The Communications Industry Gets ‘switched-on’

Help us to communicate about switched-on to the uk!

The programme is relevant to BT’s direct customers and to the many end-users of other communications providers that rely on BT’s network to provide services. Mobile networks are not affected.

The five year campaign features a single website and free phone number for all end users to get more information, to have their questions answered and to learn more about what next generation networks mean for people and for businesses. The campaign will also include direct correspondence to all homes and small businesses in the UK in advance of their switch on to the new network, detailing when it will happen and what it means for them. 

The first end users to receive these communications will be in Cardiff and the surrounding area from November this year. The remainder of the country will be migrated over subsequent years and communications will be issued in advance of end-users' ‘switched-on’ dates.

To read the press release in full, please go to the toolkit section of the communications area within the Consult21 website (‘switched-on’ communications toolkit).

We need your help to maximise any opportunities to communicate about the switched-on campaign with your employees and customers to ensure that they are fully informed.

By using industry agreed materials we will ensure that we have consistent messages about the switched-on migration process out there in the external marketplace. If the industry utilises their own internal and external communication channels we will also increase the reach and cover of the switched-on brand and what it stands for in the UK. To help you with this we have produced a communications toolkit — for further details please see below.

As reported in the previous issue of the Consult21 bulletin, Communication Providers (CPs) have agreed to undertake this unique, independent communications campaign to specifically promote the process for migrating BT’s voice, broadband and ISDN lines to a next-generation network.  

Visitors to the website — www.switchedonuk.org will be able to learn more about the programme that are rapidly putting the UK at the forefront of communications technology worldwide, irrespective of who their service provider or providers are.

Carlson Marketing has been appointed to undertake communication and response management activities
for this programme and have been working closely with the Migration Communications Working Group to prepare for the launch of this programme.

Where can you find materials to help you communicate with employees and customers?

The Migration Communications Working Group has worked with Carlson on a range of materials that can be used to communicate with employees, customers and colleagues in the industry.

Soft copies of all these materials are now available in a new area of the Consult21 communications web pages dedicated to publishing the CPs toolkit. Over time these materials will be updated as required and we will add new materials and information for CPs based on feedback and suggestions received.

Use of the toolkit materials will ensure that we achieve consistency in terms of messages in the marketplace and will increase the awareness and recall of the campaign.

The toolkit currently contains the following items:

• A covering brochure that outlines the purpose of the toolkit and call to action whilst summarising content within

• Website banners (different sizes are produced) for your external websites and internal intranets with a link through to the independent Carlson website

• Copy that you can use for employee or customer communications

• A PowerPoint presentation for any face-to-face communications with employees and customers

• Branding guidelines with everything you need to know about the use of ‘switched-on’

• Briefing materials for contact centre team leaders

• An A4 template with the ‘switched-on’ branding for use in briefings or letters

• Practical information for CPs (i.e. a reminder on how to get access to the equipment testing tool)

• A copy of the press release issued on 16 October 2006.

Should you have any suggestions for future additions to the CP toolkit please email chris.mather@carlson-europe.com

How can you help your customers and colleagues understand what ‘switched-on’ means?

To provide you with all the support and information you need, there are three primary sources of information beyond the information contained in the toolkit described above.

In the first place, direct consumer queries to the main campaign website — www.switchedonuk.org. This has been created to answer the vast majority of questions that your customers will have.

Should you have any technical questions that cannot be answered by the ‘switched-on’ website you can use the existing Request for Information (RFI) process by entering your question using the feedback section on the Consult21 homepage  — www.btwholesale.com/consult21. To recap, this site is not consumer-facing, and should not be placed on your website or external communications, but should only be used as an internal information resource.

Thirdly, there is a free ‘switched-on’ helpline number — 0800 030 4000. This directs callers to the dedicated contact centre, open seven days a week, where members of the team are able to answer general questions about the ‘switched-on’ process, including giving customers an overview of the migration, with the timetable for their area. An automated service exists to handle out-of-hours calls.

Where customers have questions concerning how the process will affect the provision of specific services from their Communications Provider, they will be directed to speak with their CP. Again it should be noted that the promotion of new applications and services enabled by the new network will continue to be the responsibility of each and every communications provider via their own marketing activities.

Next steps

We will continue to work across the industry to ensure that key stakeholders are informed about the ‘switched-on’ campaign. In addition, the migration communications working group will be working with Carlson to review the findings of recent branding/campaign research carried out by Research International. Any pertinent findings will be reflected in the door drop and direct mail materials and taken on board for overall campaign work moving forward. We will report on the progress of the door drops and direct mail pieces in the next issue of the Consult21 bulletin as well as the final countdown to Pathfinder in terms of the ‘switched-on’ communications campaign.