It’s no secret that telecom companies do not have the best reputation for providing great customer service. According to Ipsos, 38 percent of US adults rated telecommunications customer service as the worst in America, second only to government offices. Whether it’s trying to get through to talk to a real human at our cable company or wondering why our mobile bills are so complex, nearly all of us have a horror story or two to tell about interacting with our communications providers.

Celebs — they’re just like us:

All I wanted to do was set up a new account with @TWCable_NYC but 36hrs later I've lost the will to live.

— Patrick Stewart (@SirPatStew) September 14, 2012

But it’s not a lost cause for communication service providers (CSPs). There’s a whole world of opportunity to provide excellent customer experiences with the help of technology. The key is a system that better enables companies to listen to what customers want and respond via their preferred communication channel, whether that’s the phone, email, or, say, Twitter. And at scale. Earlier this year, we surveyed Americans who currently subscribe to communications service providers (full report here) and found out several interesting things:

1. There’s a definite generational gap in how customers research, choose, and communicate with CSPs.

2. Customers of all ages desire, but are not getting, seamless omni-channel experiences.

3. Over-the-top (OTT) providers like Netflix and Hulu are seriously shaking up the industry with their streaming video and audio business models.

How can CSPs best serve all of their multi-generational customers? How can they get better at providing omni-channel experiences? What exactly do people like about the OTT business models, and how can CSPs improve on it?

We’ve got these answers and more in our new interactive guide  — plus some tips on how CSPs can win back the hearts and minds of their customers by embracing technology that puts customer experience at the core of their business. Totally binge-worthy!