Comcast redesigns customer support forums, continues charm campaign

Comcast (NASDAQ: CMCSA) announced Tuesday that it has redesigned its subscriber support forums in efforts to improve its customer service reputation.

The update includes a new search function, featuring real-time suggestions for posts that match search terms. There's also an option on the search bar to create a new post if the user's search question doesn't return any useful results.

Other updates include reorganized content, as well as new features designed to highlight frequent posters as "kudoed authors."

"As with any community, it's the people in our forums who count," wrote Jared Schultheis, executive director of Comcast's customer service strategy and operations. "We're fortunate to have a small but passionate group of independent experts who are customers just like you and are committed to help you with whatever question you might have. These experts have helped us keep the community lively, and we hope this redesign is something they appreciate, too. Down the road we'll be adding other features like badging and gamification to the forums so we can harness the collective wisdom of the crowd by encouraging more visitors to log in and offer solutions."

As an additional part of the $300 million effort to revamp its customer service offerings, Comcast is in the process of bulking up its digital teams, which are not only updating the support forum but also more carefully monitoring discussion on platforms like Twitter, as well.

It remains to be seen as to whether large and unwieldy Comcast can actually halt an endemic problem of customers enduring bad experiences when they seek help on confusing billing and technical support issues. But the company does seem to be making headway in terms of covering its tracks before news of these events proliferates on digital media. 

For more:
- read this Comcast blog post

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