Porter’s Place A Marketing Strategy Blog by Dana Porter, Head of Amdocs Global Marketing

I have always loved celebrating birthdays. Should I be embarrassed to admit that I was notorious among my friends for leaving them little notes stating exactly how many days were left until my b-day? Maybe this is why I am especially excited about Amdocs’ 30th birthday celebration. In today’s ever-changing world, turning 30 is a [...]

I originally intended to write this blog post about positive trends in 2012 much closer to January 1, but I was busy planning a big celebration.  I’m of course referring to Amdocs’ upcoming 30th anniversary year (what did you think I meant?). Keep an eye on this space for more details …
And speaking of the [...]

The dual demands of maintaining a network, and also providing a superior customer experience, have service providers feeling stretched thin. In fact, some of them are fighting against this feeling of being pulled in two directions by considering getting rid of their networks. They believe that they can drive a new customer experience by intensely focusing on it, rather than worrying about their networks.

I am STILL renovating my house, but I am glad to report that it’s about 80 percent complete. As part of the process, I had to call my service provider to reinstate my triple-play offering. The whole process, which was divided into two distinct parts, once again demonstrated the meaning of the phrase “end-to-end customer [...]

I am renovating my house. Last week, a maintenance man came with his tractor to pave part of my family’s garden. I know in our industry we often use the phrase “cut the cord” as a figure of speech, but the tractor literally cut the cord – the cable cord that ran through my garden.  [...]

Microsoft is in the process of acquiring Skype – which has partnered with Facebook. Do these new developments signal that the sky is falling for service providers?
The quick answer is “no.” First of all, some analysts are even predicting that partnering with Facebook may hurt Skype, turning it into a type of dumb pipe. Regardless [...]

After Verizon Communications Inc. announced that it was stopping unlimited plans for the iPhone, a batch of stories and blog entries appeared telling us that unlimited is dead. After all, Chief Financial Officer Fran Shammo was quoted as saying that unlimited data plans, such as the $30 per month plan that Verizon had offered to [...]

T-Mobile USA offers its customers a monthly, prepaid plan with unlimited texting (voice calls are 10¢ a minute). That plan doesn’t appeal to you? Then you probably aren’t a teenager.

In an effort to ease the data crunch, some providers are launching priority mobile broadband services. For instance, Singapore SingTel announced a new “Priority Pass” service that gives priority to customers on its existing 7.2 Mbps and 21 Mbps mobile broadband plans when the network is taxed. Executive VP Yuen Kuan Moon said the service [...]

Service providers are working hard to minimize and prevent calls to their call centers, for obvious reasons. But they shouldn’t be minimizing the promotion of their support services. Customers want to know they have access to a variety of reliable and integrated support channels, including Web self-service, social media, online forums, and yes, call centers, too. The customer experience continues to drive brand loyalty and in today’s connected world, full-fledged 24/7 support certainly beats having “no one” to talk to.