PAC (TEL'S) MAN ONLINE: CYBER DIALOGUE, CITIZENSHIP
Most organizations realize that there are communities of customers, suppliers and other stakeholders spread across the Internet. Few companies, however, recognized the importance of these online groups and individuals as early as did telecommunications giant Pacific Telesis Group [PAC].
We spoke recently with Bob Deward, manager of public policy/online stakeholders, about Pac Tel's online PR and issues management, based on his more than 10 years of experience listening to, and responding to, the Internet community. (Pac Tel, 415/394-3646)
What are the benefits of being active online?
The immediate benefits gained from joining online venues are obvious: issues spotted early, misinformation corrected, dissatisfied customers helped. But less apparent is the longer-term benefit of establishing with highly influential individuals your company's credentials as being ethical, responsive and credible.
Businesses should realize the balance of information power has shifted. They are under microscopic scrutiny today. Anything said or done anywhere is liable to end up within minutes on screens around the world, thanks to the Web and online conferencing. One unhappy customer or employee can put up a Web site, publicize it in Internet newsgroups, and have an impact more telling than that of a mega-billion-dollar corporation's PR department.
Who are your online stakeholders?
Who stakeholders are depends on the issue and the online venue where they congregate. Given the same issue, you'll find very different people from the standpoint of interest, level of sophistication, and communications style attending a Fidonet conference dealing with telecommunications, posting on a listserve dealing with telecommunications policy, a Netnews newsgroup for San Francisco Bay Area consumers.
How do you interact with them?
That depends where they are. Let's assume we're in a Netnews newsgroup or an electronic conference on someone's system, and we're dealing with an issue about which my company has a definite position. How I proceed depends on what they say, how they say it, who they are, and a host of more subtle considerations depending on what's been going on in this venue for the past week or so.
It's necessary to know each venue. Who are the regulars? How much do they know about this? Where do they stand? Is there someone there besides the person who posted who would like nothing better than an excuse to wage a daily flame war for an indefinite period? Options include, but aren't limited to contacting them privately by e-mail, going public with a posting, phoning them, testing the situation by contacting a mutual acquaintance.
It's worth mentioning that an occasion arose where a representative of a competitor made statements impugning the company's reputation that were libelous--in the opinion of our attorney. In this case, we demanded and got an online apology.
Do you have a Pacific Telesis forum?
Yes, we do have private forums for such bodies as our independent telecommunications consultants advisory council and Pacific Bell's Telecommunications Consumer Advisory Council. We are testing other electronic communications vehicles.
What are some issues that have emerged?
Electro-magnetic interference from wireless handsets; electro-magnetic frequencies and radio frequencies and alleged health impacts; disputes over tariff filings; allegations by competitors of deceptive marketing practices; individual customer service problems; misunderstandings of company policies and actions.
How do you respond to queries or issues?
We don`t shoot from the hip. When I post information, it's been cleared with subject matter experts and usually legal and regulatory experts.
Talking electronically differs in style and content, depending on the electronic neighborhood. Electronic conferences, newsgroups, and listserve conferences are not good media for pushing information except in very small pieces. But some of what Pacific Telesis Group has to communicate is complicated and not reader-friendly due to legal and regulatory constraints.
That's one of the reasons we've established media where people can pull information when they want it. We have Web sites, fax-back audiotex libraries for product and service and some policy information, and the Pacific Telesis home page for investor and public policy information.
What tools do you use for monitoring newsgroups and other online venues?
As far as tools go, it's very simple: a personal computer, a modem and a phone line. However, what I do is definitely not monitoring. I join virtual communities, accepting joint responsibility for making them function through my participation. We subsist together on information, and the price of every member's admission is hunting down high quality data to add to our common pot.
To whom do you report?
Michael Runzler, director, public policy and finance, Pacific Telesis Corporate Communications.
When did you begin this process?
It was the mid-1980s that I began representing Pacific Bell online. I joined such online services as Delphi, The Source and the W.E.L.L. and visited a lot of electronic bulletin boards. One outcome of this was the publication by Pacific Bell Consumer Affairs of a groundbreaking free self-instruction syllabus detailing how online communication could be used for grassroots organization. Called Electronic Citizenship, it circulated in hard copy form and as a digitized file on Fidonet throughout the world, including behind what was then the Iron Curtain.