Technical Architecture Assessment

SITUATION

These days, customer support is an intricate system of synergistic offerings. Customers ask for help online, over the phone, and in retail venues. Most B to C companies must specialize in customer support in addition to their primary business. Before the Internet was a viable customer service channel, Comcast invested in a complicated infrastructure to support their call centers. However, they realized that the market was changing, and their customers’ expectations for web-based services were changing as well.

Comcast needed to update their customer service infrastructure to support web-based services as well as call center support. However, they wanted to make this change by renovating their existing infrastructure instead of starting from scratch.

SOLUTION

Digital Foundry recommended an assessment and planning project that would align Comcast’s current infrastructure with their forward looking goals. Comcast provided the system access and documentation required for Digital Foundry to gain a thorough understanding of their infrastructure, and Digital Foundry worked with company stakeholders to create a list of requirements for the refactored customer service paradigm. At the conclusion of the project, Digital Foundry provided a project plan that illustrated how Comcast could adapt their current infrastructure instead of starting over.

While this project helped Comcast keep pace with changing consumer expectations, the company ultimately leveraged the changes to go far beyond their original intentions. The infrastructure enhancements they made to enable a more comprehensive customer service strategy also made it possible to create a multi-channel customer service experience and also positioned them to open up new sales channels as well. Enhancements to the infrastructure made numerous online services possible, including a buyflow, a moving wizard, and service upgrade suggestions.

RESULTS

Through close collaboration with Comcast stakeholders, Digital Foundry helped the Comcast project team:

• Evaluate the Comcast customer service infrastructure.
• Determine the enhancements necessary to support new company requirements.
• Create a project plan to accomplish critical enhancements on a short timeline.