It has almost been seven years, since a top executive at Deutsche Telekom talked about how the telecoms industry needed to embrace “brutal automation” to innovate and succeed. His words certainly triggered a big debate about how far communication service providers should transform their business models. But have they really heeded his warning?
Today, the industry is still trying to keep up with modern consumers’ increasingly digital-first lifestyles. And they do seem to acknowledge how a higher level of automation is necessary as more customer interactions are digital.
So, does this mean “brutal automation” for the industry or not?
Do not touch with zero touch
Automation has become a saviour for the telecoms industry and operators are now warming to the idea of zero touch networks, with artificial intelligence (AI) playing a dominant role. Zero touch networks are an autonomous system that is able to adapt and change, based on analysing the data collected which is orchestrated across the network.
Zero touch networks enable telecom operators to minimise the need for physical touchpoints on the network and as such can support agents by allowing customer interactions that might result in network changes take place much more easily through a website or mobile app using automation and AI chatbots. These networks should be available across the entire telecom’s ecosystem, including operators, technology companies, device vendors and other third parties. Zero touch networks are key to telecom operators becoming truly self-optimising and resilient businesses of the future.
But to go a step further in their automation journey, the telecoms industry should be looking at the autonomous enterprise, which extends from zero touch networks and into the customer engagement space. The autonomous enterprise is fixated on delivering the best outcomes for a customer at any given time and across any and all channels, through consistent, automated, AI powered end-to-end customer journeys.
Enter the autonomous enterprise for telecoms
Due to the complex nature of the telecoms industry, delivering the highest level of customer experience is even more difficult, so the need for automation is clear, but not everyone is invested in long-term solutions.
In a recent study of global business decision makers, 78% of respondents see quick fixes as ‘extremely’ or ‘very’ important to long-term business success. In addition, 24% of decision makers invest in these methods to resolve problems on a case-by-case basis as they arise. Investing in quick fixes is not a long term nor a sustainable solution for organisations to thrive, with constant firefighting reducing a organisations ability to focus on its strategic goals.
A better model to automate business processes for the telecoms sector is that of the autonomous enterprise. This is an organisation which comprehensively applies AI and automation to engagement, servicing, and operations across the business to create an agile enterprise that can become self-optimising.
Even with all of this automation, the human touch is still key to ensure that both operations are working as intended and that best-in-class customer service is still available as and when needed in employee assisted channels. The autonomous enterprise should be working alongside humans to develop more streamlined processes, boost productivity and free up time for customer service agents to work on tasks that need more strategy, thinking and the personal touch.
The autonomous enterprise will certainly have an impact on roles by changing and creating new positions, and it will open up more possibilities. It will, therefore, allow telecom providers to gain a competitive edge and improve their customer service practices.
Creating top tier customer service
As they evolve, telecom providers must adapt to ensure they provide both excellent quality of connectivity and class leading customer service. In this second area, it is important for telecom service providers to personalise every interaction with each customer. Research from McKinsey found that 71% of consumers expect personalised interactions with their provider, and 76% of customers feel frustrated when they do not receive this service.
It is without a doubt that there is a strong correlation between high customer satisfaction and retention. In some cases, even if a provider has the lowest prices available, but customers have had a negative experience, connectivity issues or unexpected billing charges, it will be unlikely that they will stay, even with targeted personalised marketing campaigns. The stakes are high to get customer service right.
To overcome these issues, telecom providers should embrace the autonomous enterprise model to provide best in class customer service and meet rising customer expectations both in the present and beyond. If the industry successfully applies AI and automation across both backend and customer-facing operations, they can effectively streamline processes and offer customers a higher service quality, which is more efficient and maximises uptime. It is, therefore, essential for telecom providers to get all aspects of customer service right.
What is the next phase of automation in the telecoms industry?
If telecom operators direct their technology investments towards the autonomous enterprise vision, they will be able to create superior and automated customer experiences, with minimal human oversight of day-to-day operations. This will free up time for employees to have a greater focus on customers and deliver personalised experiences, leading to higher retention rates.
By automating all aspects of their operations with the autonomous enterprise, it will create long-term cost saving measures and rid the CSP the quick fixes that ultimately prove expensive and often limit innovation. There is no doubt that this is the next phase in the evolution of the industry. Creating an autonomous enterprise is likely mean some form of “brutal automation”, but it could be just what the telecoms industry – and its customers – needs. So long as they don’t forget the need for humans in the loop.
Article by Mark Jackson, an EMEA director of industry principal, telecoms and media at Pegasystems
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