Coffee Break: The Web site is on, but there's nobody home

Communications & Technology is this week's special section, and while pursuing information on the latest in wireless communications, I learned some things about the industry, and particularly, how it communicates.

For example, although I have had Internet access for more than four years, I confess I have spent little time in cyberspace.

My computer at home is old and slow. The connection at work was, until recently, shared by four other people. So, when I did get online, I did not pass Go, I did not collect $200, I went straight to the site I wanted, got what I needed and left.

With the recent installation of new high-speed connectivity at the Business Journal, everyone now has Internet access at their fingertips.

So, in preparation for this week's special section, I got online and began cruising the information superhighway ... you know, for information?

And, while I had some good results, in many cases I found myself wondering: If this is the superhighway, why is all this junk parked in the road?

The biggest problem was at the corporate sites I visited.

Nine times out of 10, I arrived at a company Web site in search of information only to find that there was no information.

There was layer upon layer of slick sales pitches and hype, liberally sprinkled with buzz words and adjectives. There was very little information for anyone who really wants to learn about the company's products.

I want to know what it is and how it works; all anyone wants to tell me is how wonderful it is and what it does.

I would think the communications industry would realize that with all things becoming equal in terms of products and services, how wonderful it is and what it does is a broken record.

Or maybe a scratched CD.

The times, they are a changing. The days when shouting "digital" in a crowded conference room triggered a stampede to the sales counter are ending.

Instead, "wireless Internet access" and "PCS" are the latest incarnation of the cattle prod. And they are bound to get the desired results. For a while.

But if you want to sell me and all the other skeptical, Show-Me types you need to tell me why what you have is better, not just that it is better. You have to tell me how it works, not just that it works. Tell it, and sell it, like it is.

And, here's the clincher. You also have to provide me with service after the sale. Because another avenue of information I pursued in preparation for this issue was to call the toll-free customer service numbers of some of the nation's communication giants.

The only comfort I had during the average 20 to 30 minutes I spent on hold was that it was on their dime.

One might almost get the impression that, of the hundreds of thousands of people employed in the call center industry, only a fraction of them are devoted to service after the sale.

A tiny fraction.

As in maybe five people.

Part-time.

An exaggeration? Absolutely. But the value of service and first impressions cannot be exaggerated enough.

The big corporations need to take a lesson from the local service providers I spoke with and I was actually able to speak with them.

They pointed out that the battle for market share in this increasingly competitive industry will be fought and won on the customer-service front.