Automated Enterprise Agent

Telecom Service Providers Overview

The telecom market is an exceptionally competitive environment. With similar products and prices among operators, Telecom companies are struggling to gain a competitive advantage and are suffering from low margins and high customer churn.

According to McKinsey quarterly report, wireline and wireless companies in the United States, Europe and Asia can no longer afford a business model in which most of their customers pick up the telephone and talk with call center sales and service staffs hobbled by inefficient back-end sales and support systems. And to stay in the game, some telecom companies will need to cut as much as 20% or 30% of their current operating costs.

This is further challenged as customers have become more demanding. Consumers expect expert advice to be always and immediately available when choosing new product, solve a service problem or request a repair. They have a growing aversion to service delivered by phone, which they find often slow, confusing, and even frustrating. They want a convenient, easy experience with quick and accurate access to information for every inquiry.

Industry leaders are responding to this challenging environment through customer-focused strategies in order to improve customer loyalty and gain significant competitive edge. And to reduce costs as well as improve service, these companies are moving towards cost-efficient automation of the "full loop" from customer request to response. This means the automation of the customer interface for sales and service support, as well as the back-end processes such as provisioning, delivery and billing.

According to a recent Accenture survey, self-service solution is a priority; with nearly 40 percent of high-tech executives said increasing customer self-help capabilities via the Web was a top-three agenda item for them in the coming year.

On the consumers' side, according to Netonomy, 59% of 18 to 29 year olds - the early adopters with high disposable incomes that are being targeted for next-generation mobile services - think that quality online customer self-service facilities will make 3G mobile services easier to understand. And around 60% of survey respondents indicating self-service as the preferred way to manage their account - compared to 13% opting for the call center and 9% for going to a physical store.

The Problem

Providing superior customer experiences is the single most powerful way for companies to establish sustainable differentiation. And if companies succeed to persuade large numbers of customers to use the Web, the impact on service cost can be dramatic.

Typical cost of a transaction via a call center is $8 to $20, and via human chat is $3 to $10, while the same transaction via automated online channel costs $0.10 to $0.80.

However, telecom companies are faced with new challenges in order to create a compelling online experience and meet these consumers' expectations.

First, they need to be able to brand there customer interface in order to offer a differentiated customer experience. Second, when it comes to online customer service, frustration from current web sites and tools is increasingly the norm rather than the exception. Today's tools such as Search and FAQ, or even email, are perceived by customers as ineffective.

Too many consumers find web sites hard to navigate or incomplete resulting in frustrated visitors that give up or pick up the phone.

Therefore with today's online customer service solutions, the telecom companies are left between options that are either too expensive (human support by chat or phone) or perceived as ineffective by customers (FAQ, Search, email, etc).

Facing these new challenges, telecom service providers are looking for an innovative solution that combines compelling online customer service experience with the low costs of self-service solutions.

Solution Benefits

vSpirits Automated Agent solution for the telecom industry enables telecom service providers to transform their online web service into a high quality, interactive, personal service that supports sales, build relationships and reinforces the brand.

It enables service providers to provide consumers with expert advice they want, when they want it, from pre-sales research and questions to customers' ongoing service and support.

The Automated Agent is a virtual CSR that chats with visitors and customers in order to provide them with product advice and recommendations that best fits their personal needs. They enable your customers to get immediate and accurate responses based on chat-like interaction and without requiring them to search through a long list of links and FAQs.