Some aspects of artificial intelligence (AI) still seem like science fiction, but other components, like AI-driven chatbots, are becoming part of our daily reality. Broadband service providers (BSPs) are increasingly turning to tools like AI and AI chatbots to improve the customer experience (CX) for their subscribers and their staff. Here are some important ways AI and chatbots can elevate CX for everyone:
- Empowers Subscribers: Local support teams are irreplaceable assets, but they aren’t always available around the clock. AI chatbots can respond to customers 24/7/365, offering immediate, front-line help with billing, troubleshooting, account management, service upgrades, and routing them to the appropriate teams when needed—giving them the power to control their services and support.
- Assists Support and Technical Staff: In addition to CX benefits for subscribers, AI chatbots can also support your employees. Customer chatbots can automate routine subscriber inquiries and issues, which reduces support calls and enables employees to focus on more complex cases. Additionally, support chatbots can provide real-time assistance to representatives, offering suggestions based on previous interactions, providing reminders about upsell opportunities, and giving detailed instructions for completing specific tasks.
Persona-based chatbots can be trained with specialized information to assist field technicians, NOC agents, and other technical staff with troubleshooting issues and automating tasks. When these persona chatbots are combined with AI-informed dashboards and tools, they can provide a 360-degree view of a subscriber’s services, experiences, and satisfaction level. - Personalizes Experiences: AI can process vast amounts of data — like customer behavior, service issues, and historical interactions — to deliver personalized experiences and messages. AI-driven platforms, for example, can identify customers who have experienced frequent service disruptions and reach out with personalized offers, service discounts, or specialized technical support.
AI also learns from previous interactions, identifying preferences, adapting to language nuances, and offering increasingly relevant support and answers. Over time, this leads to a more efficient and personalized experience for all parties in the support equation. - Uses the Past to Look to the Future: AI’s ability to act proactively is a CX game-changer. AI can assess patterns in customer behavior, predict future needs or potential issues, and help reduce customer churn. For instance, AI can track when a customer regularly experiences slow internet and trigger an alert to staff to investigate, addressing a future problem before it escalates.
AI-driven analytics can also help support teams to identify broader trends. For example, if multiple customers report similar problems, AI can alert your team to possible network issues. This information can help your staff work more efficiently, which improves CX for staff and customers.
AI and chatbots are powerful CX tools and are instrumental in cultivating happy, loyal customers and employees. With the right data and training, GenAI chatbots can help BSPs move beyond merely responding to customer and staff needs to anticipating them.
Tony Stout, CTO
CDG
Tony Stout joined PRTC in 2010 and serves as the company’s Chief Technology Officer. In his role as CTO, Tony is responsible for overseeing strategic direction for building and expanding PRTC’s next generation network infrastructure. In 2020, PRTC acquired CDG, a telecom OSS/BSS solutions provider. Tony was appointed CTO for CDG and oversees the company’s technology, software engineering, IT and technical support teams. Tony has more than 28 years of technology, business and management experience in various Telecom and Information Technology roles.
