Comcast looks to gain edge through customer service

For Comcast Corp. to be competitive in 2009 — a year in which the recession may leave customers wondering whether it's necessary to have telephone, Internet or cable television services — the telecommunications giant will have to gain an edge through customer service, the company's vice president of customer operations said.

Rick Germano was in Salt Lake City on Tuesday to talk to Utah management of the Philadelphia-based company. Comcast, the nation's largest cable company with customers in 39 states and Washington D.C., does not release how many Utah customers it has for competitive reasons.

Comcast representatives will encourage customers to "bundle up" on services. For instance, if they only receive Internet from Comcast, they will be encouraged to add cable and telephone, which Germano says will save customers money.

Since 2007, Comcast has been opening regional management centers, which now total 14. From the centers, employees monitor technical details such as signal quality, strength and speed of services.

"We know you're going to have a problem before you even have one," Germano said. "That's the end game."

Technicians who visit customers' homes in Utah now have laptop computers to diagnose problems. Before, technicians had to make educated guesses and call local dispatch centers for help in diagnosing.

Rodrigo Lopez, the Utah market vice president for Comcast, said the company has been hiring telephone customer service representatives and beginning next month, 99 percent of all customer calls will be fielded by the local call centers instead of at a random contracted site.

"We always felt if we had employees answer who were part of the community" they would connect with customers better, Lopez said.

E-MAIL: lhancock@desnews.com