Software wizards will migrate to handsets

WDS GLOBAL argues that handsets should be loaded with 'wizards' - the same sort of help files which consumers are already accustomed to from PC usage.

Doug Overton, WDS's head of marketing, reckons that the latest smartphones with their support for removable memory cards and graphics capabilities such as Flashlite are more than capable of running such applications.

Handset debugging is normally associated with configuration problems. For example, a study of WDS' own customer service logs found that 40 per cent of calls related to configuration problems with WAP, GPRS, MMS and email. After that came problems related to connectivity between the handset and a PC - with 32 per cent.

Significantly eight per cent of service calls to WDS related to the general usability of the device. The old approach of telling consumers to RTFM (read the manual) doesn't always apply.

Many existing cellular subscribers are putting their own SIM cards into second-hand handsets - purchased via ebay, for example. Or they are passed the handset by a colleague at work and attempt to use it with their own SIM card.

Such handsets can make voice calls and receive texts but MMS, WAP and GPRS settings often need re-configuration. The answer, Overton says, is to put the equivalent of 'handset usage for dummies' onto a memory card.

These could then be supplied by independent resellers to customers who have little incentive to approach their network operator directly. µ

L'INQ
WDS Global