Big data has become a very widely used term over the last few years, but it still seems mysterious to those outside of the tech industry. Yet, as more and more businesses begin to explore the uses of big data, we find that the analytics that they are able to share are becoming more important throughout the world of business.
We wanted to understand how big data is steering businesses into making better decisions, including how Xfinity is using big data to their advantage. Here is what we have learned.
Datameer talked about the utilization of big data by Xfinity a couple years ago. They found that it can have a profound impact on the future of the company, which should benefit both Xfinity and its customers in the coming years.
How does big data help businesses?
Big data is the collection of information across all major mediums, such as the Internet and a company’s customer records. Businesses have found that instead of just storing this endless in formation, they can use it to better understand their customers and what they are looking for. Through the use of analytics, businesses can figure out what kinds of things to prioritize and ultimately know what will give their customers the highest level of satisfaction.
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As an example, if you are using an Xfinity compatible modem router combo and Comcast can look at the kind of internet activity that you have and better hone in on what you would like as a customer.
How Comcast can use analytics
As we pointed out in the past, the telecom industry needs big data to thrive. Companies like Xfinity have discovered this in recent years.
While it might seem like an invasion of privacy for businesses like Comcast to collect information about you, all businesses use big data in one form or another. Some places in the internet just house the information and it compiles into a lot of random information that cannot be used for anything practice. What Comcast is doing is turning the big data into smart data.
You probably won’t mind them using your data if it is used effectively. Polls have shown customers support big data usage for valuable purposes. For example, 63% of customers say that they support personalization, which relies heavily on big data.
Comcast can look through the big data and find out when your signal seems to be lagging or when it seems like you are getting the best signal. With the use of this information, they can work out what might be causing the lags to ensure that you have more uninterrupted internet speeds, ensuring that their customers are receiving the best product possible.
As they sift through the big data collected, they can use machine learning to continue to look for the same kind of information in the future, allowing the machine to adjust to issues they might run into. For example, if the data analytics system finds that you are experiencing a drop in connectivity it can tell your router what adjustments to make to get your speeds back up again.
Advertising
It would be remiss of us to say that Comcast is only using big data to help you as a customer. Naturally, they do have other uses that may or may not please you. The first is that they can use the data that they have collected on you to market to you better. They will know what kinds of websites that you visit are and they use cookies to determine the types of online shops that you visit. As a result, they can use their marketing and advertising to target you, based on what they know about your habits.
Sometimes, they can use geotracking to determine where you are looking location-wise and ensure that the marketing they are using is targeting your location. They will also know how old you are and make assumptions based on that to target you for different advertising campaigns that they are pursuing. They are a business, after all and their goal is to make money. If they can use big data to make more money off of you, then they will.
Protecting Yourself
You might be wondering at this point how you can avoid being including in big data. The truth is that you might not be able to do anything about information that has already been collected about you. But you can protect yourself in the future. This can be done through your modem and your router that you are using for Xfinity. If you have a VPN built-into your router or modem, you are already on the way to protecting yourself. A VPN is a “virtual privacy network” that will mask your IP address as you travel throughout the web.
In your browsers, you will have the option to look at websites “incognito” as well, so you will not have to worry about the system tracking where you have gone. Not that big data’s intent is malicious, but not everyone is interested in having their ISP market to them directly based on their habits.
Big data is really a part of the tech world that we know right now. Most businesses, like Xfinity, are turning to the information collected with data and using it to build better, more customized customer experiences. You will likely see this pop up in more and more places as time goes on, or, more likely, it is already happening without you knowing.