Recently my DSL connection went down and I  instinctively checked my landline and that was down too.I immediately called Airtel (my service provider) and they informed me that since maintenance work was carried out by the ‘Corporation’ (who were replacing drainage pipes) ,we would have to wait for 24 hours for the connection to be restored.This prompted me to think about a few service improvement suggestions which I have outlined below:–

1.If the service provider is aware of changes that happen in a particular locality they should pro-actively anticipate a spike in call volume when any kind of maintenance is done and inform the customers through an automated voice when they call in:–

Here is how the flow should be :– Connection is down–>Customer call service centre–>customer is asked to enter pin code –>based on pincode entered, if there are any updates,,automated voice informs customers about a)maintenance issues (if any) for that particular area and b)expected time of resolution and customer hangs up if information given is satisfactory.

This move could reduce call volume by half and save a lot of time answering same questions.

2.When DSL connection is down for a certain period,the service provider should offer to activate 3G services in a 3G registered phone or increase the 3G memory limit on phone, if already activated, till the DSL connection is restored.A fee can be charged for this “switch feature” to be in place in case of emergencies.This is the basic idea,different permutations of this idea can be worked out according to the bandwidth available.

3.I don’t know why this is such a big deal–so many times my DSL connection was messed with because someone dug up the road to lay new roads,pipes etc and did not notice that the internet cables were underneath–should’nt there be some kind of sign painted on the wall to indicate that there are Internet cables underneath at 2 feet…??

Making these changes can reduce a lot of hassle and improve customer relations in a huge way.