Survey results revealed that a significant percentage of adults experience service issues on a regular basis when using their smartphone to conduct a myriad of activities, including Internet searches, downloading data and searching for or watching videos. More alarming, nearly half of those who experience problems directly blame their mobile service providers for these issues.
“The proliferation of mobile devices has created unparalleled use of new services and applications on smart devices, frequently causing a strain on service provider networks,” said Hockman. “When consumers feel this strain, the initial reaction is dissatisfaction, which quickly turns into blame towards someone or something else for the problems. Mobile providers often do not realize that consumers are judging them based not only on broader mobile application offerings, but more so on whether the application works as advertised, every time. Without consistent, high-quality connectivity, carriers make themselves susceptible to disenchanted customers and lost business.”
The survey was conducted online in February 2011 among 2,180 smartphone users who reported having experienced any problems doing any multimedia activity on their smartphones. In the U.S., 20 percent of smartphone users reported experiencing issues Often or Always when completing Internet searches on their smartphones. Germany shared this same percentage, while it rose to 30 percent in the UK.
Additional key findings include: Activities most frequently conducted on smartphones—Respondents use their smartphones most frequently to text, conduct Internet searches, download data and play games; Percentage of respondents who experienced issues—Eighty six percent of smartphone users in the U.S. reported experiencing problems while using multimedia applications on their mobile phone. In the UK, 86 percent also reported experiencing issues, and in Germany, 77 percent reported experiencing issues; More than 75 percent of U.S. smartphone users who perform Internet searches, download data, use other applications, search for or watch videos, and make updates via social networking sites reported having issues;More than 60 percent of UK smartphone users overall reported having issues with Internet searches, texting and using other applications; More than 50 percent of German smartphone users overall reported having issues with Internet searches, using other applications and texting.
“To ensure the highest quality experience for customers, it is imperative for service providers to identify problems and find solutions before they reach the end-user,” said Hockman. “Customers no longer tolerate just ‘ok’ service; whether it’s the ability to quickly download a video or update their Facebook status, users expect the network to work well all the time. From pre-deployment testing to ongoing networking monitoring, end-to-end quality assurance is critical to enabling providers to get their network right and keep it right.”
To meet demand for testing and monitoring on today’s complex, converged communications networks, Empirix also announced today the introduction of its Unified Communications (UC) Assurance Platform. The industry’s first comprehensive UC testing and monitoring solution, UC Assurance is designed to help service providers and enterprises validate that their communications applications—including voice, video, social media, presence, contact and data—work properly and ensure that consumers and business users have a high-quality experience.