Aside from doctors, I don't think I've seen *any* online services offer a video call.
Amazon experimented with it on their Fire phone. But are there any modern examples?
Video Calls For Customer Service
video · 900 words
I started working for Vodafone in the early 2000s, just about the time they paid billions for their 3G licences. As "exciting" new phones were launched, teams were desperately trying to recoup that spending.
It led to an explosion of profitable ideas - Ringtones! Games! Premium SMS! Adult video clips! - but I want to talk about something which didn't make quite the same impact. Video calling.
You've got to remember that video calling wasn't even in its infancy - it basically didn't exist for customers. Skype didn't have video calls on the desktop until a few years later. The idea of video calls on the go was basically science-fiction brought to life. How do you create a market for that?
The project we were working on was to incentivise customers to make video calls. That's hard to do when you're the only one of your social circle with a Video Phone. So here was the plan - within 24 hours of buying and activating their new phone, each customer should receive a video call from customer service. The call was, ostensibly, to ask them how they were enjoying their new phone. But, really, it was to show them the awesome coolness of being able to make and receive video calls.
The project never launched. There were technical blockers - without decent 3G coverage, people's first call would be a horrible experience and probably put them off. There were cost blockers - video calls were significantly more expensive than voice calls. But there were two powerful social elements.
The first was that executives couldn't find enough attractive call centre workers. No joke! They didn't outright say that they wanted to institute a "no mingers" policy - but it was very obvious that their idea of "making a good impression" involved a certain amount of conventional attractiveness.
The second was that call centre workers didn't want to expose their faces to callers! Anyone who has worked in a call centre knows that members of the public can be abusive arseholes. Staff were incredibly nervous about being seen. It was a fundamental change in the relationship between the customer and the agent. Being face-to-face is an important part of customer experience, but this was such a huge shake-up that it led to serious resistance.
Two decades later, and things have changed!
Between Skype, WhatsApp, Zoom, and Meet - it looks like the world has got the video call bug. And we're not paying per minute for the privilege!
Big High-Street retailers - knowing that their only relevance is physically examining the product before buying, and knowledgeable sales staff - are jumping on the video call as a way to engage with their customer base.
It isn't just retail. Doctors and other medical practitioners now regularly use video calls with patients. I asked my friends where they'd seen two-way video calling in the wild. Some of the answers were surprising to me.
Replying to @edent@edent United Airlines just announced video customer support for rebooking/fiddling with your flights instead of phone calls: travelandleisure.com/airlines-airpo… Not used it yet though (and not sure I’d want to).
travelandleisure.com
United Airlines
The largest airline in the world by destinations served, United operates flights to 235 domestic and 138 international cities in 60 countries around the world. It flies out of hubs in Chicago,...
I find it continually surprising that it takes society a while to become comfortable with new technology. Any of the above services could have launched 10-15 years ago. The technology was there - but society, and the market - needed a nudge to make it happen.
