Artificial intelligence has a vast number of subcategories each with their own distinct characteristics that are centred around analysing data and making predictions. Machine learning has come to the fore as one of these subsets as is being integrated at telecommunication companies within their customer service frameworks in the form of tools such as chatbots and virtual agents.
Through this, machine learning is helping to predict escalations through the analysis of customer feedback and interactions to predict when an issue might result in churn, allowing customer service reps to intervene early. Furthermore, it boosts the efficiency of call centre agents by automating routine tasks and providing insights to streamline workflows. It also enables personalised support by analysing data to predict needs and tailor interactions with each individual customer.
Machine learning also allows customer service departments to offer 24/7 availability through chatbots, virtual assistants and proactive communication. By providing support irrespective of geography or time zones, customers can instantly get their issues resolved. This inevitably leads to cost savings for telcos as it allows them to plan and allocate resources more efficiently and invest in other areas of operations.
One company that continues to invest in AI is Vodafone. The company has found itself top of both the Australia and UK telecommunications rankings in this quarter’s Customer Effort Index, which uses an Overall Effort Score based on customer surveys to show which brand is the easiest for customers to do business with.
Vodafone has been establishing the use of Artificial Intelligence within its customer service operations for more than five years now. The company has transformed its care function with chatbots, and the next stage of its evolution is to renovate its customer engagement layer with GenerativeAI.
One example of machine learning at the business is TOBi, Vodafone’s virtual customer assistant, which uses AI to help answer customer queries in a matter of seconds. This is turn, enables human call centre agents to focus on more complicated requests.
This is just one example of why machine learning has the potential to revolutionise the future of customer service within telecommunications.
