Artificial intelligence (AI) is taking the world by storm and is already starting to disrupt the telecom industry in a number of ways.
Generative AI (GenAI) is perhaps the first step in the AI revolution because it uses AI to create unique content (both images and text) based upon characteristics or patterns of data that were used to train it. These models learn the patterns and structure of the data and then generate unique data that has similar characteristics.
Many telecom vendors are starting to develop GenAI tools specifically for telcos and because of this many operators are embracing GenAI technology. Amdocs, for example, is a dominant player in telecom OSS/BSS. Amdocs partnered with Microsoft in February 2023 on a customer engagement platform that combines Amdocs’ customer experience platform with Microsoft Cloud and leverages Microsoft’s AI low-code platform and GenAI experience.
This is notable because one of the first areas where telecom operators are likely to incorporate GenAI is in the customer care department. According to Rick Lievano, worldwide CTO for telecommunications at Microsoft, the customer care department is the “front door” to GenAI because customer care representatives engage directly with the customer and it’s a perfect area for GenAI to be used to optimize the department.
But customer care is just the starting point for AI. Lievano said that Microsoft believes there are four areas where telcos will incorporate AI into their business.
- Customer experience. Using AI to streamline and speed the customer care operations.
- Business operations. Using AI to be more productive and automate business processes.
- Network operations. Leveraging AI to host and orchestrate network functions and move to the cloud.
- Monetization. Using AI to create new experiences for customers.
AI’s Front Door to the Telco: Customer Care
Here’s an example of how AI is helping telcos reinvent their customer care. Vodafone’s TOBi is a digital assistant that uses Microsoft’s Azure AI technology. Vodafone created TOBi in 2016 and uses it to serve its more than 300 million customers. TOBi was initially developed with traditional AI, but with GenAI Vodafone is now able to expand TOBi’s capabilities and make it more useful.
By using GenAI, TOBi is able to understand and respond to customer questions through chat and voice-based channels. Vodafone said that customers, while initially skeptical of using the digital assistance, now appreciate TOBi because their problems are resolved quickly. The company said that customer feedback is positive.
For Vodafone customer service agents, TOBi is also appreciated because it can help agents on calls by gathering data from back-end systems, recommending next steps and also helping them with their post-call tasks. For example, AI can also be used to generate a transcript of an entire customer care call and a summary. This transcript can then be stored in the customer relationship management (CRM) system for future interactions.
But Vodafone isn’t alone. Verizon, which recently appointed a senior executive to a newly created position of chief customer experience officer, is also using AI to embolden its customer care specialists.
For example, Verizon is able to use GenAI to provide its customer care specialists with details on any topic, promotion, device or problem that a customer might be having so they can offer a solution quickly and efficiently. GenAI is able to sift through historic information on Verizon price plans and promotions to solve any problem a customer may be having.
By saving customer care reps time and delivering speedier results to customers, operators like Verizon and Vodafone believe that their Net Promoter Scores (NPS), a common metric used to measure customer loyalty, will improve.
Personalized Care
Not only are telcos using GenAI to streamline their customer care, they are also using it to deliver a more personalized customer experience to customers. For example, GenAI can be used to analyze customer profiles and micro-segment customers to provide them with the best rate plan for their usage and needs.
African operator MTN Group is working with software company Genesys and Accenture to improve its customer experience using cloud-native solutions and AI. MTN has deployed the Genesys Cloud CX platform and is using it to “more intuitively” answer customer queries and generate real-time analytics. The company also plans to further enhance its platform by offering more personalized care so its customer care agents can tailor their interactions specifically to the customer.
MTN has deployed the platform in its home market of South Africa as well as Nigeria and Uganda, and said recently that it has resulted in a 40% year-on-year reduction in call volume from subscribers.
Streamlining APIs
Beyond the customer experience, GenAI also promises to deliver big advantages for telco developers. For example, Microsoft introduced GitHub Copilot in June 2021 and now has more than 1 million paying users of the software. GitHub Copilot can be used to help developers more efficiently write code.
Microsoft is working closely with the TMForum on its Open Digital Architecture initiative, which provides telcos with a blueprint on how to replace their traditional OSS/BSS systems with a new, more automated approach that incorporates application protocol interfaces (APIs). The TMForum has defined a set of APIs for OSS/BSS systems that telcos can implement that will then make it possible for their back-office systems to interface with back-office systems from another vendor.
By using Microsoft’s GitHub Copilot to assist them, developers can quickly write prompts for the APIs, which can then accelerate their ability to write code, making it much easier for telcos to transition their OSS/BSS workloads to a cloud-native architecture. This in turn will make it much easier for telcos to introduce new services and monetize them.
GenAI offers all types of possibilities when it comes to streamlining customer care, improving business operations, enhancing network functionality and, perhaps most importantly, helping telcos better monetize their network by creating compelling new services. As telcos embrace the benefits of AI, they will likely see dramatic improvements to their networks and to the services that they can provide to customers.