some level of operational goal (zero defects, 10/10 customer satisfaction etc.).

MTN, for instance, measure the performance of her customers based on the use of their services (i.e Platinum Gold; customers who use more than 100,000, Silver; customer who use between 50,000 and 100,000, Bronze; customer who use between 20,000 and 50,000 and Standard; customers who use below 10,000). This grading will help determine the level a customer will be placed and shows how the company is improving in terms of selling their services to these users.

Accordingly, choosing the right KPI is reliant upon having good understanding of what is important to the organization. ‘What is important’ often depends on the department measuring the performance – the KPIs useful to a Finance Team will be quiet different to the KPIs assigned to the sales force, for example.

Because of the need to develop a good understanding of what is important, performance indicator selection is often closely associated with the use of various techniques to assess the present state of the business, and its key activities. These assessments often lead to the identification of potential improvements; and as a consequence, performance indicators are routinely associated with ‘performance improvement’ initiatives.

1.2   MOTIVATION

“Without customers, there is no business”. Good customer service is the lifeblood of any business. Promotions can be offered, and prices can be slashed to bring in as many new customers, but unless there is the possibility of those customers to come back, the business will not be profitable for long. Good customer service is all about bringing customers back, and about departing with them happily enough for them to pass positive feedback about our business along to others, who may then try the product or service we offer and then become repeat customers. If there is a good salesperson in a business, theycan sell anything to anyone.

But it will be their approach to customer service that determines whether or not they will ever be able to sell that person anything else again. The essence of good customer service is forming a relationship with customers – a relationship that individual customer feels like he/she would want to pursue. This, however, forms the basis of this research.

1.3   PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The major purpose of this project is to improve customer service by creating an effective way or means through which Customers may relay their complaints to a Customer Care Representative, and then solve the problem by efficiently deploying web resources.

1.4   METHODOLOGY

The following methodologies were used in carrying out this project:

A review of Customer Service System will be performed through literature review and inquiry from  MTN Service provider, Kaduna, Nigeria.

A database is designed for proper storage of user complaints categories as well as associated response.

iii. To allow delivery of response using SMS, an SMS technology will be incorporated into  the customer service system using an SMS server that will be used to achieve the connection between the Customer Service System and the Mobile phones.

HTML will be used as Database Platform to implement the designed database.

JAVA will be used as a server side scripting language to implements the functionalities of the system.

1.5   SCOPE OF THE STUDY

The scope of the system essentially reviews the functional and non-functional requirements of the system which will help in attacking the problems which are stated in the problem statement. The main purpose for developing this system is to design an online integrated Customer Service System that can be used by a telecommunication company to provide online support to its customers.

1.6   EXPECTED CONTRIBUTION TO KNOWLEDGE

Identifying major problems faced by customers.

proved interaction among customers to share common problems.

iii.  Short time response to customer complaints.

1. Efficient customer Relation Service.
2. Reduced queue in Walk-in center.

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