AT&T has launched a new app for the iPhone that will enable the carrier’s most coveted subscribers to report locations where their handset coverage is problematic or nonexistent. Called AT&T Mark The Spot, the location-aware application is available as a free download from Apple’s iTunes store.
Last week AT&T dropped its legal dispute against rival Verizon Wireless over advertising claims that AT&T’s 3G coverage is spotty. Now the wireless carrier is turning to technology in order to boost the iPhone’s performance over its broadband wireless network.
AT&T’s new iPhone app should help the carrier become more proactive with respect to complaints about its network coverage, noted Lisa Pierce, an independent wireless analyst at the Strategic Networks Group.
“When it comes to coverage, they have been getting beaten to death in ads from Verizon Wireless,” Pierce said. “And as we all know, Apple users have not been satisfied with AT&T’s 3G network and often use Wi-Fi instead.”
A Call Center Cost-Cutter
Mark The Spot provides iPhone users with an easy way to report the precise locations where problems occur — such as dropped or failed calls, no coverage, data failure or poor voice quality. The new app automatically maps the precise latitude and longitude of the place where the user’s problem was experienced.
Pierce noted that Mark The Spot allows AT&T to appear more responsive to customer concerns, while simultaneously helping the carrier reduce its internal contact center costs.
“One of the issues with smartphones in general is that they have driven a huge amount of help center requests,” Pierce explained. “With an iPhone or devices like that, more than 25 percent of the calls to customer care centers are because the device won’t connect to the Internet.”
Though there is “no one best way” for carriers to approach…