Mobile data loss awareness increasingly impacts phone sales

GLEN ROCK, USA: Recent news headlines regarding mobile data loss have raised serious concerns among consumers about carriers’ and retailers’ ability to back up data at the handset point-of-sale, according to a survey of wireless vendors across the United States.

In the survey, issued by CelleBrite, providing the tools, technology and talent to optimize mobile device-driven data, 33 percent of respondents indicated that their customers were increasingly concerned about the potential for data loss.

Data loss is becoming a paramount concern for consumers, mobile carriers and retailers alike, with more and more consumers using their phones to store important data such as phone books, photos, text messages and a host of other personal information.

For this reason, the carrier and retailer survey indicated that the ability to safely and securely synchronize data between phones and back up data was vital to the sales process, with 42 percent of those polled relaying that such capabilities would make or break a sale.

Additional results of the CelleBrite-issued survey found that:
* When asked to rank the importance of transferring specific data sets, findings overwhelmingly (97 percent) pointed to phone book data as most crucial to customers, with camera phone photos prioritized second (42 percent) and music and ringtones sharing an equal number of positive replies (37 and 31 percent, respectively).

* Functionality desired by carriers and retailers in synchronizing data included the ability to back up users’ mobile data to a PC or online distribution point (39 percent), and over-the-air data storage and backup capabilities (34 percent).

* Forty-seven percent of respondents relayed that their companies currently charge for mobile data synchronization at point-of-sale, making this capability not only a vital customer safeguard but also a critical revenue stream for many carriers.

The survey was conducted via e-mail in November 2009, and respondents varied between store owners, sales representatives and customer service personnel.

“It’s clear from this survey that customers are extremely concerned about protecting their mobile device-driven data, even more so as they continue to store greater amounts of personal information on their phones every day,” said Adi Ofrat, CEO, CelleBrite US.

“For carriers and retailers, this represents a wake-up call that highlights the need to restore customer peace-of-mind by offering point-of-sale backup and synchronization solutions that are safe, secure and reliable. Providing this functionality is vital not only in terms of safeguarding the data itself, but to bolster and ensure new handset sales and create revenue streams that benefit the overall health of wireless carriers and retailers.”