Image by roberthuffstutter via Flickr
In brief:
• Research polled 591 business contacts across the Middle East & Africa
• More than 60% of those surveyed use their mobile phone for email, Internet and instant messaging every day; more than 40% for social media
• 88% of the survey believe that social networks are important for customer service and customer relationship management
Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise today released the results of a recent survey among 591 business contacts across the Middle East and Africa on the use of mobile communications including social media.
The research confirmed that the use of mobile Internet services and social media at work is becoming mainstream and companies now recognise that social media plays an important role in customer service. Research revealed that more than 60% use their mobile phone for email, Internet and instant messaging every day and over 40% used these for social media.
“We have noticed that mobile communications is the norm as consumer behavior crosses over into the enterprise,” commented Alain Penel, VP MEA at Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise. “Social Media is increasingly seen as an important part of customer–interaction in the Middle East and Africa. It is a sign of the times that customer communication needs to adapt to this changing environment if a business has to stay in tune with its customers.”
Some of the key findings of the survey include:
• 88% believe that social networks are important for customer service and customer relationship management
• 74% believe that social media should be integrated with call centers and the majority of those surveyed thought that operators need to have a complete overview of customer opinion
• 54% of respondents say that their organisations allow employees to use social media at work
• 57% of survey respondents used video calls or video conferencing at least once per week, while 52% made PC-phone calls at least once per week
• 62% took part in web conferencing or webinars at least monthly
At Gitex this year, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise is focused on “Changing the Conversation” between partners, customers and employees.
Penel added, “Our new OpenTouch communication platform enables enterprises to respond to the consumerisation of enterprise communications. It supports voice, video, text and instant messaging across smartphones, tablets and PCs with the ability for users to seamlessly move across devices with context – including third-party devices.”
The complete survey report is available for free download. English ChangeReport_final_eng_8Oct2011 or in Arabic Ar_ChangeReport_8Oct11FINAL
