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PC Makers' Call Centers Gear Up to Meet Customers' Needs

Posted on: Monday, 12 June 2006, 12:00 CDT

By Tomoko Arima, Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Jun. 12--TOKYO -- Personal computer makers' call centers are buzzing these days with sharp increases in calls from users who are having trouble using their PCs.

The queries are increasing because many customers find PCs equipped with many functions difficult to use.

In the past few years, the call centers have noticed a change in the type of questions. In the past, there used to be many calls from computer geeks who wanted technical information, but these days "About 70 percent of consultations now are about how to use PCs," said an official at NEC Corp.

Callers often get angry, saying a PC is broken. But in many cases it was just not turned on.

But even if some of the calls are unreasonable, "It is our iron rule not to hang up the phone," said the NEC official. "There was a customer who continued to talk over the phone for 24 hours." PCs increasingly are designed with many features, including TV and DVD capabilities, digital broadcasting antennas and mobile music players.

"Since PCs have become like electric household appliances, people who think that all functions can be used if they are switched on are increasing," said an official at Fujitsu Ltd.

When TV broadcasting cannot be received, it is hard to know what is causing the trouble -- the PC or the antenna, which requires knowledge about other companies' products.

NEC's call center in Osaka is filled with the sound of the strong Kansai accent. Usually, calls are directed to call centers across the country, but at this center, only calls from the Kansai region are accepted.

"If a customer in Osaka talks to our staff in Okinawa Prefecture, the customer gets irritated over the staff's slow manner speaking," the NEC official said. Each company is racking its brain to differentiate itself from rivals.

Dell Computer Corp. recently established a support center with 300 staff members in Miyagi Prefecture, northern Japan, last year.

Fujitsu has doubled phone lines at its call centers in the last two years and increased their staff by 40 percent to 700.

More than 70 percent of households now have computers. In the future, demand will be for replacements. If they receive good service, the will choose the same PC maker the next time around.

After strengthening the support network in 2001, the rate of those wishing to purchase NEC's products again, which use to be in the single digits, is said to have soared to more than 50 percent.

Since responses to customers determine the share, "Support is the most important task," said a Dell official.

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Copyright (c) 2006, Kyodo News International, Tokyo

Distributed by Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News.

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Source: Kyodo News International, Tokyo

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