T-Mobile will now offer customer support through iMessage
Apple Business Chat has a new partner.
T-Mobile announced Wednesday that it will now offer customer support via Apple's Business Chat. This means that if you have an iPhone, you'll be able to talk to T-Mobile representatives directly through iMessage.
This will be another of many ways T-Mobile users can contact their provider. Previously, you could chat with representatives through the T-Mobile app, the company's Facebook and Twitter pages, at a store, or over the company's customer service phone line.
You'll be able to use Business Chat to modify your plan, ask support questions, make payments and purchases, and even send screenshots for troubleshooting.
But T-Mobile's customers want messaging the most, according to the company. "In 2016, we launched messaging in the T-Mobile app, so customers can direct message with us," wrote T-Mobile's Chief Operating Officer Mike Sievert in a statement. "Since last year, messaging volume has increased 3X." T-Mobile did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
T-Mobile is one of the first major companies to offer Business Chat, and the first U.S. mobile provider to do so. The product's early partners also include Home Depot, Marriott, and Wells Fargo.
The feature could pose a serious threat to Facebook Messenger, which supports chat bots from a number of large brands. In March, Messenger paused its app and bot review process in the face of a mounting controversy over its handling of user data.
So the kerfuffle over Zuckerberg and Cambridge Analytica has you worried for your privacy, Business Chat over iMessage might be a safer alternative.
Topics Apple
Monica wrote for Mashable's Tech section with a focus on retail, internet of things, and the intersections of technology and social justice. She holds a degree in creative writing from Brown University, and has previously written for Dow Jones Media, the New York Post, Yahoo Finance, and others. In her free time, she can be found attempting to cook Asian food, buying board games, and looking for new hobbies.
