Automation & AI in telecommunications

Telecommunications service providers are under increasing industry pressure, influenced by consumer expectations, operational complexities, and the looming transformation that 5G technology represents. These pressures are highlighting the need for telecommunications companies to increase operational efficiency and improve digital experiences. Adopting artificial intelligence (AI) and automation can ease these pressures.

Inefficient operations lead to slow customer communication and perceived neglect of consumers' needs and desires. An ineffective user experience can worsen that perception, leading a customer to abandon a company or service in favour of one that offers a more palatable experience.

Developing strong AI and telecom automation technology

Developing strong artificial intelligence and automation technology are ways that telecom companies can improve customer experience across all business segments. By bringing data from all channels together, providers can improve communication, not only with their customer base but internally as well. Siloed departments such as network operations or customer care are not generally seen as affecting each other, but by bringing the data from those areas into a single view, communication service providers can analyze the data from those silos and generate specific, granular insights that can improve customer experience.

“Communication service providers (CSPs) have invested heavily in data infrastructure to collect and store information from across their businesses and this data cuts across the entire operational landscape. CSPs have network data, device data, usage data, billing data and customer data from which to generate highly granular insights.” - excerpt from Connecting the dots: automating customer and network workflows to deliver better experiences and greater productivity published by ServiceNow & Mobile World Live

The ultimate goal for telecom companies to develop AI and automation technology is to process and utilize the vast amounts of data being generated by all business aspects within the organization to deliver the intuitive experience that customers are looking for.

Examples of how AI and automation could best be used in telecommunications

• Ecommerce personalization: AI could identify customer “needs” based on purchase data and compare them to purchases by other customers to suggest complementary products and services. Ex: the last 1,000 people that bought X, also bought Y, so have that product offered as a suggested product to the consumer through ecommerce and advertising channels.
• Proactively problem-solving: An another use case, automation and AI technologies can be combined with speed to identify network congestion and automatically address the issue before it starts to affect the user experience.
• Create more intuitive customer support features: Build new tools and automation that can help users solve their problems through AI chatbots without human intervention, making problem resolution quick and painless.

For telecommunications companies, adopting automation increases operation efficiency promotes better communication and leads to better profits. Using Artificial intelligence (AI) can provide specific, granular insights that can improve customer experience and deliver the intuitive experience that telecom customers are looking for.

Telecommunications service providers need solution partners with a deep understanding of the critical issues and competitive pressures inside and outside of their organizations; partners who are integrated into their business strategy and who drive the development of technology-based solutions. Acro Commerce has developed a proven strategic development process for telecoms that increases speed to market, resulting in increased product margins, sales volumes and overall market share.