Learn how higher education institutions can embrace the new multi-channel eco-system for student self-service (via Mobile, Social Media, Web).

1. IR Kno wledge Se ries
Going Mobile:
Web Self-Ser vice for Students
Learn how higher education institutions can
embrace the new multi-channel eco-system for
student self-service (via Mobile, Social Media, Web).
Visit page 6 for an overview of how one university has
already accomplished this today:

2. Going Mobile: 1
Web Self-Service for Students
This knowledge paper examines and explores Given the numbers, it is of little surprise. After
the increasing adoption and prevalent usage all, nine out of every 10 Americans already own a
of mobile devices for student interaction with cell phone (more than those that have Internet
higher education institutions. connections). On average, these individuals get a
(2)
new mobile device approximately every 18 months. (3)
“Time to Declare the PC Dead and
Increasingly these new devices are smartphones or
Embrace the Mobile Platform, (1)
” “app” phones – full service cellular and web devices
wrote Lev S. Gonick, CIO at Case Western Reserve that provide a host of entertainment, business and
University, in an article published in Inside Higher Ed organizational tools for consumers. With such
in early January 2010. This has increasingly become a advanced technology now accessible in a convenient,
prevalent theme in the main stream media and with go-anywhere form factor, it is little wonder that we
students alike over recent years. The market continues are shifting our online habits away from the tethered
to follow with baited breadth the innovations that desktop toward mobile devices, especially today’s
Apple has introduced in the market, including tech-savvy students.
the iPhone and the newly launched iPad tablet.
Not to mention the bevy of new technologies and
devices released by other technology leaders such as Students are increasingly going
Microsoft, LG, Nokia, Samsung and others. mobile - and they’re bringing their
For many higher education institutions, delivering inquisitive nature and thirst for
a superior level of student service has become a
information anytime, anywhere
truly “multi-faceted” challenge that includes the
Web, Social Media and Mobile. A typical school has along with them.
more than likely invested a tremendous amount of
their effort, time and budgetary dollars on making Many experts agree that smartphones will be the
the web site their primary communication vehicle primary technology devices used within the next few
with students. And a school may also have a strategy years, effectively eclipsing laptops as the preferred
for communicating with prospective and current attaché of the upwardly mobile (no pun intended).
students via social media channels like Facebook and
Twitter. But addressing Mobile access is most likely The past decade’s vast improvements in the speed
unchartered territory for many schools. and accessibility of the Internet and wireless
telecommunications have contributed to the
Increasingly, students are no longer tethered to a consumer’s desire for instant gratification. The
landline phone, laptop or desktop computer when ability to access information and purchase products
they begin their higher education journey and and services is now truly at our fingertips 24 hours,
continue as mobile students. seven days a week. As such, today’s consumer can
A truly comprehensive strategy must therefore include engage with businesses and organizations literally
efficient management of student interactions via the at any time and, using their mobile device, from
ubiquitous mobile device. virtually any place.
Higher education institutions must therefore be
prepared to meet customers (prospective and
The Role of the Mobile Channel current students) in this “new destination” – a place
where student service is not exempt from the desire
The Rise of Mobile Culture
for instant gratification.
Whether using a cell phone, or one of the growing
number of “smartphone” devices available, like Whether it is information on enrollment, tuition,
BlackBerries, Palm Pre’s, iPhones or the newly financial aid, campus housing, student services or
released iPad tablet, students are increasingly going IT support, prospective and current students want
mobile – and they are bringing their inquisitive answers, and they want them now. As students move
nature and thirst for information anytime, faster in this new and untethered “mobile” world,
anywhere along with them. solving service issues quickly and efficiently with
them has also become increasingly important.

3. Going Mobile: 2
Web Self-Service for Students
The Mobile Channel: Playing a Bigger In the rush to provide an enhanced student
Role, Still Part of a Bigger Picture experience in the mobile environment, it is
This seismic shift to a mobile culture means it important that schools not lose sight of the need
is more pressing than ever for organizations to for multi-channel service excellence and consistency.
address the question, “What is our mobile customer
A school with a comprehensive multi-channel
interaction strategy for our constituent of students
service strategy can more easily and seamlessly
and faculty?” With the bigger question being, “How
move students to the most cost effective channel
do we deliver service in the mobile channel as an
for efficient resolution – allowing them to provide
extension of our entire service strategy?”
higher quality service to more complex issues while
Today, student interactions with schools can begin also looking after the bottom line by maintaining or
in a variety of ways: on a smartphone, web site, reducing overall service delivery costs.
through a new social media channel (e.g. Twitter,
Facebook, forums, blogs, etc.) or via a phone call
to any one of your externally facing departments,
including the Registrar’s Office, Financial Aid,
Student Services, etc. In every instance, customer
satisfaction is put to the test.
Figure 1
Mobile’s Explosive Growth Predicted to Continue
US Internet Users and Mobile Internet Users (2008 - 2013)
2008 192.8
59.5
2009 199.2
73.7 Internet
Users
2010 205.3
89.2 Mobile
210.9 Internet
2011 106.2 Users
2012 216
122.1
221.1
2013 134.3
10 58 106 154 202 250
Unique users in millions (US Subscribers)
Source: eMarketer, June 2009

4. Going Mobile: 3
Web Self-Service for Students
Why Mobile Student Service? three year plans. Consider that most (if not all)
students in North America today will likely replace
Strong Mobile Growth Takes their mobile technology at least once in the next
Schools by Surprise two to three years.
In recent years, you would be hard pressed to find Fueled in no small part by the fervor of publicity
an organization to disagree with the premise that surrounding the Apple iPhone and now the iPad
student interactions are becoming increasingly tablet, consumer adoption of mobile browsing and
mobile. The recent explosion in smartphone sales, native applications surged faster than most could
enhanced mobile networks and growing demand have anticipated. For many schools, the future is now
for data plans, all were signs pointing to a mobile- and it has arrived far ahead of schedule.
centric future – signs which no organization
could have missed. What has surprised most Consumers, including students, are already using
organizations (both public and private), however, their mobile devices to browse the Internet and
is today’s student suddenly becoming the mobile- interact with a plethora of sites. Or, at least,
centric student “of the future” virtually overnight. they’re trying. Most times, their attempts to find
information in a convenient manner are met with
frustration – and organizations without a working
A school with a comprehensive mobile Internet strategy and solution often
pay the price with unsatisfactory service. Today,
multi-channel service strategy can
organizations face a grim reality check. 66% of
more easily and seamlessly move consumers find it difficult to locate or navigate to
students to the most cost effective relevant content, and most consumers (80%) wish
it was easier to access information from the Internet
channel for efficient resolution.
on a mobile phone.(4)
The good news for organizations, of course, is that
The credit for this rapid spread can be seen in it is getting easier.
the cellular companies’ delivery of new “free”
handsets of increasing sophistication, fueled by
Figure 2
2009 Data Illustrates Importance of the Mobile Channel to Consumers
How Important is a Self-Service Option from a Mobile Phone for 24-Hour Access?
Important
18%
Unimportant
38%
Extremely
Important
19%
62% state that
self-service from
a mobile phone is Somewhat Important
25%
Source: Yankee Group Research, Inc., 2009
important

5. Going Mobile: 4
Web Self-Service for Students
Mobile can Deliver a Superior Customer overall calls and emails to the school’s various
Service Experience administrations and faculties. It allows school
Using new and innovative mobile customer service staff in Enrollment, Student Services, Registrar
technology, higher education institutions can and other administrative departments to focus on
allay students’ mobile web-browsing frustrations higher-value queries instead of becoming mired in
beginning today, and greatly enhance the user repetitive phone conversations, or email exchanges
experience going forward. with students.
For organizations that are laggards in deploying McKinsey & Company, a global management
a mobile Internet strategy, new mobile web self- consulting firm, estimates the cost range of a typical
service solutions allow them to not merely play contact center transaction to be between $8 and
catch-up, but to leapfrog to the forefront of mobile $10. This customer service cost could be greatly
customer service excellence. Figure 3 is an example reduced or contained through mobile customer
of how user-friendly and simplistic a deployment self-service since it can reduce the cost of issue
of self-service technology can be on the mobile resolution considerably – before it even reaches
environment. the contact center or any of the administrative
departments in a school.
Inherent Cost Savings In addition, the convenience of the mobile channel
The cost savings of effective mobile self-service itself has a built-in cost-saving characteristic: most
are inherent, measurable and quickly achievable mobile users are more likely to use self-service in
alongside enhanced student experience outcomes. the evening and weekends, times when they are off
Giving prospective and current students, and even a regular work or school day – times when school
faculty and staff, the ability to resolve common administrative departments are either closed or
problems directly on their mobile handsets reduces minimally staffed.
Figure 3
Simplicity Key to Mobile Customer Self-Service
Student Answer
simply served
types a instantly
question on next
screen
Above: The IntelliResponse Mobile Applications (WAP and iPhone) for its Instant Answer Agent is a self-ser vice
application that lets customers type their question using natural conversational language. A single, accurate
and mobile-friendly answer to the question is ser ved on the ver y next screen.

6. Going Mobile: 5
Web Self-Service for Students
Mobile as a natural Extension of a School’s “Delivering” student care is now more than a
Multi-Channel Strategy metaphor, as prospective (and current) students
Schools R S u b Bstudentd s
I with extensive r a n self-service are want attention and resolution to their issues
better positioned for growth and retention in wherever they may be physically located. With students
today’s constrained economic climate. With student increasingly willing to communicate and interact
applications and enrollments soaring across North on mobile devices, it is counter-productive (not to
America due to the negative economic climate and mention frustrating to the student) when customer
the ensuing lack of job prospects, higher education service is not accessible through the same device.
institutions have never experienced this level of
Now is the time for schools to extend student self-
dual intensity in both constraints and growth. They
service across multiple channels of communication,
are more constrained than ever before with limited
from the traditional web to social media channels
budgets and human resources while also having to
and the mobile platform.
address record volumes of inquiries and interest in
enrollment.
Figure 4
New Eco-System for Student Self-Service
(Web, Social Media, Mobile)
Web
Social Mobile
Facebook, Twitter, Forums/Blogs iPhone, iTouch, iPad, WAP

7. Going Mobile: 6
Web Self-Service for Students
Multi-Channel Eco-System for Student Self-Service Live at Innovative University
A live example of a school that has implemented this new multi-channel eco-system for student self-ser vice is the
University of Saskatchewan. Students can use any of these channels to access the school branded “Ask US!”, the
IntelliResponse Instant Answer Agent, to obtain answers to their questions instantly.
Below, a student asks the question “how do I apply?” through three different channels set up by the school. The same
answer is obtained from the central answer base for appropriate display in each channel.
Ask US! is accessible through these University of Saskatchewan properties...
iUSask iPhone Application
Official Facebook Fanpage
Official Web Site

8. Going Mobile: 7
Web Self-Service for Students
Next Steps: How Can You Inconveniences to avoid in your mobile student
self-service delivery:
Best Integrate Mobile
• earch results that return multiple links/options/
S
Student Self-Service? pages, and beget additional searching, clicking or
navigation beyond the initial query
1. Deploy channel-specific service solutions
While it may seem obvious, not all interaction • avigating through Frequently Asked Questions
N
channels support the delivery of information in a •
Too much choice in the number of links
“one size fits all” fashion. presented per screen
Mobile devices, in particular, demand solutions and • ny amount of scrolling beyond just a few flicks of
A
delivery of content and information in ways that are a handset’s wheel or toggle button.
conducive to the channel itself. Speed and brevity
dominate in the mobile world – where organizations Mobile devices themselves are tools of convenience
have less “real estate” to deal with when deploying so any user experience that fails to honor this is
their customer interaction strategies and tactics. destined to damage the user experience. Or even
worse, risk unsuccessful adoption of your mobile
2. Make efficiency, accuracy and simplicity the web. Instead, provide intelligent self-service options
guiding principles of your mobile student that let the user quickly find the desired information.
self-service experience
Consider that even from a desktop computer or
laptop connection, “inconvenience” online is no
longer tolerated by consumers, especially today’s
tech-savvy higher education student. And it is
tolerated even less so on a mobile device.
Figure 5
The Mobile Customer Experience Should be Device-Agnostic
Above: Whether through a BlackBerr y (left) or an iPhone (right), self-ser vice is easily accessible
and user friendly across both handsets.

9. Going Mobile: 8
Web Self-Service for Students
3. Add intelligent self-service options in the
mobile channel
If you haven’t already done so, investigate adding
intelligent self-service options such as a virtual
assistant to your institution’s mobile platform. Already
widely used by organizations to enhance the multi-
channel customer experience, intelligent self-service
in the mobile channel takes customer experience to a
whole new level of usability and accessibility.
A mobile answer agent honors the convenience
criterion of the mobile environment by making it
easy for users to ask questions and find the right
answers quickly via the channel of their choosing.
4. Deliver a consistent experience for users
regardless of their preferred form factor
Whether via native applications running on devices
such as the iPhone, iPad or BlackBerry, or through
WAP-enabled devices, it is important to deliver a
consistent, compatible experience across a range of
mobile devices and standard protocols.
5. “Right Channel” with effective escalation
and support protocols
Make sure you are channeling students into the right
information funnel through intelligent escalation. For
example, it may make more sense to flag certain self-
service inquiries relating to personal safety to Campus
Security or the Dean of Students office.

10. Going Mobile: 9
Web Self-Service for Students
For More Information
For more information on cost effective ways to enhance
the customer experience at your organization contact:
Mike Hennessy
IntelliResponse
mike.hennessy@intelliresponse.com
About IntelliResponse
IntelliResponse enhances the multi-channel customer experience for
businesses and educational institutions via its Instant Answer Agent, a
question-and-answer software platform that allows web site visitors and
service agents to ask questions in natural language, and get the “One
Right Answer”, regardless of the hundreds of ways the question may be
asked. This industry leading On Demand software platform is used by
both consumers and contact center agents. With more than 200 live,
customer facing implementations answering 50 million+ questions with
one right answer, IntelliResponse is the gold standard in first line customer
experience management.
Some of the world’s most recognized corporate brands and higher
education institutions trust their customer experience management needs
to IntelliResponse - including ING Direct, TD Canada Trust, Scotiabank,
Penn State University, The Ohio State University, University of British
Columbia and Harvard University Extension School.
(1)
“The Year Ahead in IT”, January 7, 2010, Insider Higher Ed
“ATT Wants More Web-Enabled Devices”,
(2)
October 17, 2009, New York Times
(3)
h
ttp://www.gsmworld.com/documents/health/research/
GSMA_200610_MobileLifecycles_Final_English.pdf
(4)
A
zuki Systems Inc.
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