Improving NetCom’s Customer Service with Topic Maps

NetCom, Norway’s second largest mobile operator, is owned by TeliaSonera, the leading telecommunications company in the Nordic and Baltic region.

Until recently, Customer Service Representatives at NetCom had to consult a number of different and not very user-friendly systems in order to find the information they needed when assisting a customer. The primary goal of FASIT ("answer, solution, key”) was to enable these reps to provide a better service.

A customer service rep typically needs information about obsolete, current or forthcoming mobile phone subscription types. She wants to know what kind of services the subscription can or cannot include. In addition, she needs easy access to relevant routines – for example, how to proceed when the customer wishes to upgrade his subscription type. Related FAQ’s, sale conditions, sales and marketing material, current marketing campaigns and current operative information are also highly frequently required.

The new NetCom Product Guide uses Topic Maps to tie together all this disparate but highly interrelated information, providing the user with multiple navigation paths to access information and collecting closely related information in a single page view.

The main user group for this application, built using the TM Core Sharepoint Module and the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, is the Customer Service department. However, the information is relevant for everyone in NetCom (and TeliaSonera in general) who needs to get an overview of what NetCom is offering. The solution is thus evolving into a generalized knowledge management tool for the whole organization. This presentation discusses the experience of using Topic Maps to power this system and the benefits that have accrued.