“We
are still in the testing phase but customers the world over are demanding these
services. Our plan is to ensure the new AI technology will follow the MyDigicel
app in having wide scale availability across all Digicel markets. We are in the
pilot phase now and will only roll out more widely when we are sure that our
customers will get the right experience”
Digicel regional
communications manager Elon Parkinson, speaking about the use of AI to handle
Social Media and IM (Instant Messaging) queries
Digicel
is taking that leap toward introducing singularity in Jamaica...and in the
process potentially eliminating back office work in Call centers.
This
as the Digicel Group is testing AI (Artificial Intelligence) to handle Social
Media and Instant Messenger queries as reported in “Digicel
Group Testing AI For Customer Chatline And Social Media”, Published Sunday
October 1, 2017 by Steven Jackson, The
Jamaica Gleaner.
Powered by Canadian company Wysdom AI, this AI will allow customers to resolve text queries themselves, freeing up Digicel Customer Care agent to do other tasks. Digicel already uses an IVR (Interactive Voice Response) system similar to that used by FLOW Jamaica.
This
is nothing new really, just a Natural Language and Text interaction upgrade of
IVR. Digicel has been using IVR
technology for some time; this Wisdom AI is just text based.
It
will make it easier for customers to self-serve, very similar to the MyDigicel
app, which allows balance checks and top-ups as explained in my Geezam blog article entitled “AppSeeker
Launched on DL810 and DL1000 and MyDigicel on Apple iTunes Store”.
For
a comparison, FLOW Call Center Agents also work with IVR, as we fondly call
Ivy, as our version albeit having a male voice has a female characteristic.
It's
not a true AI, but rather a menu-driven expert system that is capable of
answering queries via your keypad as described in my blog article
entitled “Jamaica
Computer Society and Ministry of S.E.T. fears AI will eliminate Call Center
Jobs in 2021”.
Digicel
plans to roll out their Wysdom AI in a pilot phase all 31 countries, who will
experience quicker text responses in a system that's similar to Facebook's AI
as explained in my Geezam blog article
entitled “Facebook
11,000 army chatbots with buttons as AI need Common Sense”.
So
who exactly is Wysdom AI?
Wysdom AI and Digicel -
Eliminating Backoffice and Overnight workers for truly 24/7 customer care
Wysdom
platform uses an AI to respond to customer queries using NL (Natural Language)
communications on Social Media and IM channels such as Facebook Messenger.
By making Telecoms more self-serve via an AI, it'll mean truly 24/7 customer care as pointed out by Digicel's chief digital officer Hernan Ozon, quote: “Digicel has a proud history of democratising communication in the regions we serve. With Wysdom, we have the tools to provide our customers with options in how they receive digital care, wherever and whenever they need it”.
According
to a source of mine within Digicel, they also plan to integrate the Wysdom AI
into their online webchat as well as their various apps such as the MyDigicel
app. The Wysdom AI is capable of conversing in English, French, and Spanish and
draws upon a database with 125,000 telecom-industry specific questions.
The AI understands queries with a 97.5% precision rate i.e. translation and delivering what is requested. Of those queries, 68% are answered, implying that this AI can actually pass for human as per the Turing Test as described in my blog article entitled “How Russian-Ukranian Researchers Eugene Goostman chatbot beat Natural Language Turing Test”.
The
new system would not eliminate human interaction with customers....not at
first. But with such a response rate, it might be better at achieving the KPI (Key
Performance Indices) we human Call Center Workers find so hard to achieve. Thus
AI can potentially replace other types of repetitive work as these video points
out.
But
that's obviously the plan as Digicel will still give you the choice of talking
to a real persons as explained by Digicel regional communications manager Elon
Parkinson, quote: “Of course, some customers will want to speak to a real
person and they will continue to enjoy the convenience of reaching a live agent
for support with the more complex questions and issues. Similar to the
convenience of the MyDigicel app, the new technology is designed to give a
helpful response to customers who make basic queries, especially outside
working hours”.
So
basically all the Backoffice workers who used to work on chat and email for
Digicel will have to be reassigned.....ditto to the night shift people as
Wysdom AI take over Digicel Jamaica.
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