- Information and communication technologies (ICT) are one of the drivers of service innovation. In many services, the introduction of ICT has resulted in significant changes in relation to service provision and service delivery. It has triggered the development of self-services and remote services, for instance. The acceptance and adoption of technology by service providers and service customers has become an important issue in service research. Being now at a state where technology, especially ICT, forms part of our everyday lives and work routines, it is time to extend research in this field from aspects of technology acceptance and technology adoption to aspects of technology usage. Focusing on face-to-face service encounters, we will elaborate the advantages and disadvantages of ICT, taking into account customers and frontline employees. The concept of ICT literacy will be introduced in order to provide the means for further research.