Telecom provider Budget Mobiel aims for as many successful portings as possible. Thanks to the Virtual Porting Agent (VPA), that’s becoming reality. We spoke with Christian Oud, Business Analyst at Budget Mobiel. "Number porting should be straightforward, and the VPA makes that possible."
Budget Mobiel has been using the Number Portability Gateway for years, a solution that handles all porting processes. Reporting is part of the service, including the total successful and unsuccessful portings.
"The average success rate went down in 2023, so we took a closer look with PXS," says Oud. "We concluded all was going well, but customer information could be improved."
PXS notified Budget Mobiel about the Virtual Porting Agent. With the agent, a customer can see the current status of a porting request, and validate it at the same time.
"Insight is very important for new customers, because they only care about one thing: a smooth transition with their number," says Oud. "The VPA clearly shows whether a porting request has been approved and when they will be ported. Of course they have already been notified, but it's convenient for the customer to see the current status."
Benefits for both customer and provider
For Budget Mobiel, it’s equally important that the customer does not have to contact them for simple questions. "That works contact-reducing, so cost-saving. The VPA provides customers insight without burdening our staff. In addition, the customer can validate a porting request with a code via SMS."
For that reason, the decision to activate the VPA was a no-brainer. From there, everything was straight-forward. "There was no implementation phase," says Oud. "The agent was live in no time and worked instantly. It's also nice that the agent has our Budget Mobiel identity, including logo and font. That proivdes customers with assurance, they tell us."
For Budget Mobiel it was just a matter of referring customers to the VPA. "Nothing has changed in the number portability process, but we now refer to the VPA in all of our communication. Where customers previously had to call, or search in an email, they are now redirected to the agent – one channel to find all information."
More successful portings
After the launch of the VPA, Oud saw an increase in successful portings, even after an extended period of time. Customer service contact went down as well. Still, there’s always room for improvement.
"We aim for an even higher success rate: the number of customers successfully ported in one go. That requires a constant analysis of the process, and how the VPA fits in."
Of course, PXS is available as a technical and consultative partner, and regularly updates with new functionalities. "We have an excellent collaboration," Oud points out. "Especially on the service level; questions are quickly followed up on and the ticketing system is solid."
Ultimately, it’s all about hassle-free number porting. "For customers, porting is rocket science, and they don’t know what it means exactly," says Oud. "That’s why the process has to work straightforwardly, which is exactly what the VPA does."
Also interested in the Virtual Porting Agent? Learn more about its capabilities here, or contact us directly.
