That same FCC survey about broadband also asked about cellular service, and there's where the real surprise comes in: People also like their cellular service.The FCC found that 33% of respondents were very happy with the speed of the Internet access they get on their cell phones, and 38% are somewhat satisfied, meaning 71% overall are satisfied. What's really surprising, given all the complaints you hear about AT&T and the iPhone, is that the survey also found that 58% were "very satisfied" with "how many places you can get a good signal," and 29% were "somewhat satisfied."
The next question is overall satisfaction, and here again we see some fairly startling levels of happiness: 59% say they're very satisfied with their cellular service, and 33% are somewhat satisfied. Wow. I'd wager you don't see 92% satisfaction levels at Dairy Queen on a hot summer night. [Oops: This originally read 91%. Sorry.]
So what's up? Well, let's face it. Part of it is that, even though enterprises have legitimate unmet demands when it comes to cellular quality and feature/functionality, cellular service is, like ice cream, a really good thing to have. Cellular devices improve quickly, and most people don't draw a distinction between the device and the service.
Sure, enterprises haven't progressed very far in integrating end users' mobile services with the enterprise communications systems. This is probably equally the fault of the carriers, many of whom aren't that interested in business services, and enterprises, who especially lately have lacked the resources as well as the true drivers toward making the integration happen.
This is where I put in my appeal for you to attend our virtual event on integrating mobility and UC (info here; registration here).
But even within the enterprise, you can do a lot more and better business today than you could even a couple of years ago, thanks to cellular services and devices. It ain't perfect, but it turns out we appreciate the effort.
