Federal Communications Commission Chairwoman Jessica Rosenworcel is proposing that the agency open an inquiry on “ways to ensure that consumers have appropriate and efficient access to customer service resources” when it comes to phone, cable and broadband services.
The proposal, which would have to be adopted by the FCC, would seek public comment on topics including access to live representatives, automatic service renewals or price increases, service cancellations, special considerations for people with disabilities,
“Consumers deserve the ability to resolve problems quickly and easily, in a way that works for them, not just what benefits the company’s bottom line,” said Chairwoman Rosenworcel. “That’s why we are seeking information on how to promote efficiency in customer service in the telecommunications industry. Through this effort, we want to explore solutions to take some of the pain out of routine customer service problems and pass along cost savings to consumers.”
Telecom companies are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence and gen AI to handle customer service inquiries in order to cut costs and, hopefully, to improve customer experience at the same time. A 2023 report from Grand View Research found that telecom companies primarily use AI for customer service, in the form of virtual assistants and chatbots, and the market for AI in telecom was expected to see a compound annual growth rate (across all use cases) of nearly 30% through 2030.
The analyst firm cited Vodafone in particular as reporting a 68% improvement in customer experience after it introduced a chatbot, TOBi, to handle customer questions. Vodafone said in a May 2024 blog post that TOBi handles nearly 45 million customer queries per month in 13 countries, using 15 different languages. Ignacio Garcia, CIO Italy and Global Director Data Analytics and AI for Vodafone Group said that Vodafone was able to leverage Microsoft’s gen AI capabilities to boost TOBi’s performance, and has been able to reduce customer call times by at least one minute on average, while seeing its customer satisfaction scores increase.
