An Evaluation of Customer Care Service of Banglalink

Executive Summary:

Telecommunication is a fast growing industry in Bangladesh. Mobile phones are now an essential part of our day to day life. Sheba Telecom (Pvt.) Ltd. launched operation in the last quarter of 1997 as a Bangladesh-Malaysia joint venture. In September, 2004, Orascom Telecom Holdings purchased 100% of the shares of Sheba Telecom (Pvt.) Limited (“Sheba”) & renamed it as Banglalink.

 Customer Service as a concept is very much important in today’s competitive business world. Through Customer service companies are trying to ensure better customer satisfaction and customer retention for the long term purpose. Banglalink also has several customer service mechanism established.

 The study on “An Evaluation of Customer Care Service of Banglalink” reflects various customer service options of Banglalink that the subscriber can avail and also represents a comparative analysis based on a questionnaire based survey.

The total study is divided into six chapters. In chapter one the basic introduction like origin of the study, objectives, methodology etc. have been described. In chapter two the company overview has been given. In chapter three literatures review about the concept ‘Customer Service’ has been described in a compact way to have a good idea on. In chapter four the customer service arrangements or options of Banglalink have been described. In chapter five the survey analysis and findings have been given. Here the comparative analysis has been given on the different customer service options of the company based on a survey.

Finally chapter six includes the basic summary and recommendations of the study. Here the overall summary has been given and the broad recommendations also have been listed whereby better customer service can be ensured and greater customer satisfaction can be achieved.

 Origin of the Study:

Internship is an academic term of our studies and also an important part. This gives the academic knowledge on practical work experience. Thus this internship study aims to reflect the professional view of real world working environment. Internship is very important term and mandatory in case of successful completion of Masters of Business Administration (MBA) degree.

 After finishing all the text-based courses in MBA degree, a student will have to work as a trainee in an organization for 90 days; this period is known as Internship. The basic objective of this program is to make students known to how the next life would be and how much relation a job life is having with the theoretical experience that s/he had faced in MBA degree. Successful completion of internship is the submission of internship study to the academic supervisor. This internship program carries 3 credits which is equal to one academic course’s credit.

So as per the academic requirement here is the research study on the topic- “An Evaluation of Customer Care Service of Banglalink.”

Objectives of the Study

The objectives of the service are as follows:

• To evaluate the mechanism of customer care department of Banglalink.
• To analyze the most cost effective and most convenient customer service option of Banglalink.
• To get a clear picture about ‘Call Center’ of customer service division.
• To present the Background and Introduction of Banglalink.
• To analyze for identifying the present position of Banglalink.
• To examine the business and operations of Banglalink.

  Background

In case of “Customer Care Service”, customers initially used to demand good network coverage from the mobile phone operators. But the customer demands are increasing day by day. Later on customers became more price sensitive, and started demanding low cost service along with the good network.

 But now the situation has changed, market become saturated where each and every mobile phone operators are providing almost similar benefits to the customers, so in this situation the term “Customer Care Service” becomes a crucial factor for the operators in order to satisfy customers and also to prove themselves different from others. That is the reason why leading companies like Banglalink (Kotha Dilam), GP (Stay Close), Airtel and Citycell engaged in different customer service campaign to accelerate the customer satisfaction.

To know about Banglalink’s customer service mechanism  and to have a comparative analysis among different arrangements of CCD of Banglalink this  study has been prepared.

Methodology

This is a research. The study focused on both primary and secondary data. Primary data are collected through interviews with mobile users using a standard questionnaire is which attached in the appendix. Secondary data are collected from journals, webs and internal sources from the organization.

Research Design

For the research purpose a standard questionnaire has been developed. The questionnaire includes different dimensions like effectiveness of customer care service mechanism, cost factor, time utility, service provisioning etc. Survey has been done over phone.

The research is also descriptive in nature. It focuses on the customer services offered by Banglalink which has been recently improved to a better extent for gaining positive experience from their subscribers. This type of research basically covers:

• Questionnaire based information.
• Company Information from secondary sources.
• Products & Services
• Growth Analysis
• Supporting services of Call Center

Data Collection Method

The overall method of collecting data can be divided into two categories:

1. Primary Method of Data Collection
2. Secondary Method of Data Collection

 For the purpose of the study data and information have been collected from both primary and secondary sources. For the primary data the standard questionnaire has been used. From 100 subscribers of Banglalink primary information has been collected. Secondary information has been collected from various websites, and different periodical studiess.

 Data Analysis and Interpretation 

All the data that are presented through charts & tables are also presented through graphical presentation. These graphs are interpreted by analyzing survey information and also the scenario that acts as an indicator for different analysis.

Rationale of the Study

Banglalink is one of the market leader of telecommunication market of Bangladesh. Customer service is very crucial in today’s competitive world. To ensure required level of customer service Banglalink has many arrangements like:

• Call Center (hotlines)
• Touch Points (BP, BSP)
• Push Pull SMS etc.

 This study shows the comparative analysis about the effectiveness and customer preference of Banglalink’s customer service options. To have a generalized picture in this regard information has been collected from customers of Banglalink on a randomly basis. The interview was conducted over phone and it strived to include subscribers from all over Bangladesh.

Scope of the Study 

This study will give a clear idea about the telecommunication market of Bangladesh. It will disclose the historical and current condition of Banglalink in the market. The most focus is given on the customer service mechanism of Banglalink. Through this study the people’s preference about customer service options of Banglalink has been highlighted.

Limitations of the Study 

This study is prepared on the basis of information received through the questionnaire based survey done on a randomly basis. So there always remains the possibility that the information so received will not be able to show the actual picture of the whole market.

Moreover according to Banglalink code of conduct, there is some information which is to be made confidential by the employees. So access of each type of data and also disclose those are not possible. As official data is much more confidential, so the collection of necessary data was not smooth.

 Acronyms & Definitions

BL                   : Banglalink

BP                   : Banglalink Point

BR                   : Bangladesh Railway

BSP                 : Banglalink Service Point

BSCC              : Banglalink Sales and Care Center

BTTB              : Bangladesh Telephone & Telegraph Board

CCD                : Customer Care Department

CIC                 : Community Information System

CLIP               : Caller Line Identification Presentation

CLO                : Care Line Officer

CRBT             : Customized Ring Back Tone

CSI                  : Customer Satisfaction Index

CSR                : Corporate Social Responsibility

EDGE             : Enhanced Data rate for GSM Evolution

FNF                 : Friends and Family

GDP                : Gross Domestic Product

GDR               : Global Depositary Receipt

GPRS              : General Packet Radio Services

GSM               : Global System for Mobile Communication

IR                    : International Roaming

ISD                  : International Subscriber Dialing

IVR                 : Instant Voice Response

MCA               : Missed Call Alert

MMS              : Multimedia Messaging Service

NBR                : National Board of Revenue

OTH                : Orascom Telecom Holding

OTV                : Orascom Telecom Ventures Limited

PCO                : Public Call Office

PDB                : Power Development Board

PIN                  : Personal Identification Number

PSTN              : Public Switched Telephone Network

SIM                 : Subscriber Identity Module

SME                : Small and Medium Enterprise

SMS                : Short Messaging Service

USSD              : Unstructured Supplementary Service Data

VAS                : Value Added Services

Company Profile:

Telecom Industry in Bangladesh: 

Mobile phone has become an indispensable part of Bangladesh’s everyday-life. Very much like the nature of the technology, the telecom industry in our country is also changing very rapidly. This is now in its saturation and he subscriber base as a result is increasing at a decreasing rate.

Citycell (Pacific Bangladesh Telecom Limited) is the first mobile communications company of Bangladesh. It is the only CDMA network operator in the country. On March 26, 1997, GrameenPhone launched its service on the Independence Day of Bangladesh. They were the first to introduce GSM technology in country. Sheba Telecom (Pvt.) Ltd. obtained GSM license in 1996 to extend its business to cellular mobile, radio telephone services. It launched operation in the last quarter of 1997 as a Bangladesh-Malaysia joint venture. In September, 2004, Orascom Telecom Holdings purchased 100% of the shares of Sheba Telecom (Pvt.) Limited (“Sheba”) & renamed it as Banglalink. Robi (formerly known as Aktel) launched its operations on the 15 November, 1997 in Dhaka and on 26 March, 1998 in Chittagong. Robi was formed as a joint-venture between Telekom Malaysia (now known as Axiata) and A.K. Khan Company. NTT DoCoMo, the Japanese Telecom Giant purchased A. K. Khan’s share on September 19, 2008. The Only totally Bangladeshi owned operator TeleTalk started operating on 29 December, 2004. Warid was the sixth mobile phone operator to enter the Bangladesh market, and launched commercial operations on May 10, 2007.

Mobile phone operators covered Bangladesh include: Banglalink/Sheba (Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E), GrameenPhone (Telenor & Grameen Telecom Corporation,), Robi/Aktel (Axiata Group Berhad & NTT DoCoMo INC), Citycell (Singtel, Pacific Group and Far East Telecom), Warid (Bharti Airtel & Warid Telecom International), and Teletalk (BTCL).

 About Banglalink:

Orascom Telecom Bangladesh limited (“Banglalink”) is a 100% owned subsidiary of Orascom Telecom Holding s.a.e., Egypt, (“oth”) in Bangladesh. It was acquired by Orascom Telecom Holding (OTH) in 2004, and after a complete overhaul and the deployment of a new GSM network, its telecommunication services were re-launched under the brand name Banglalink. When Banglalink began operations in Bangladesh in February 2005, its impact was felt immediately: overnight mobile telephony became an affordable option for customers across a wide range of market segments.

Banglalink’s success was based on a simple mission: “bringing mobile telephony to the masses” which was the cornerstone of its strategy. Banglalink changed the mobile phone status from luxury to a necessity and brought mobile telephone to the general people of Bangladesh and made a place in their hearts. The mobile phone has become the symbol for the positive change in Bangladesh.

This positive change that is quite correctly attributed to Banglalink, has become the corporate positioning of Banglalink and is translated in their slogan “making a difference” or “din bodol”. “Making a difference” not only in the telecom industry, but also through its products and services, to the lives of its customers. this corporate stance of “making a difference” has been reflected in everything Banglalink does.

Banglalink attained 1 million subscribers by December 2005 and 3 million subscribers in October 2006. In less than two years which is by December 2007, Banglalink overtook Aktel to become the second largest operator in Bangladesh with more than 7.1 million customers. Banglalink currently has 14.22 million subscribers as of march 2010, representing a market share of 26%.

Growth over the last years have been fuelled with innovative products and services targeting different market segments, aggressive improvement of network quality and dedicated customer care, creating an extensive distribution network across the country, and establishing a strong brand that emotionally connected customers with Banglalink.

 Historical Background :

Orascom Telecom Holding s.a.e. (“orascom telecom” or “OTH”) was established in 1998 and has grown to become a major player in the global telecommunications market. OTH is considered among the largest and most diversified network operators in the Middle East, Africa, and South Asia. Orascom telecom is a leading mobile telecommunications company operating in eleven emerging markets having a population under license of 498 million with an average mobile telephony penetration of approximately 46% as of 31st December 2008. Orascom Telecom operates GSM networks in Algeria (“ota”), Pakistan (“mobilink”), Egypt (“mobinil”), Tunisia (“tunisiana”), Bangladesh (“banglalink”), and North Korea (“koryolink”). OTH has an indirect equity ownership in globalize wireless which has been granted a spectrum license in Canada. OTH was also awarded the management contract of one of the two Lebanese mobile telecommunications operators (“alfa”) from the government of the republic of Lebanon. Through its subsidiary telecel globe, OTH also operates in Burundi, the Central African Republic, Namibia and Zimbabwe. Orascom Telecom had over 88 million subscribers as of September, 2009.

OTH’s first operation was the Egyptian company for mobile services commonly known as (“mobinil”). Mobinil is a market leader serving over 24.2 million subscribers representing a market share of 43.6% (as of September 2009). Mobinil is one of Egypt’s five largest companies on Cairo & Alexandria stock exchange in terms of market capitalization.

In September 2004, OTH purchased 100% of Sheba Telecom (pvt.) limited in Bangladesh. OTH re-branded and launched its services as “Banglalink” in February 2005. Immediately after the launch, OTH started its aggressive plans to develop Banglalink into a leader in the mobile sector by rapidly expanding its gsm network to provide high quality communications services at affordable prices. Banglalink serves over 12.1 million subscribers with 24.2% market share (as of September 2009).

Capital Composition:

Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Limited is 99.999% owned by Orascom Telecom Ventures Limited (OTV), which is a fully owned subsidiary of Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E., Egypt (OTH). After a complete overhaul and the deployment of a new GSM network, the company re-launched telecommunication services in February 2005 under the brand name Banglalink in our country.

The financial position of Banglalink is: Authorized Capital-BDT 47,000,000,000 divided into 47,000,000 shares of BDT 1,000/- each and also Issued and Paid up Capital-BDT 24,764,881,000 divided into 24,764,881 shares of BDT 1,000/- each. Total Assets are BDT 67,525,846 and Total equity & liabilities are BDT 67,525,846

 Shareholders: 

Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Limited is 99.999% owned by Orascom Telecom Ventures Limited (OTV), which is a fully owned subsidiary of Orascom Telecom Holding S.A.E. (OTH). Orascom Telecom is a leading international telecommunications company, operating GSM networks in high growth markets in the Middle East, Africa and Asia. It has a total population under license of approximately 510 million, with an average mobile penetration of approximately 49% as of December 31,

2009. Orascom Telecom operates GSM networks in:

Algeria (OTA)

Pakistan (Mobilink)

Egypt (Mobinil)

Tunisia (Tunisiana)

Bangladesh (Banglalink)

North Korea (Koryolink)

OTH has an indirect equity ownership in Globalive Wireless (Wind Canada), which has been granted spectrum licenses in Canada. OTH also operates in Burundi, the Central African Republic, and Zimbabwe through its subsidiary Telecel Globe. Orascom Telecom had almost 93 million subscribers as of December 31, 2009. Orascom Telecom is traded on the Cairo & Alexandria Stock Exchange under the symbol (ORTE.CA, ORAT EY), and on the London Stock Exchange. Its GDR (Global Depositary Receipt) is traded under the symbol (ORTEq.L, OTLD LI).

 The Shareholders of Orascom Telecom Bangladesh Limited and their percentage of ownership are shown below:

Figure : Shareholders of Banglalink

 Company Milestone 

Milestones achieved in the last 5 years

At Banglalink, their success spurred from a simple strategy: “Bringing mobile telephony to the masses”. They transformed the mobile phone from a luxury item for a privileged few to an essential commodity for all walks of life.

 They have touched the lives of all customers in diverse ways – enhancing the quality of life economically, socially and emotionally – and have earned a place in the hearts of millions.

 Following are some of the significant milestones and highlights of the last five years, demonstrating our exemplary commitment to continued growth and success:

  They made mobile telephony available and affordable to the masses.

 They reached one million subscribers within the first 9 months of operation.

 They reached the ten million subscribers mark in only 3.5 years.

 They are now a family of 14 million customers, and they continue to grow each day.

 They continued dedication to their customers has firmly established them as the best in customer care service, with over 1000 Banglalink Service Points (BSP) across the country.

 They make the highest investment in network expansion.

 They make unparalleled contribution to the national economy, being the company bringing in the highest Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in the entire country.

 They have been passionately promoting the preservation and celebration of national and cultural heritage through sponsored initiatives like Jagoroner Gaan, New7Wonders, Modhu Mela, Boshonto Uthshab and many more.

 They continue to be the market leader in terms of innovation.

 They have the best team that continues to achieve more than their competitors with fewer team members.

 They have earned the love and respect of people by practicing their strong values: Passionate, Innovative, Reliable, and Straightforward.

 Banglalink was launched in the beginning of 2005 and reached a subscriber base of

13.87 million by the end of 2009. It continues to maintain its aggressive growth in the market by being the fastest growing mobile operator.

 Achievements 

As a telecommunication service provider Banglalink plays a very important role in the economic development of Bangladesh. National Board of Revenue (NBR), Ministry of Post and Telecommunication, Bangladesh Telephone and telegraph Board (BTTB) and Bangladesh Railway (BR) are Government bodies that are directly or indirectly benefited by Banglalink.

By bringing electronic connectivity to rural Bangladesh, Banglalink is brining the digital revolution to the doorsteps of the poor and unconnected.

Market Share & Growth 

Table 1: Market Share & Growth

 Mission, Core values and Goals 

Company Mission:

Banglalink understands customer needs best and will create and deliver appropriate communication services to improve people’s lives and make them easier.

 Company core values:

 All employees of Banglalink demonstrate the following values in their day-to-day activities to ensure “making a difference” in every area of operations:

 Straightforwar:

 We say what we do & we do what we say

 Reliable

 A promise made is a promise kept

 Innovative

 Whatever we do will be useful and useable

 Passionate

 We always deliver with honesty and passion

 Company Objective:

The principal objective of the Company is to provide telecommunication services across Bangladesh through the installation and operation of telecommunication facilities. When Banglalink began operations in Bangladesh, its impact was felt immediately. Almost overnight, mobile telephony became an affordable option for customers across a wide range of market segments. The mobile phone has since become the symbol of a positive change in Bangladesh. This positive change, quite rightly attributed to Banglalink, has since become our corporate positioning, which is reflected in the slogan, “making a difference” or “din bodol”. Making a difference is the central theme that resonates through everything that we do, be it through our products, services, CSR, or other activities.

 Company Strategy

The basic strategy of Banglalink is coverage of both urban and rural areas. In contrast to the “island” strategy followed by some companies, which involves connecting isolated islands of urban coverage through transmission links, Banglalink builds continuous coverage, cell after cell. While the intensity of coverage may vary from area to area depending on market conditions, the basic strategy of cell-to-cell coverage is applied throughout the network of Banglalink.

Workforce :

 Banglalink has also generated direct and indirect employment for a large number of people over the years. The company presently has over 2500 employees with another 60000 people directly dependent on Banglalink for their livelihood, working for the Banglalink dealers, retailers, scratch card retail outlets, suppliers, vendors, contractors and other business partners.

Company Organogram:

Figure: Organogram of Banglalink

 Product Profile 

Table 2: Product Profile

Value Added Services (VAS) 

Banglalink provides a multidimensional package for communication, entertainment and information sharing. Connect with the customers loved ones and access the internet via their mobile phone. One can easily remain updated on the latest information and entertainment buzz.

The customers can personalize their phone with attractive wallpapers and ring tones and download games. Stay connected to their loved ones via SMS & MMS by sending photo, video and audio messages. They can also Brows and chat via their mobile phone.

 Information Based Services

 SMS

 Short, easy and convenient messaging – that is the way to describe an SMS. Send text messages from the customers’ mobile phone and they can stay in touch with their love ones, whether they are here or abroad.

The customers should ensure that the message center number is set correctly in their mobile phone as +8801900000600

Voice SMS

If the customers want to leave a special message, like a birthday wish or marriage anniversary greeting for someone, Bnaglalink’s Voice SMS service can help them. On the other way, when the subscribers would like to send a message but the receiver may not be comfortable with using SMS, and then too, Bnaglalink’s Voice SMS service can help them. Even if they cannot reach someone but would like to leave a message, Bnaglalink’s Voice SMS service can help there too. This voice SMS is called i’bubble.

 SMS email

banglalink smsemail allows customers to have a unique e-mail address. They will be able to send and receive e-mails from anywhere in the world. They don’t need to have expensive computers or even the internet to send and receive e-mails.

International SMS

Any Banglalink user can send SMS to more than 172 countries, 644 operators in six continent’s GSM subscribers all over the world. It costs much less than making a call and is quite convenient to send. To send International SMS, just enter the recipient’s mobile number with the country code with a plus (+) sign or 00.

For example, to send an SMS to Canada enter the mobile number as +(country code)1 XXXXXXXXXX or 00(country code)1 XXXXXXXXXX

 MMS

Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) is an exciting way to share special moments such as birthdays, weddings and holiday pictures with loved ones. The customers can even send pictures and video clips to e-mail addresses. They can customize their messages with texts, pictures, animations, music, video clips (maximum 100 KB) and can record special moments and save it for the future – in their phone. MMS is only allowed BL-BL GPRS enabled postpaid.

Tariff: Tk. 10+VAT

FnF

Banglalink’s customers get the facility of low tariff for some numbers (for prepaid subscribers 3 no. & for postpaid subscribers 4 no.). This is known as Friend and Family (FnF). One can change on free numbers 12 times in a year. After that Tk. 25 will be charged for every changing.

Banglalink Emergency

In case of emergency situations, Banglalink customers will be able to dial *321*5# and sms asking for help will be sent (containing the customer’s current location) to previously defined emergency contact persons. The customer’s current location would be automatically included in the sms through Bangalink’s location based service.

How to send:

Dial *321*5#

Or

Subscribers can store the number *321*5# as speed dial.  When in emergency situation requiring help, subscribers will just dial the stored speed dial number.

Blood Bank

When it comes to making a difference, banglalink is always in the forefront. Banglalink launched “blood bank 8008” service to provide information regarding availability of blood. “Blood bank 8008” is basically a call center based service whereby banglalink subscribers will be able to dial the short code 8008 and receive information/enquiries regarding the availability of blood including the location of nearest blood bank, hospitals or individual donors, etc. people who are interested to donate blood can also get information regarding donation campaigns.

Healthlink

Banglalink customers can just dial 789 and they will be put through to a call center agent of healthlink. These agents are all MBBS professionals and specially trained to provide health issue related consultancy over phone.

Banglalink Jigyasha

The growth of SMEs is crucial in the path of developing the economy of Bangladesh. However, the existing and potential SME owners are often faced by difficulties regarding access to necessary information required to prosper in business. Realizing these difficulties, Banglalink brought Banglalink Jigyasha under which two separate kinds of services are being offered.

• Krishi jigyasha 7676
• Babsha jigyasha 7677

i’info (6397)

An SMS based subscription news service which ensures that customers are always updated on the latest happenings. The categories are available:  sports (sn) – football, cricket, tennis etc. entertainment (ent) – updates from Cineplex, schedules from Baily road, scoopes from bollywood etc. technology (tech) – updates on latest computers, softwares, cellphones, space exploration etc.

Tariff:

• Tk. 30/month (excluding vat) for a single category
• Tk. 60/month (excluding vat) for a package (you save tk. 30 per month)

Railway junction

This service will allow Banglalink prepaid and postpaid subscribers to check all related information about train. In order to avail this service from the power menu, subscribers can dial *789*10#

Yellow Pages

From this service, customer can access information of airlines, banks, hospitals, embassies, restaurants, trains, travel offer, etc. by just dialing 2727. Customers ask for their desired information to the operator and they will get the information within a few moments.

Tariff: Tk. 5/min (excluding vat)

Quran IVR

Through this service, Banglalink customers will be able to listen to any surah from the holy quran with its tarjoma (bengali translation). In order to avail this service, customers have to dial 4567. While listening to a certain surah, press 3 for going to the next surah. Also, for going back to the previous surah simply press 1.

Tariff: Tk. 2/min (excluding vat)

Namaz Alert

This is a subscription based service. Once subscribed, customer will receive SMS alerts before fajr, johr, asr, maghrib and esha prayer times. Simply writing “namaz” and sending to 6397, customer will get alerts on the five prayer timings. The subscription is valid for 1 month, and will be automatically renewed every month.

Banglalink ke jitbe

Banglalink brings its customers an exciting offer, “banglalink ke jitbe”, keeping the ongoing cricket mega event in mind.

This is a simple sms-based voting service where customers will send sms predicting the daily winners of the upcoming matches on the match day. The customer who sends the highest number of sms (with correct prediction), before the start of the match, will win an attractive handset for each match.

short code: 4636 (sms)

keyword: wc<space>country_code (example: wc ban) for winner prediction

              tie<space>match_number (example: tie 01) for tie prediction

Tariff: Tk. 2 per sms (excluding vat)

 BBC Bangla

BBC Bangla is a multimedia service, offering news and current affairs, sports, science, and cultural features to the bangla-speaking community. so far these programs are primarily broadcasted on sw & fm (from Bangladesh Betar). BBC in Bangladesh has a weekly audience base of over 10 million.

short code: 16262 (for both sms & ivr)

Tariff: IVR Tk.2/min & sms is tk.2/sms (excluding vat)

 Banglalink Timer SMS

 This service will able customers to plan and schedule their SMS at a future date and time of their choice.

go to message option           type number date time message                 send it to 8899

Tariff:  Tk. 2+VAT

Friend Finder

Friend finder is a SMS based location tracking service which allows customer to locate their friend provided the access is granted by their friend. Similarly, their friend can also locate them by following the same process.

How to register

Write reg<space> name

Send SMS to 2424

golpo chora gaan

Banglalink golpo chora gaan is an IVR based service which will enable Banglalink subscribers to listen to Bangla & English rhymes, poems, fairytales and songs for children just by dialing 5432.

Tariff: Tk. 5 per minute (excluding vat)

Customized Ring Back Tone ( Amar Tune )

For treating friends and family of customers for hearing their favorite songs every time, customer can take Amar tune service. When they call, they can hear the cusmised songs when ringing. Songs may be bangla, hindi and english.

Tariff:

Download: Tk.15/song (unlimited validity)

Subscription fee: Tk.15 (excluding vat) for 15 days

IVR: Tk. 0.25/min

SMS charge: 2+VAT

mig33

mig33 is a globally famous social communications and entertainment community service on the mobile phone.

Tariff: Tk.15 / sms (excluding vat)

GPRS will be applicable for using the service

Banglalink Messenger

It is an anonymous chat application which never reveals the real mobile number of customers and keeps privacy and security intact. Also connecting to instant messenger’s (im) such as yahoo/msn/icq is facilitated by signing in with the respective user ID and password and exchanging instant messages with the yahoo/msn/icq friends.

Banglalink messenger over sms is driven by simple alphabet commands and uses the phone’s pre-existing reply feature to respond to incoming messages. This service can be accessed over all mobiles with messaging capability. So, GPRS/EDGE enabled handset is not required to avail this service.

 Tariff: Tk.1/sms (excluding vat)

Song Dedication

Banglalink launched song dedication service over ivr (interactive voice response). Through this service, any Banglalink customers may dial a short number 4226 (gaan), browse and select a song from the list of available category of songs and send it to any mobile number immediately or in a specific time and date. this dedication is sent without any additional cost- only browsing charge is applicable. a customer may also add his/her personal voice message for 15 seconds to be sent with the song.

Power Menu

This is a comprehensive value added service menu that gives customers all the services (such as cooking recipes, logo and ring-tone downloads, picture messages, jokes, quotes, movie top charts, etc) that they may want with the touch of a button. They don’t have to remember any lengthy codes or syntaxes for their downloads anymore -just dial *789# and start browsing.

Music Station

Banglalink music station 5858 – which gives customers to listen music of their choice anytime, anywhere from a list of more than 14,000 full songs from more then 22 different category of music channels – bangla classical music to pop & rock, bollywood hits and popular english tracks. One can also create their own playlist of favorite songs and listen to them anytime they wish.

Voice Adda

Banglalink voice adda is a 24 hours open voice based service which allows all Banglalink pre-paid ( Banglalink Desh & Banglalink Desh Rong ) & post-paid ( Banglalink enterprise) customers to dial 3678 and voice chat with friends. It is a place where customers can make new friends & talk non stop on their favorite topics – while maintaining complete confidentiality.

Voice adda is similar to chatting on-line on the internet, the only difference is that customers don’t need to type -but can actually talk to the person on the other side. It is a great way to meet people, make new friends and have fun.

Tariff: 1st minute: tk. 5/min (excluding vat) and

2nd minute onwards: tk 2/min (excluding vat)

Voice Portal

The speech recognition based Banglalink voice portal 4848 service with interactive voice response (ivr) & sms based subscription options that will allow Banglalink users to dial the short code 4848 and get the updated information on sports, fun, devotional and infotainment categories.

Tariff:

subscription: tk. 5 per 15 days (excluding vat)

IVR browsing (4848): tk. 0.50 per minute (excluding vat)

SMS (4848): tk. 2 per sms (excluding vat)

 SMSadda

sms adda is a new service that allows you to chat through sms with a group of people about different topics.

Tariff: Tk. 2 per sms (excluding vat)

Ring tones, logos, picture messages

Ring tones, logos, picture messages are currently available for nokia and siemens handsets.

Tariff: Tk. 9 per ringtone (excluding vat)

Data Based Services

Banglalink Internet

Enjoy the power of internet now on your mobile with your pre-paid, post-paid and call & control connection too. Currently Banglalink is providing following GPRS packages.

p1: pay as go

This package can be activated from all connections of Banglalink by sending sms p1 to 3343. The charge for this service is BDT 0.02/kb for prepaid users and BDT 0.015/kb for postpaid users and call & control users. (excluding VAT)

p2: unlimited internet

This package can be activated from all connections of Banglalink by sending sms p2 to 3343. The charge for this service is BDT 650/month (excluding vat).

p3: night-time internet pack

This package can be activated from all prepaid and call & control subscribers connection and through this users can avail unlimited internet everyday from 12am to 8am with 30days validity.

p4: daily pack

This package can be activated from all prepaid and call & control subscribers connection. Customers just send sms with keyword p4 to 3343 to activate this service. The charge for this service is bdt 50/day (excluding vat).

p6: 1 GB

This package can be activated from all connections of Banglalink by sending sms p6 to 3343. The charge for this service is BDT 275/month (excluding vat). To check internet usage and remaining balance of p6 pack, customers can dial *222*3# at free of cost.

p7: mini pack

This package can be activated from all prepaid and call & control subscribers’ connection. Customers just send sms with keyword p7 to 3343 to activate this service. The charge for this service is BDT 20 for 24 hours (excluding vat). Subscribers will be able to use maximum of 15mb through this service.

Banglalink Internet Modem

Banglalink brings internet modem, a complete device where subscribers will enjoy absolute plug & play. The modem can be purchased at any Banglalink customer care center.

Banglalink Phonebackup

Banglalink phone backup is a service that safeguards all data of a mobile phone including contacts, calendar & tasks, sms, photos, videos and audio. the phone backup service copies customer’s mobile phone’s data in a secured manner to Banglalink’s phone backup system, and also enables customer to restore the saved data on phone (new / existing) whenever they change their phone or in case they lose the data accidentally.

Vehicle Tracking: ntrack 

Monitoring and safeguarding any vehicle is now possible sitting at home. Vehicle tracking system is a state-of-the-art service which enables anyone to track a vehicle or a fleet to ensure better security of vehicles by reducing auto theft which is an alarming issue these days in major metro areas.

Stock Info

Banglalink stock info service is a mobile phone based application that allows Banglalink subscribers to get live stock information of Dhaka and Chittagong stock exchange. This application runs on java enabled handsets.

Azan Alert

Azan alert is java based software that can be downloaded by a wap-link push sms and can be used in any java enabled handset. This software will provide the following azan alert can be localized according to the time-zone of 18 major cities of Bangladesh and also has a daylight saving formula which can be used all year round.

In order to avail this service, subscribers have to type azan and send sms to 4646 and the download link will be sent in a return sms.

Tariff: The charge for this service will be Tk.9 (excluding vat)

Call Management Services

Banglalink Easy Divert

By registering into this service, a subscriber can get incoming calls in another Banglalink mobile when his/her own mobile phone is either not around or switched off. For instance, after coming to office in the morning if customer suddenly realize that he/she have left phone back home that day, he/she do not need to go back to get it. Simply by sending a sms keyword from colleague’s phone he/she can start receiving own incoming calls in colleague’s number.

Voice Message

Through this service, Banglalink customers may send a message as voice instead of text. Subscribers will be able to record voice messages and send it. This will eliminate the typing interface problem used in text-based sms and replace it with a fast and easy-to-use voice based interface. Moreover, it will overcome the language barrier of sms.

Tariff: Sending voice message:

On-net (bl to bl): Tk. 1.00/voice message (excluding vat)

Off-net (bl to other operators): taka 1.50/voice message (excluding vat)

Retrieving voice message: Tk. 3/2 min (excluding vat)

Call Block

In this service customer can stop those numbers which are disturbed them. Customer can create a “blacklist” of callers whom they don’t want to talk to i.e. the numbers added to the blacklist would not be able to disturb them. They also can create a “whitelist” by which they can choose the selected few who can call them – rest of the all number would not be able to call.

SMS short code: 8181

Tariff:  Subscription fee: Tk. 30/month (excluding vat)

SMS charge: Tk. 2 (excluding vat)

Call Me Back

Using this service all prepaid customers of Banglalink can send request to another Banglalink number (prepaid and postpaid) to call him back if he/she has low balance in mobile account. Only active Banglalink prepaid connections having a balance between tk.0.15 to tk.1.00 will be able to send a call back request. To send a request they need to type *126* the Banglalink number they want to send call back request to # and then dial send. The requested person will be notified through sms and the requester will get a confirmation sms that the request has been sent.

Missed Call Alert (MCA)

Missed call alert service will notify customers about all the calls made by others when mobile phone is unreachable or due to any of the below reasons,

• Handset switched off
• Out of network or coverage area
• Battery exhaustion

Conference Call

Conference call service enables Banglalink’s prepaid and postpaid subscribers to call more than one person in one call (including the initiator) at the same time. All the parties in a conference call will be connected together and they can talk to each other through the party originating the call. Businessmen, professionals and even regular users are benefited from the service for better communication and time management.

Caller Line Identification Presentation

Caller line identification presentation (CLIP) is a supplementary service that allows you to see the number of the caller on your mobile screen before you answer the call. this is a standard feature available to you and you do not need any activation for this service.

Mobile financial services

Available mobile financial services are:

• Electronic money order with BPO
• Mobile bill-pay with BPDB
• Mobile bill-pay with DESCO
• Mobile train ticket
• Mobile remittance

The service is reliable, quick and convenient, ensuring end-to-end transparency and ultimate convenience for the electricity consumers.

Literature Review:

 Concept of Customer Service 

 Customer service is the provision of service to customers before, during and after a purchase. Superior customer service is service that exceeds customers’ expectations and will make business stand out from competitors.  To be effective, customer service must be consistently good in every part of process.

According to Jamier L. Scott. (2002) “Customer service is a series of activities designed to enhance the level of customer satisfaction – that is, the feeling that a product or service has met the customer expectation.”

“Customer service has become a distinct component of both product and service sectors and the developed information technology created more demanding and knowledgeable customers” (Gupta, McDaniel & Herath, 2005).

Both service companies and manufacturing firms that offer customer service must understand the aspects of a service encounter to determine customer valuation of service. According to Zeithaml, Berry & Parasuraman, (1996) employee interactions is a crucial determinant of satisfaction. Thus employee remains at the focus point of service evaluation.

At present, organizations are focusing on customer service to retain the existing customers. Through customer service, an organization can monitor and serve the customer according to them. Fornel (1992) found that a satisfied customer tends to maintain their consumption pattern and will consume similar products or services. Therefore a predictable right customer can be served successfully by delivering his or her desired values.

Customer Service In Telecom Industry 

Nowadays the word “Customer Service” is considered as a dominant factor for customer satisfaction in mobile telecommunication industry. The customer demands are increasing day by day. Initially, customers used to demand good network coverage from the mobile phone operators. Later on customers became more price sensitive, and started demanding low cost service along with the good network. But now the situation has changed, market become saturated where each and every mobile phone operators are providing almost similar benefits to the customers, so in this situation the term “Customer Service” becomes a crucial factor for the operators in order to satisfy customers and also to prove themselves different from others. That is the reason why leading companies like Banglalink (Kotha Dilam), GP (Stay Close), and Citycell engaged in different customer service campaign to accelerate the customer satisfaction.

The telecom industry no longer talks only about customer service — instead, it is addressing the broader topic of the customer experience, which includes not just the conversations between customer service representatives and customers when something goes wrong, but the full range of customer contact from when a service is ordered to when it is delivered.

 Importance of Customer Service

Customer service is the overall activity of identifying and satisfying customer needs.  Customers today are not only interested in the product they are being offered but all the additional elements of service that they receive from the greeting they receive when they enter a retail outlet, to the refund and help that they receive when they have a complaint about a faulty product that they have paid for.

Its importance varies by product, industry and customer; defective or broken merchandise can be exchanged/swapped, often only with a receipt and within a specified time frame. Retail stores will often have a desk or counter devoted to dealing with returns, exchanges and complaints, or will perform related functions at the point of sale.

Customer service is normally an integral part of a company’s customer value proposition. In their book Rules to Break and Laws to Follow, Don Peppers and Martha Rogers, Ph.D. write that “customers have memories. They will remember you, whether you remember them or not.” Further, “customer trust can be destroyed at once by a major service problem, or it can be undermined one day at a time, with a thousand small demonstrations of incompetence.

Figure : Customer Satisfaction

 Forms or Types of Customer Service

There are number of forms of customer service through which customer service is provided. Namely they are:

• Customer Service Touch Points
• Customer Service Hotlines
• Online Customer Service
• Door-to-Door Customer Service
• Customer Service-IVR
• Push-Pull Customer Service etc.

Figure : Types of customer service

 Customer Service Touch Points

This is a very common customer service tactics. Irrespective of the fact that whether it is a manufacturing or service providing organization physical touch points based customer service is provided. In the physical outlets trained up employees of the company provide customer service to the incoming customers.

 Customer Service Hotlines

This type of customer service is also very common in this competitive market where customer satisfaction is a very crucial factor for the long term success of the company. Especially the mobile companies and different commercial banks are providing effective customer service through dedicated hotlines.

 Online Customer Service 

Online customer service is another modern form of customer service. Many companies have well furnished online customer service providing mechanism. The following services can be availed online customer service:

Webs based information

Live online chat etc.

 Door-to-Door Customer Service 

Many companies have door to door customer service option. This kind companies train up their employees and send them to the customers who are demanding customer service from the company.

 Customer Service-IVR 

Instant voice response (IVR) is another innovative type of customer service. Banglalink subscribers also get IVR (Instant Voice Response) based customer service round the clock. Subscribers can get few fixed services like bill information; welcome tunes related information etc. from the IVR.

• Bill Information
• Welcome tunes codes
• IVR based recharge etc.

 Push-Pull Customer Service 

Subscribers of Banglalink also enjoy push-pull based customer service option. In other words by sending sms subscribers get service like:

• F&F status
• Activation/Addition/Change of F&F
• Welcome tunes activation/deactivation
• Sports updates
• Jokes etc.

Customer Service of Banglalink

Overview:  

Nowadays the word “Customer Service” is considered as a dominant factor for customer satisfaction in mobile telecommunication industry. The customer demands are increasing day by day. Initially, customers used to demand good network coverage from the mobile phone operators. Later on customers became more price sensitive, and started demanding low cost service along with the good network. But now the situation has changed, market become saturated where each and every mobile phone operators are providing almost similar benefits to the customers, so in this situation the term “Customer Service” becomes a crucial factor for the operators in order to satisfy customers and also to prove themselves different from others.

Banglaink as a renowned company in the field of telecommunication is very much customer focused. To ensure better customer satisfaction Banglalink has the following arrangements:

 Through the above mentioned arrangements Bangalink is always there to help their valued customers in such a way which gives the company a competitive advantage.

 Company Structure of Customer Service:

Figure : Company Structure of Customer Service

Customer Service Touch Points

 There are couple of customer service physical touch points of Banglalink from which different sort of services are provided.  They are:

Banglalink Point [BP]

Bnaglalink Points are one-stop shops designed especially for its Customers and their needs. BL call these Bnaglalink Points their main sales and service point. The customers will find these centers with BL’s professional sales and service people to help them. Whether they wish to pay a bill, change a subscription, buy a new connection or replace a mobile phone, Bnaglalink Points can provide all this and more less than one roof.

 Banglalink Service Point [BSP]

 Banglalink gives its responsibility to some Third Parties for providing services to its customers. These types of centers are known as Banglalink Service Point (BSP). These BSP’s people are responsible to send their updates to the BP.

 Banglalink Sales & Care Center

Banglalink sales & care centre with a trained team strives to guarantee customer – oriented service aiming to satisfy the subscribers with proactive attitude and efficient solution. Customer care representative serve them with pleasure.

Table 3: Physical touch Points of BP

IVR Based Customer Service

Banglalink subscribers also get IVR (Integrated Voice Recording) based customer service round the clock. Subscribers can get few fixed services like bill information; welcome tunes related information etc. from the IVR.

• Bill Information
• Welcome tunes codes
• IVR based recharge
• F&F etc.

 Push-Pull Customer Service

Subscribers of Banglalink also enjoy push-pull based customer service option. In other words by sending sms subscribers get service like:

• F&F status
• Activation/Addition/Change of F&F
• Welcome tunes activation/deactivation
• Sports updates
• Jokes etc.

 Call Center (Hotlines)

In a fast changing world, the role of the mobile phone is increasing day by day; so are the demands of the BL’s subscribers. BL understand that customer demands are no longer confined to making or receiving voice calls only; rather with new value added services being introduced, subscribers are trying something new every day. Trained customer service agents are within easy reach; ready with personalized support related to all BL’s products and services.

BP’s trained call center professionals are available round the clock, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. Handling calls of customers and channel partners through hotlines of   121, 1200, 365, 9125; performing outbound sales and service campaigns. Handling queries and complains on “Online Customer Service” chat line, emails etc.

Structure of Call Center

Dedicated Hotlines of Call Center 

Table 4: Dedicated Hotlines of Call Center

 Other Means of Communication 

The Subscribers also reach the customer managers of Banglalink from

 +(88)02 9888370-1,

   +(88)02 9862325-6

01911 304121

01912-999000 (sme hotline)

FAX                            : +(88)02 8820594

E-Mail                       :  info@banglalinkgsm.com

4.10 Functional Segments of Call Center

Consumer

Handling call from Desh, Desh Rong, Desh ek rate and all prepaid and also personal postpaid customers regarding their problems, queries and requests through 121 hotline.

Business

Handling call from business customers (like SME and all Call & Control customers) regarding their problems, queries and requests through 121 hotline.

 Emerging

Handling call from business partners and consumers regarding Bill Pay through 1200 hotline query.

Channels

Handling call from internal channels partners i.e. Banglalink Point [BP] and Banglalink Service Point [BSP] employees through 9125 hotline and external channels partners i.e. distributors and flexi load retailers through 365 hotline.

 Activities of Contact Center 

Activities of Contact Center basically divided into two parts.

Inbound Activities

In inbound activities the voice call agents of customer service receive calls from hotlines like 121, 365, 9125 and 1200 and serve them accordingly. There are many software, checking points and modules using which agents can provide effective services. One thing to be mentioned here is there is a well defined service delivery procedure according to which inbound customer service is provided.

Outbound Activities

Through outbound customer are calling to the subscribers to solve their facing problem and make them aware of the different value added services and new promotional offer. Apart from that outbound is also used by telesales to sale FNF and GPRS proactively.

 Customer Satisfaction Index of Contact Center 

As we know that contact center is an inseparable part of any telecom service provider and Banglalink is always try to achieve world class customer service. For achieving that goal Banglalink is always do survey on customer satisfaction in every week after they start their call center. On the basis of the findings from the survey BL’s call center does corrective steps to improve its service. BL do its survey through external agent on daily basis over the phone. Survey’s sample size is 1148 on the basis of total number of calls received at different segment of 121 (considering 5% error and 95% confidence interval). BL sets a standard for the CSI and it 85%. If the CSI goes below 85% than every concern person tries their best to make is over 85 % again. For example, on the week of 34 the CSI was 89%. Where 89% subscriber was satisfied with the service they got from contact center, 3% was neutral and 8% was dissatisfied.

Analysis & Findings

 Overview

CCD is a multi functional department of Banglalink. Under CCD different sort of customer services are provided from different sources like physical touch points, IVR, call center (hotlines) etc.

Now normally question comes which customer service option of Banglalink is the most ‘effective’ and ‘convenient’ customer service option among all the options. To analyze this issue customer service from different sources of Banglalink has been evaluated on the following broad dimensions:

  Effectiveness of the service

  Cost convenience of the service

  Time utility of the service

  Accuracy & effectiveness of service provisioning

The service of ‘Call Center’ is considered as base standard. To get the right picture of the above mentioned broad dimensions a five scale questionnaire has been used where from intensity can also be known.

Effectiveness of the Service  

 In response to above questions we can see the following scenario:

Overall Scenario`

So we can see that in 95% of the total respondents consider the service of call center (hotlines) effective. Question number six was more specific which gave a comparative analysis. Here even the neutral answer has been considered as ‘Negative.’

Degree of Intensity

So we can see that 82% respondents strongly agreed in favor of call center service and 0% strongly disagreed. That means the options of customer service of Banglalink are not that effective like call center (hotlines) service.

 Cost of the Service 

In response to above questions we can see the following scenario:

Overall Scenario

The cost of getting services from hotlines is even more favorable for the subscribers. 96% of the respondents considered the cost of service from contact center equitable.

 Degree of Intensity:

Figure : Degree of intensity of cost of the service

Here the scenario is even better. 86% of the respondents strongly agreed in favor of contact center (hotlines) where “Nobody” responded against it. Only 4% were neutral who were considered to be negative about contact center.

Time Utility of the Service

In response to above questions we can see the following scenario:

Overall Scenario:

Figure: Overall scenario of time utility of the service

 Here we can see 95% of the respondents think getting service from the call center (hotlines) provides time utility. In other words 95% respondents think they will require more time to get the same service of call center from touch points or any other options.

Degree of Intensity:

Figure: Degree of intensity of time utility of the service

So we can see that incase of time utility dimension contact center is strongly preferred by 82% respondents and only preferred by more 13% respondents. On the other hand only 2% didn’t prefer contact center and 3% remained neutral though this 3% was considered as negative.

Open Ended Questions

Q. Are you satisfied with the overall service of call center? Why or why not?

In response to this question the overall reaction was like that-

Figure: customer satisfaction on the service of call center

Here we can see kind of contradictory results. Where the parameters were very specific like about time and cost convenience or effectiveness ten rarely people were dissatisfied but here we can see 20% respondents claimed to be dissatisfied with the overall service of call center.

 Then the reason was revealed-

Figure : Reason for dissatisfaction

So we can see that 95% of the dissatisfied customers were dissatisfied due to the long queue (1 to 4 minutes) in the hotlines. Where only 2% customers were unhappy with the service quality of hotline agents and 3% were unhappy with the process.

In response to this question the overall reaction was like that-

Figure: Customer preference

We can see that 88% respondents preferred call center (hotlines) as the best customer service option of Banglalink. While 6% preferred touch points, 5% preferred online customer service, 1% preferred push-pull and nobody preferred IVR based customer service of Banglalink.

 Now question comes what are the dominant variables behind their preference. The variables are shown below:

Figure : Dominant factors behind customer satisfaction

So here we can see the key variables which were considered by the respondents while making the decision about selecting customer service options. We can see that time and cost factors are the most dominant factors in this regards.

 In other words customers want the customer service without spending much of their time and also investing the least cost possible.

 Q. Are you satisfied with the overall service of customer service touch points? Why or why not?

The overall response against this open ended question was like that-

Figure: Customer satisfaction about touch points

So we can see that 93% of the respondents are dissatisfied with the overall service of customer service touch points of Banglalink. On other words only 7% respondents said they are happy with the touch points as the customer service option of Banglalink.

93% of the respondents were dissatisfied due to the following reasons:

Figure : Reasons behind dissatisfaction about touch points

So we can see that 38% dissatisfied customers are dissatisfied due to the distance of customer service touch points. In other words touch point outlets are few in numbers and the customers do not find it convenient to travel all the way long. Whereas 37% are dissatisfied due to time factor and 25% due to overall cost factor.

 Q. Are you satisfied with the overall service other customer service options (online, IVR)? Why or why not?

The overall response against this open ended question was like that-

Figure : Satisfaction about other customer service option (online, IVR)

We can only 2% subscribers are happy with the other customer service options like online customer service, IVR, Push-Pull etc. 88% subscribers are not happy and 10% don’t know because this 10% subscribers are not used to those customer service options.

The dissatisfied respondents were dissatisfied due to the following reasons:

Figure : Reasons behind dissatisfaction about other customer service option (online, IVR)

So we can see that most of the dissatisfied subscribers are dissatisfied due to poor service range of customer service options like IVR, Online, Push-Pull etc. 76% of the dissatisfied customers are dissatisfied due to this reason. Whereas 21% finds the process difficult and inconvenient. 3% respondents were unspecific in answering.

Conclusion & Recommendations

Summary  

Banglalink started its journey in 2005. By the year 2011 it is the renowned mobile operator in Bangladesh. For company like Banglalink customer satisfaction is very important. And the management of the company is well aware about this. To ensure standard customer satisfaction level the customer service department of Banglalink is really working hard. Call center is an integral part of Banglalink. The inbound and outbound activities of call center is playing a real crucial role in ensuring better customer satisfaction level. Through this study many important factors have been identified which affect customer satisfaction level greatly. In other words the factors which can ensure desired level of customer satisfaction.

The overall findings of the study are as follows:

• Banglalink is the renowned market leader in the telecom industry of Bangladesh.
• As a market leader Banglalink is a customer focused company.
• To ensure better customer satisfaction the CCD of this company is working with diversified customer service options.
• Banglalink has customer service options like touch points, call center, online customer service, IVR, push-pull etc.
• Customers do not find the physical touch points convenient due to the distance factor, related costs etc. In other words touch points are few in number.
• Options like online customer service, IVR and push-pull are not preferred by customers due to poor service range and process difficulty.
• Subscriber prefer call center of Banglalink as the most convenient and effective customer service option among all the options.
• Though call center is preferred by the customers they do not like the waiting time in the hotlines.

 Recommendations  

• Banglalink should strive to reduce the waiting time in hot lines before reaching the agents to make the contact center the most effective and efficient customer service option of the company.
• Banglalink should increase the number of physical customer service touch points so that customers find it convenient and cost effective customer service option to go for.
• Banglalink should increase the range of services of the customer service options like online customer service, IVR, push-pull etc.

Appendix

Appendix-1

 Open Ended Questions

Appendix-2

Bibliography

Leland, Karen & Bailey,Keith(2006), Customer Service For Dummies, 3^rd Edition, Wiley Publishing  Inc., Canada.

 Zemke, Ron & Woods, J.A.(2002), Best Practices in Customer Service, 1^st Edition, AMA Publications, New York,USA.

 Tschohl, John(2007), Achieving Excellence Through Customer Service, 5^th Edition, Best Seller Publishing, Minneapolis, USA.

 Coscia, Stephen(2002), Customer Service Over the Phone, 5^th Edition, CMP Books Publication, USA.

 Banglalink, Annual report (2008)

 Banglalink, Annual report (2009)

 http://www.banglalinkgsm.com/

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Customer_service