Lots of business traveling has me thinking about logistics and, of course, how voice mashups can improve these business processes. I tend to equate logistics with FedEx and delivering packages. For the most part the global package delivery industry provides best practices for how to integrate the phone and web in ways that give customers visibility into logistics. When traveling,however, I am the package and my phone is the equivalent of my own personal RFID tag.
Yet, I am blown away by how few other industries have adopted similar best practices when it comes to logistics and using the phone. Pulling out the laptop, finding a hot spot, and logging on to a website for updates isn't the right solution for travelers.
Just over the past few weeks I've seen tremendous potential use cases for voice mashups.
Airlines: These voice mashups could include confirmation of flight times, schedules, gate changes, and passenger reminders about new travel policies. I don't have a printer when traveling so make confirmation available over the phone. Send me confirmation numbers by speech to text or SMS. Of course, lost luggage demands the ability to give people insight into what is happening and when delivery is going to happen. At best, airlines hand out credits /coupons when mistakes happen. The $80 in airline "credits" that I received over the past few weeks certainly would pay for a lot of logistics communications.
Hotels: Simply call me, ask me if and when I expect to check in on the day of my arrival. You are going to make me feel very good that my reservation hasn't been lost. Hotel staffing/rooms can be scheduled based upon estimated times and numbers of arrivals. It's OK to tell me to eat at the hotel restaurant too!
Conferences/events: Conference have to be one of the most expensive activities that do not provide any attempt at personalized customer service. Bad/limited hot spot connectivity makes the suggestion of " Go to the Conference website for updates" a cruel hoax. Those self service check in kiosks are annoying especially when paying for the full cost of the conference. At minimum,a phone call that confirms my registration, arrival time, and schedules my badge pickup, or tells me not to miss a new keynote speaker would be well received.
Delivery services: We've discussed delivery services and logistics. It is getting to the point that I am surprised when automated phone notification is not used. With voice mashups, we can do much better than 3 or 4 hour delivery windows.
With voice mashups and logistics, getting the right message to go out at the right time, to the right person is only half the battle. The real added value is the feedback loop and real time managerial reporting that must be attached to this solution. Each contact is meaningful to the individual customer but it is the aggregate data that provides quantifiable return on investment for the business. Jaduka and Network IP's infrastructure give us the ability to provide time stamped, real time feedback for world wide voice mashup logistic solutions.
Patrick Murphy
Jaduka, Vice President Business Development
