Latest news with #SowmyanarayanSampath
Phone Arena
05-08-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
Amazing iPhone 16, Galaxy S25 deals are expected on the weekend at Verizon stores
Summer is ending, but temperatures are about to skyrocket with the upcoming Verizon deals this weekend – August 9 and 10. Get ready to snag devices like the iPhone 16 and the Galaxy S25 for next no nothing! Since it's August already, many families are preparing for the new school year and Verizon is on the verge of rolling out a month-long campaign focused on value and digital wellness, starting with Verizon Family Weekend on August 9–10. Throughout this weekend, the carrier's stores across the US will become dedicated back-to-school centers, providing personalized tech guidance, live product demos, and curated solutions for students, parents, and educators alike. – Sowmyanarayan Sampath, CEO, Verizon Consumer, August 2025A new set of offers across smartphones, tablets, smartwatches, and family-oriented services is August 7, customers who sign up for select unlimited plans can get: iPhone 16 Galaxy S25 Pixel 9… … at no extra cost (other than the plan subscription fee). So, if you don't feel like waiting for the iPhone 17, the Galaxy S26 or the Pixel 10, now's a good time to act. Additional deals include discounts on devices such as the Gizmo Watch 3 Adventure for under $100, Android and Apple smartwatches starting at $5 per month, select iPads from $5 per month, and the TCL Tab 10 NXTPAPER 5G for $4 per month. Personally, if I had to choose, I'd go with the TCL 10-inch tab: it supports MicroSD cards and has a glare-free display with eye-care blue light-reduction modes. TCL TAB 10 NXTPAPER 5G. | Image by TCL It's not just devices from Verizon , though. On August 21, Verizon will launch the Family Plus perk at a reduced price of $10 per month, down from the current $15. This upgraded feature builds on the existing free Verizon Family app and adds expanded parental controls. These include continuous location tracking with real-time updates, content filtering, screen time settings, and driving behavior monitoring for teens. Verizon Family Plus offers network-based and GPS location tracking even when GPS is inactive, as well as tools to monitor and block calls, texts, websites, and apps. The perk also includes more towing and roadside events than similar services and 24/7 access to emergency monitoring and response. A new feature called Family Line will also launch on August 21, allowing up to five family members to share a second phone line for calls. Verizon states that it will not sell users' location data and will keep it private. Finally, if you want to equip your child with a modern gadget, but feel like you're not up to the challenge of setting it up, don't worry. To help families navigate digital tools, Verizon retail staff will offer in-store support, including help setting up kid-friendly smartwatches and optimizing tablets for learning. Demonstrations will also show how to use the Family Plus app to manage screen time and promote digital balance.
Yahoo
04-08-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Verizon Gears Up for Back-to-School with a Weekend of Savings, Expert Advice & Essential Tech for Families
Visit any Verizon store for free devices, discounts, and digital wellness tools NEW YORK, Aug. 04, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- As families prepare for the new school year, Verizon is launching a month of unmatched value and digital wellness support, kicking off with Verizon Family Weekend on August 9-10. During this weekend, Verizon stores nationwide will transform into back-to-school hubs, offering expert advice, hands-on product demonstrations, and tailored technology solutions for parents, students and teachers. 'We want to be a partner parents can trust to help their families build healthy digital habits and stay connected safely,' said Sowmyanarayan Sampath, CEO, Verizon Consumer. 'By providing tangible value and savings, expert advice, age-appropriate tech and tools like the Verizon Family app, we're making sure parents know 'we got you' with comprehensive support and peace of mind during the busy back-to-school season and beyond.' Throughout August, customers can take advantage of: Unbeatable Deals & Devices On Us: Free Devices: Starting August 7th, customers will be met with exciting new offers on iPhone 16, Samsung S25 and Google Pixel 9 devices with select unlimited plans. Unmatched Savings on Tablets & Smartwatches: Score a Gizmo Watch 3 Adventure for under $100, Android and Apple watches as low as $5/month, select iPads as low as $5/month, and the TCL Tab 10 NXTPAPER 5G for as low as $4/month. Enhanced Parental Controls with Verizon Family App Plus: Launching on August 21 for just $10 a month (saving $4.99/mo over the current price), the new Verizon Family Plus App perk gives parents robust tools for peace of mind. This powerful new perk builds off the free and available to all customers Verizon Family app, offering an enhanced all-in-one suite of parental controls, including unlimited location monitoring with on-demand updates, content filtering, screen time management, and even driving insights for new teen drivers—all designed to help families and save 30% off the current price of Verizon Family Verizon Family Plus? Compared to other family apps, Verizon Family Plus offers: GPS & Network Location Monitoring: Get real-time location information even if the GPS isn't working or active on a device, offering an added layer of visibility, powered by Verizon's award-winning reliable network. Monitoring and Blocking of calls and texts, along with monitoring and restriction of web and app activity. More roadside assistance events and towing miles. Twice as many towing and road assistance events compared to Life360. 24/7 professional monitoring: Giving you and your loved ones access to 24/7 professional monitoring and dispatch while also alerting your family to the activity. Family Line: A shared secondary phone line for up to 5 family members to easily make and receive calls at the same time (subject to taxes, fees, or surcharges). Additional terms and restrictions apply. Secured Data & Privacy: Verizon will not sell your location data and we will keep it private. Expert Guidance & Digital Wellness: In-Store Expert Guidance: Verizon retail experts will help families set up a Gizmo Watch for kid-safe connectivity, optimize connected tablets for learning, and host hands-on demos for how to use the Verizon Family Plus App for screen time management and digital safety. Stop in to get help on what is best for the family. Free Digital Wellness Resources at Access free expert guidance and digital wellness resources for parents, caregivers, students, teachers and schools. In addition, Mel Robbins will host a special event on August 6, 'Verizon Unplugged with Mel Robbins' in NYC sharing tips on how to build a healthy relationship with phones. The event will be available for replay at Community Support & Exclusive Freebies and Discounts: Exclusive Artist Collaboration: Get free, limited-edition back-to-school stickers designed by renowned artist Jason Naylor, available in corporate stores later this month while supplies last. Discounts for College Students & Teachers: Teachers get 5G plans and perks from just $25/line/month with four lines, plus exclusive offers. College students can save up to $25/month on two lines of mobile service and additional discounts when bundled with home internet. For more information, visit or find a local store at Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE, Nasdaq: VZ) powers and empowers how its millions of customers live, work and play, delivering on their demand for mobility, reliable network connectivity and security. Headquartered in New York City, serving countries worldwide and nearly all of the Fortune 500, Verizon generated revenues of $134.8 billion in 2024. Verizon's world-class team never stops innovating to meet customers where they are today and equip them for the needs of tomorrow. For more, visit or find a retail location at VERIZON'S ONLINE MEDIA CENTER: News releases, stories, media contacts and other resources are available at News releases are also available through an RSS feed. To subscribe, visit Media Contact: Steve Van in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Phone Arena
26-06-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
Verizon's latest move shows it's paying attention to a specific kind of user
Verizon Verizon Verizon By subscribing you agree to our terms and conditions and privacy policy – Sowmyanarayan Sampath, Verizon Consumer CEO, June 2025 Should carriers let everyone pause their phone plan like Verizon now allows for military users? Yes – life happens, flexibility should be for all. Maybe – as long as it's not abused. No – it should stay limited to special cases. I didn't even know plan suspension was a thing. Yes – life happens, flexibility should be for all. 0% Maybe – as long as it's not abused. 0% No – it should stay limited to special cases. 0% I didn't even know plan suspension was a thing. 0% Verizon Verizon Verizon T-Mobile Verizon T-Mobile Verizon Beyond the new suspension option,is also offering a few more deals. Military customers can now get 4 lines starting at $25 per line per month (plus taxes and fees) on Unlimited Welcome, a budget-friendly unlimited plan that offers the option to add perks like streaming services or hotspot is also the Fios Home Internet option that starts at $45/month with Auto Pay, and if you bundle it with mobile service and a military discount, you get an extra $15 off, dropping the price to just $30/month – and yes, that includes the 3-year price lock guarantee on the base even Tracfone,'s prepaid brand, is joining in. It now offers 10% off all $20/month or higher Unlimited Talk & Text plans for verified military customers. You can verify your status easily through and start saving without needing a contract.'s move brings it closer to T-Mobile 's military offerings, though some differences remain. For example,boasts a 5-year price lock guarantee (though we all know how those often work in reality ), while's lock is 3 perks like Netflix, Apple TV+, and Hulu in its plans, whilecharges an extra $10 per line for those if you're comparing carriers, it's not just about who gives you the biggest discount or the most free streaming – it's about where you get solid coverage, real support and the best value for you. And if you're wondering which one to go with, make sure to check out:
CNET
26-06-2025
- Business
- CNET
Verizon Is Enlisting Google's AI to Resolve Support Calls on the First Try
Verizon's cryptic Project 624 flew under the radar until this week, when the carrier announced a new customer service program built on Google Gemini AI technology that's intended to resolve issues on first contact. If it works as intended, subscribers should be able to avoid the time-sucking support slog that is often a hallmark of modern troubleshooting. Sowmyanarayan Sampath, CEO of Verizon's consumer group, laid out changes to the customer experience that went live Tuesday, which include a team dedicated to satisfying customers in their first call (called the Customer Champion team) and improvements to the My Verizon app that leverage Google Gemini AI technology. There's also expanded live customer agent hours and 24/7 live chat and a larger footprint of physical Verizon stores. The company will also offer more perks and giveaways. In an open letter laying out the carrier's new customer service initiative, the consumer group CEO also included a direct email address, for customers to contact him. 5% [of customers with issues] go into a doom loop, and they are the most dissatisfied. It's a very rough journey for them. We see it, and it's not fair on them. Sowmyanarayan Sampath, Verizon consumer group CEO But before we get into the specifics of what's new, I wondered if the announcements were a direct reaction to the most recent quarter in which the company lost nearly 300,000 customers in the first quarter of 2025. Is the carrier boosting customer service to win back more subscribers? "That's a very fair question," Sampath said. "The answer is quite straight: Every first quarter we lose customers, that's the seasonality of the business. So this has nothing to do with our first quarter of business. This has to do with the two, three year transformation that we are in the middle of." He explained that improving customer experience is the next step after his prior efforts to revamp Verizon's sales infrastructure and price plans. Verizon may be the first carrier to get AI in its customer service platforms, but it's not the only one thinking of including it. Last September, T-Mobile announced that it was partnering with OpenAI to include a new artificial intelligence offering to help customers, which would launch sometime in 2025. Whether Verizon's system will get a leg up depends on what it's got in store for helping subscribers get their essential questions answered. Harnessing AI to create Customer Champions Customer service for any industry is difficult, but that's compounded for large mobile players like Verizon that provide connectivity for millions of customers across large swathes of area and technological hardware. And because phones have gained outsized importance in our lives, having something go wrong with one's link to the outside world can ratchet up frustration. "I get a lot of emails from customers every day, and they're not pretty," said Sampath. He estimates that 80% of the time, customers get their issue resolved on the first call. About 15% have to call again, maybe twice. "The last 5% go into a doom loop, and they are the most dissatisfied. It's a very rough journey for them. We see it, and it's not fair on them." To try to avoid that loop, Verizon is launching its so-called Customer Champion team that uses Verizon-customized Google Gemini 2.0 models to process calls, identify solutions and keep the customer updated throughout the resolution process. It's an approach inherited from systems Verizon has been using for its enterprise customers. "We've been doing that for a few months now in pilot [programs], and 90% of the time we solve issues the first time around," he said. As the program proceeds, he hopes to get that number up to 95 or 96%. A new version of the My Verizon app includes AI-based support improvements. Verizon Google Gemini is also an important part of an update to the My Verizon app. The AI-powered Verizon Assistant has been built with input from Google engineers and embedded with Verizon-specific context. As a practical example, the technology can enable Verizon to deal with problems proactively. "If your phone is lost in transit, I know it because FedEx told me it didn't get delivered," he said. "Why do I need you to call me and let me know your phone got lost?" In such a case, Verizon uses AI to identify the problem, automatically open a case and get back to the customer with a plan to resolve it. Sampath explained that Verizon essentially creates a small language model for each case, and compared that to the large language models (LLMs) that have more visibility in the industry right now. The small, bespoke models don't have general knowledge around life. "I don't need to know what the Romans did," he said. "I need to know why my bill went up. And we go ahead and do exactly that." LLMs, however, are not always known for their accuracy. Sampath said that a year and a half ago they were seeing a 30%-40% error rate, but that has now improved to "well north of 90% accuracy. And when it's inaccurate, it's only mildly inaccurate because of the way we do it. We don't get crazy answers on [it]." Expanding live customer support and store footprint With this surge in using AI to handle customer issues, I naturally wanted to know if that would negatively affect Verizon staffing. If Verizon's Gemini model can deal with most requests, does that take humans out of the loop and off the payroll? "We've used AI to basically take cognitive workload off our employees so that they can focus their bandwidth and headspace on listening to customers better," Sampath said. "That's the right way for us to go. Look, if I need to take out costs, there are simpler ways for me to do it. I don't need to deploy AI and all the complexity that goes with it. And for us, AI is all about problem solving." As part of this new customer support initiative, Verizon is expanding its live support options in several ways. Representatives will be available from 9 a.m. until midnight (local times) via phone calls, expanded from 8 a.m. until 9 p.m., and during the rest of the clock via live chat. "[Stuff] happens when you least expect it, and I don't want you to have to wait until the morning, because things can change," he said. Verizon store in New York Richard Levine The network of physical Verizon stores also plays a part, because "we want to be in your community," Sampath said. He noted that Verizon is recommitting to the retail experience, having added around 400 new stores in the last couple years and plans to keep expanding the company's brick-and-mortar footprint. Verizon Access rewards platform In today's mobile provider environment, perks have become powerful incentives, with carriers offering extras from conventional add-ons like streaming services and in-flight Wi-Fi to the assortment of giveaways in T-Mobile Tuesdays. On this front, Sampath made a point of differentiating Verizon's offerings from the competition. "Look, we don't give you $3 off your Little Caesars Pizza… you don't get a large popcorn versus a medium popcorn. I'm sure there's good value in that," he said. "We give you bucket-list things you can do," citing examples such as tickets to NFL games, Katy Perry and Beyoncé concerts. Starting today through June 30, Verizon is giving away 35,000 free prizes in drops from its Verizon Access program, "anything from tickets to devices and a bunch of other things to keep our loyalty going."
Phone Arena
24-06-2025
- Business
- Phone Arena
Verizon reasserts dominance over T-Mobile and unveils Project 624 to keep customers happy
After a two-month wait, Verizonhas finally revealed Project 624 in full, which, at its, core, is an AI-fueled customer-centric transformation. Yesterday, T-Mobile claimed that it had surpassed AT&T and Verizon in speed and reliability, but Verizon doesn't seem to agree. The company says it has the fastest and most reliable 5G network in the US. Verizon is betting big on AI to improve how customer queries and issues are handled. The company insists that this isn't a response to its dismal Q1 performance. Instead, this is a part of a multi-year consumer strategy. —Sowmyanarayan Sampath , Verizon Consumer Chief Executive Officer, June 2025 The company is going to use a mix of AI and human agents to provide personalized customer service. It will rely on Google Cloud's AI, including its Gemini models to improve how customer queries are handled. A team called Customer Champion will keep customers updated via the My Verizon app, text messages, or phone calls. The goal is to ensure that customer issues are resolved without requiring them to reach out more than once. The new system has been in place for a few months as part of a pilot program and the results have been impressive, with problems getting solved the first time around 90 percent of the time, up from 80 percent. In the future, the number is expected to go up to 95 or 96 percent. The company told CNET that it built an AI-powered Verizon Assistant with the help of Google engineers. It's customized with Verizon -specific context. The new tech will allow Verizon to tackle problems proactively. —Sowmyanarayan Sampath , Verizon Consumer Chief Executive Officer, June 2025 Verizon kind of creates a small language model for each case. Sampath says that they have a 90 percent accuracy. To ensure help is available when customers need it, the company is expanding support call hours and introducing 24/7 live chat support. The My Verizon app has been revamped and now leverages AI to help customers better manage their accounts and maximize savings. Perhaps to prove that this is not just a marketing stunt, Verizon Consumer's Chief Executive Officer Sowmyanarayan Sampath has even made his email address ( verizon .com) publicly available if the company ever falls short. —Sowmyanarayan Sampath , Verizon Consumer Chief Executive Officer, June 2025 The focus on AI and the overhauled app doesn't mean that the company is prioritizing digital experiences over offline assistance, unlike T-Mobile. The company claims it has the "largest retail postpaid fleet" and has added around 400 stores in the last two years. The company says that 93 percent of the population now resides within 30 minutes of a Verizon store. And, as expected, Verizon is taking a page out of T-Mobile 's playbook and intensifying its focus on rewards. The company will be distributing 35,000 free prizes via its Verizon Access rewards platform. Starting today, customers can win tickets to events, giveaways, gift cards, and merch. Those who visit a Verizon location will find more freebies waiting for them through June 30. The company also subtly threw shade at T-Mobile by saying that instead of food discounts, the company is going to focus on bucket-list things. —Sowmyanarayan Sampath , Verizon Consumer Chief Executive Officer, June 2025 While T-Mobile , and now Verizon , may not have made the changes that customers were expecting the most, they are making an effort to make things easier for subscribers, which is a good start. Secure your connection now at a bargain price! We may earn a commission if you make a purchase Check Out The Offer
