SMBs Losing Business Because Of Poor Call Quality

SMBs are losing out on business because of poor quality mobile service, according to new research, which claims that almost all small businesses have suffered from a dropped call during an important conversation.

Independent mobile analytics firm RootMetrics spoke to 1,000 SMBs and found that 46 percent were losing multiple business calls on a daily basis, a significant problem when many firms are becoming increasingly mobile.

Nineteen percent of respondents equip staff with a mobile phone, a figure which increases to 32 percent in London. However according to recent RootMetrics tests, London has just the fifth best mobile service of any major UK city and the third worst for call quality.

Poor calls costing business

Investments in mobile technology are currently outstripping those made in landline equipment but many rank their landline provider ahead of their mobile network.

“Small businesses increasingly rely on their mobile devices to conduct business, with many of these businesses now spending more on mobile contracts than on traditional essentials like heating, air conditioning, and office computers,” says Bill Moore CEO and President of RootMetrics. “Yet clearly many are unhappy with the performance they are experiencing, and it is particularly telling that in London call performance is amongst the worst in the country.”

All four major UK operators are investing heavily in the rollout of 4G, with EE deploying 150Mbps 4G+ at present, but there is an acknowledgement that voice is important to many customers too. Vodafone is rolling out ‘HD Voice’, which captures more sound waves and uses broader range of frequencies for better call quality, while both it and EE are testing out Voice over LTE (VoLTE) technology.

EE and Three are also offering customers the ability to make calls over Wi-Fi connections in places where cellular signal is too weak for good quality conversations.

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