Quality

AT&T is know for meeting or exceeding customer requirements. They provide reliable products and are responsive to their services.

March 4, 2010 : AT&T Government Solutions, Inc., a business unit of AT&T Inc., has announced that it has achieved the International Organization for Standards (ISO) 9001:2008 certification.

The ISO 9001:2008 certification recognizes organizations that can link business objectives with operating effectiveness.

In order to achieve the ISO 9001:2008 certification, AT&T Government Solutions, Inc. underwent an extensive review of its Quality Management System.

ISO 9001:2008 specifies requirements for a quality management system where an organization

• needs to demonstrate its ability to consistently provide product that meets customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements, and
• aims to enhance customer satisfaction through the effective application of the system, including processes for continual improvement of the system and the assurance of conformity to customer and applicable statutory and regulatory requirements.

Although, the biggest issue that AT&T has had recently is their 3G service quality. Having millions of satisfied iPhone users puts stress on AT&T's network. Through continuous improvement, they are working on fixing this issue soon by building a newer, stronger network. The iPhone will also be sold by Verizon at the end of this year, so this should take some of the stress off of AT&T's network as well.

Based on what I was able to find on the internet:

• AT&T does use QC (Quality Control) charts. They use the X-bar control chart.
• They have used the Pareto Analysis.
• Uses the Six Sigma quality improvement strategy.
  

Technology

AT&T's technology on the service end is important in maintaining inventory and managing customers. In-store technology includes point-of-sale scanners, bar-code readers, and inventory control computers. Keeping track of inventory make operations run smoother in the store, which makes the customers happy. Happy customers translates into more sales.



On the customers' end, technology in services has come a long way. Today, on a cell phone, a customer can make phone calls, access the internet, and read their emails. Technology has come a long way in recent years and will continue to advance in the near future.

Customer Contact

AT&T has a wide variety of customer contact. They use mail contact to send bills directly to your home. Internet and on-site technology makes the service process simpler for AT&T and their customers. While on your computer at home, you may access and pay your bill at any time and customize other parts of your service contract. You can also order products from their website. This requires no direct contact with the representatives at AT&T. In some stores, they also have a way to sign in to the service, sales, or technical support departments, so that there is an exact order for the employees to handle customers. Phone contact is also a major part of AT&T's operations. Having access to direct contact with a telephone representative makes it easier for a customer to take care of any issues or concerns without having to leave the comfort of their home. The calls are scripted when you first call, so that they can direct you to the exact department you need. This also makes it easier for the employees to organize and handle large volumes of customers. The most complicated part of AT&T's Customer Service Matrix is the Face-to-Face contact. This contact has tight specs because there is a degree of procedural skills that are required by the service or sales representatives, as opposed to loose specs, which deals with some self-serve services. This is probably the largest and most important part of AT&T's customer contact. Employees need to be trained and have certain skills to deal with a customer appropriately. Much of the customer's experiences depend on this type of contact, so it crucial to the company.

It is mostly the direct contact services that deal with different types of uncertainty. The types of uncertainty include:

- Arrival Variability
- Request Variability
- Capability Variability
- Effort Variability
- Subjective-preference Variability

Each of these variables come into play when dealing with customers, so it is very important for AT&T's employees to be trained, so that they are able to handle each situation appropriately.

Service Matrix

AT&T Wireless is a mix of customer routed and provider routed services, which falls into the Co-Routed or Semi Standardized category of the Service Matrix. Their service has a standard with options using a moderately repeatable sequence. The customer has some decision-making power when it comes to choosing the wireless plan that applies to their needs.

There is a moderate number of process pathways, flexible flows with some dominant paths, and moderate work complexity. The sales representatives can only sell you what products they have in stock and the service plans that they offer. Since there is slight customer customization, the representative's work is more complex than provider routed services and less complex than customer routed services.

Service-Product Bundle

The Service-Product Bundle consists of three elements:

1. The tangible service (explicit service).
2. The psychological benefits of the service (implicit service).
3. The physical goods (facilitating goods).

AT&T's tangible service would be their in-store customer service. You can walk into any mall and find an AT&T wireless store. There, they will assist you in finding a new cell phone or servicing the one that you already own.

The psychological benefits of the service are directly related to the customer service or sales representatives and how they approach you. Marketing is also a huge part of the psychological benefits. AT&T's representatives and advertising contribute to a sense of professionalism and security for the customer. Any feelings you may have towards AT&T is because of their implicit service.

AT&T Wireless' physical or facilitating goods are the cell phones they offer and any other accessories. The store that these products are sold in is also a physical good. This part of the Service-Product Bundle is why the company exists.

Managing Inventory

AT&T uses a SCM (Supply Chain Management) system. Supply Chain Management spans all movement and storage of raw materials, work-in-process inventory, and finished goods from point of origin to point of consumption. When AT&T uses their Supply Chain Management, the company uses real-time wireless data. With this, inventory can be evaluated and orders can be place immediately so they can be delivered to retail outlets in a shorter period of time; cutting costs and increasing revenue.


AT&T is technologically advanced, having mobile access to MRO/Inventory Management. They keep production on track with real-time access to inventory of maintenance, repair, and operations supplies; and reorder them automatically by triggering reorders from a wireless device or telemetry sensor. Using Mobile Inventory/RFID Solutions increases supply chain visibility by deploying wireless devices with bar code scanning and RFID for material handling in distribution warehouses, high-value asset tracking, moving inventory, cycle counting, shipping and receiving, and direct store delivery programs.




They also use an ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system, which provides access to job, inventory, and scheduling information, with predefined alerts for quality and delivery issues.

AT&T is able to save time and money by minimizing the need to track
order status and inventory manually.

In addition to the supply chain management example mentioned above, a supply chain is the stream of processes of moving goods from the customer order through the raw materials stage, supply, production, and distribution of products to the customer. All organizations have supply chains of varying degrees, depending upon the size of the organization and the type of product manufactured. These networks obtain supplies and components, change these materials into finished products and then distribute them to the customer.

Our Company

"Today, our mission is to connect people with their world, everywhere they live & work, & do it better than anyone else."

American Telephone & Telegraph, better known as AT&T, is an American telecommunications company that provides voice, video, data, and Internet telecommunications and professional services to businesses, consumers, and government agencies.

AT&T is recognized as one of the leading worldwide providers of IP-based communications services to businesses. They also have the nation's fastest 3G network (serving 81.6 million customers) and the largest international coverage of any U.S. wireless carrier, offering the most phones that work in the most countries; the largest Wi-Fi network in the United States; and the largest number of high speed Internet access subscribers in the United States.

AT&T currently ranks 8th among the 2009 Fortune 500.