Verizon's new FlexFlow system will reduce transaction times in stores

The most annoying part in the phone-buying process for many consumers may be the time it takes to actually get through the store. Unlike unlocked smartphones, where you just buy and go, locked devices from carriers involve a bit more dealings with their systems. Fortunately for Verizon customers, you may be looking at less of a headache on your next upgrade. Big Red is said to have developed a new system, dubbed FlexFlow, which will potentially expedite the process.

Historically, when you walk in the store, employees have needed to pull up your account and examine it. But FlexFlow will jump straight to ‘What exactly did you come in for?’, and get to exactly what needs to be done instead of lollygagging around. The drive for the development of a more efficient system came about when the EVP of Verizon’s wireless operations, David Small, and his team interviewed Verizon retail store employees across the country, questioning what gets in the way of providing customers a great experience.

It doesn’t appear that FlexFlow is yet fully instated. A Reddit user on the Verizon community page that got to try the new system reported it still needs some work, “Overall it’s not bad, but it’s still in its buggy phase.” However, that comment was from a couple months ago, so FlexFlow is probably closer to working order at the moment. This isn’t the only area where Verizon is trying to improve customer service. An effort to shorten call center response time has also been ignited. Small stated that Verizon has been able to drop the average handling call time by ‘about 75 seconds year over year’.

We’ll have to wait and see if these changes actually bring about better customer service scores. FlexFlow may be rough around the edges in the beginning, but it’s refreshing to see Verizon thinking about its customers’ well being for a change. Of course, there’s still a whole lot of other areas that Verizon critics point to that this small step doesn’t address, but baby steps we suppose?