Phone, Fax and Web Chat - The Evolution of Customer Service

If there's one job that will always be in demand, it's customer service. We can automate the production of many products, and Amazon is even toying with automating the delivery of smaller products with drones, but there's one thing that machines can't do as well as humans, and that's provide customer service.

Over the last few decades we've seen a huge amount of innovation in customer service, and today there are a huge number of different ways to contact businesses:

• Letters
• Telephone
• Fax
• Email
• Web forms
• Live chat
• Social Media

In spite of all of those contact options being available, most of us still prefer to pick up the phone. In fact, according to Maintel, who produced this fascinating infographic on modern customer service trends and the ways in which businesses are failing customers, around 79% of consumers prefer to pick up the phone instead of using other contact methods.

Over the last 20-30 years, technology has come a long way, but at the end of the day the most important thing in the customer service equation remains the same - dealing with helpful people.

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The Evolution of Music and Video Content Consumption

Question: How many ways are there to consume music today?
Answer: More than you can guess. The way we consume content, including music, has undergone a few changes in the past decade or so. As recently as the years between 2000 and 2005, we connected to the Internet at a speed of about 56 kbps. Today, Internet connection speeds average about 2.6 mbps. What seemed like the greatest thing since sliced bread in 2000 would seem so frustratingly slow that today’s users would be utterly appalled by the length of time it took to load a single web page. Thanks to the speed at which we can connect to the world at large, we’re consuming a great deal of content in new ways.

Desktop PCs, while still used in business and office settings, as well as many homes, are often a last resort to mobile users. We prefer to connect on the go, without being chained to a desk, using devices such as smartphones and tablets. We’re consuming the majority of our content today digitally. Whether it’s music, video, news or even books—we turn to the World Wide Web first. Take a look at the infographic below for more details on how content consumption has evolved over the past 10 to 15 years.

TorchBrowser is a free and unique software that offers you powerful browsing together with built-in media downloading and sharing features.

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Evolution of Invention in the Last 50 Years

In 1963, John F. Kennedy (JFK) was the president, the Beatles released their 1st single in US "Please Please Me", and Mickey Mantle signed a contract with the New York Yankees for $100,000. Society and technology has evolved quite a bit over the last 50 years, and advancements in invention have been a large driver of change. In the last 50 years between 1963 and 2012, the number of patent applications and patent grants issued by the United States Patent and Trademark Office has increased by roughly 500%.
To celebrate the innovation that has taken place over the last 50 years the patent and new product marketing experts at Innovate Product Design have come up with a very interesting infographic that explores the evolution of invention.

The infographic notes several trends over the last five decades, most notably the dramatic increase in the number of patent applications and grants. However, a spotlight is also cast on some of the most influential innovations of the last 50 years, including the commerical jetliner, the remote control (TV), cellular phones, GPS technology, and perhaps the most life-changing evolution of them all, the internet. Also, the infographic offers a useful overview of the disntinctions between the three different types of patents including, Utility Patents, Design Patents, and Plant Patents.

Enjoy this infographic, and please feel free to submit your comments or questions, including any inventions of the last five decades that you think should have been included on this list!

© 2013 Innovate Product Design

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