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Carriers sit at the center of the complex intercompany ecosystems that bring mobile products and services to the consumer mass market. In fact, to a large extent, carriers create, shape, and coordinate these systems. Carriers provide the large monetary investments needed to begin development and are responsible for creating and maintaining the long-term customer relationships that sustain products once they are launched. This article describes the creation of Sprint PCS Vision Multimedia Services launched in August 2004 from the view of the design team within the carrier. This view provides insight into how business and research constraints play out to influence the design of mass market services.

Interactive Voice Response Units (IVRUs) answer the phones more often than people do in many business domains, including Telecommunication, Personal Finance, Utilities, etc. This paper presents the results of a research study that Sprint initiated to solve a specific business problem within its IVRU. Two design approaches were assessed, pitting a Natural Language with Directed Dialog Fallback structure versus a traditional Directed Dialog framework. Key measurements included task completion and efficiency. The Natural Language with Directed Dialog Fallback design slightly outperformed the Directed Dialog approach by providing a compelling hybrid of two archetypal IVRU approaches.

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