Forums
Forums can be used to do many things: deflect calls, create social community, support customers, and even research and development. I have established several forums throughout my career. Please scroll down to learn more.
National University
 Sometimes forums technology can be used for just building community. In the case of National University, the forum that I created for the institution was just that, simply for community. The forum has over 2000 boards in it and lives on Facebook as an app. It is used primarily for retention efforts to get the students to connect and stay connected with one another. Please note that the forum was set up, on purpose, as an invitation only affair. So although you can reach the National University forum by clicking on this link, http://nucommons.nu.edu you will not be able to enter without knowing the super-secret handshake / password.
Verizon Wireless
 After the success of the Verizon Communications forum launch, Verizon Wireless wanted to start a forum of their own. I assisted in this endeavor by helping the Wireless team seed the forum, establish terms of conduct, design the forum layout, and even name some of the boards. Just like the Verizon Communications forum, the Verizon Wireless forum is saving millions for the company, deflecting calls and helping customers find answers to their various questions online. To visit the Verizon Wireless forums, click here.
Verizon Communications
In 2008, I was tasked to figure out if forums and social media in general would work for Verizon. And it most certainly did. The Verizon Community drives indirect call deflections everday for Verizon and benefits the customers by allowing them to ask questions of each other. A win-win for everyone around. Below are some brief bullet points on my accomplishments with the Verizon Community.
- Established the first technical support forums for Verizon Telecommunications August 2008 at http://forums.verizon.com increasing call deflections by 64% from 2008.
- Analyzed call deflection numbers realizing a $1.2 million dollar cost savings for the month of November 2009.
- Integrated Verizon Wireless into the forums March 12, 2009 increasing traffic by 320%.
- Implemented the first social media customer support group which monitors Facebook, Twitter, and the Verizon Community for customer’s issues and provides service as required.
- Designed workflows plus policies and procedures for Verizon customer service groups to handle escalations on the Verizon Community.
- Created process to handle mission critical nationwide Verizon FiOS outages that would keep Verizon customers informed while simultaneously giving the FiOS customer service groups a place to post updates, upgrades, and progress reports related to said outages.
- Integrated Verizon Small Business to the Verizon Community January 2009.
- Ensured synergies between Online Support and Virtual Agent to maximum customer self service channels in addition to customer experience at Verizon.
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