Telecom customer experience has evolved from basic metrics to real-time, data-driven, personalized engagement
While not always perfect, customer experience in the telecommunications industry has come a long way, and it continues to improve. What was once measured by basic metrics like Net Promoter Score (NPS) and churn rate has evolved into a complex, multi-touchpoint strategy focused on real-time, highly personalized engagement. This evolution presents both challenges and opportunities for carriers as they strive to meet changing customer expectations and differentiate themselves in a competitive market. The goal has shifted from lagging indicators of customer experience through churn to data led leading indicators — even for new customers.
From transactional efficiency to proactive engagement
Historically, dealing with your communications company usually meant calling a customer service line or visiting a store. And the carriers’ goal was to answer your call or help you at the retail location as quickly as possible and solve the problem in the shortest period of time. They measured success using metrics like Average Wait Time (AWT), Average Handling Time (AHT), and occasionally through customer surveys using various scoring systems. However, by focusing only on AHT and AWT, something got lost — real connections and a true understanding of what drives customer satisfaction and retention. Paradoxically, this is evident in the fact that most retail sales traffic is devoted to addressing customer issues rather than generating sales.
Automation was introduced to improve efficiency and streamline call center operations. However, as customer needs and expectations evolved, certain systems — like lengthy automated voice menus — proved less than effective at delivering the seamless experience people were looking for. In response, forward-thinking providers like Verizon began exploring more intuitive, customer-centric solutions to enhance service and satisfaction.
“We’re constantly listening and learning from our employees and our customers, asking them for feedback on how we can improve,” said Brian Higgins, chief customer experience officer at Verizon. “We take that feedback to heart and in June 2025, we launched our largest customer experience transformation ever, designed to make it easier for customers to connect with us on their terms. Whether it’s in our stores, on the phone, online or through the new my Verizon app, we’re making sure our customers know we got them, whenever and wherever they connect with us.”
Communication providers have always known that high customer satisfaction is highly correlated to their main product — the network. Network teams would capture metrics like dropped or blocked calls, network utilization, network availability, signal strength, downlink and uplink speeds, latency, and package retries. In 1992, U.S. political operative James Carville famously said about what would decide the presidential election — “it’s the economy, stupid.” Similarly, communications companies have basically said “it’s the network, stupid” when referring to customer satisfaction and experience.
There is no doubt that network quality, network reliability, and of course price, are the primary motivators on why a customer chooses a certain comms service provider. However, as the gap in network quality amongst competitors becomes smaller, customer service and satisfaction can have a material impact. There has always been an enormous amount of data captured with network, sales, and care teams. Part of the improvement opportunity has been a gap on what data to focus on and ironically the limited sharing of data with these various functional groups … within the same company.
Fortunately, there has been a shift from a functional lens to appreciating the end-to-end connectivity experience, and how data from all customer touchpoints are needed to see the whole customer experience journey.
A complete customer experience
Recently, carriers have been adopting more of a holistic approach to customer experience, covering devices, applications, and networks. Digital tools like chatbots, virtual agents, and app-based platforms that learn from customer behavior and anticipate their needs have been put in place.
This integrated approach allows providers to resolve problems in real-time, often before customers notice. And now carriers can significantly enhance the overall experience, redefining customer engagement and helping to foster long-term loyalty—an increasingly critical issue for the industry. In fact, Accenture research found that only about one-third of customers remain with their wireless and home broadband internet provider for over five years.
Generative AI’s role in improving the customer experience
There’s no doubt that gen AI will revolutionize the customer experience even further. Unlike traditional AI, which relies on static rules and responses, gen AI enables machines to learn context, infer intent, and generate unique, hyper-personalized interactions for each customer. As a result, the experience goes from reactive to predictive, with real-time data driving smarter decisions at every step along the journey.
For example, imagine a customer streaming a movie on their phone while camping when the service starts to buffer due to network congestion. Gen AI could automatically adjust the connection or suggest a workaround — without the customer needing to lift a finger. It could also proactively alert customers to service-related issues — and even offer a credit where appropriate. Furthermore, this customer experience can capture the frequency of this issue to alert the network team of the congestion and possible short-term and long-term recommendations.
A case study: How Verizon is embracing the human-machine opportunity
Verizon is a great example of blending human expertise with AI to deliver an innovative, AI-powered customer experience. The company recently announced that whether it’s in stores, on the phone, online or through the app — they’re making it easier for customers to connect with them, all on the customer’s terms.
To foster deeper trust and loyalty, Verizon is implementing several key strategies: assigning dedicated experts to handle complex issues, expanding live customer service to include 24/7 call and chat support, launching a new AI-powered My Verizon app to simplify account management, and increasing its retail presence to ensure that 93% of the population is within 30 minutes of a Verizon store.
Higgins added: “We’re committed to making it easy for our customers to get help when they need it. With increasingly busy lives, people don’t have time to contact us multiple times or navigate different channels to resolve an issue — nor should they have to. Our promise is simple: we’ll treat their problem as our own, no matter how they reach out, and ensure it’s resolved in a single interaction.”
This shift could be the opportunity for Verizon — and other carriers that embrace this type of model — to move away from problem solving to creating new experiences.
Final thoughts
By putting AI at the core of their strategies, carriers can deliver proactive, personalized and engaging services that go beyond basic connectivity. This evolution can help turn trust into loyalty. Providers that embrace this change will be best positioned to earn long-term customer trust, loyalty, and, ultimately, growth.
