Outstanding customer service can be an unique selling point that sets companies apart from their competitors. However, it often reaches its limits - for resource reasons. AI-supported dialog systems, known as conversational AI, can help companies and customers alike.

"The customer is king." This is both an incentive and a challenge. When customers call the hotline, they expect the best service - and yet often end up on hold: "Welcome to XY Parcel Service. Your call is on hold, the next available employee will be with you shortly. The current waiting time is 9 minutes." There's another way: "Welcome to XY Parcel Service, Mr. Meier. This is Anna, your virtual assistant. How can I help you?" - "Yes, hello, I can't read where to pick up my parcel in the shipping notification." - "Got it, I can help with that. Please give me the shipping number." Quick and easy. What technology supports this so that the customer Meier is helped directly on the first call?

AI-supported dialog systems, known as conversational AI, can answer customers' questions in natural language on various channels such as the telephone, website or WhatsApp. The system converts spoken words into text and understands the caller's request Important information such as product names, dates or order numbers from the conversation help the software to understand the request and identify relevant details. Necessary information is queried in third-party systems. The processing step is the core of the process; this is where artificial intelligence comes into play. The appropriate answer is finally converted back into spoken language using text-to-speech.

Customer service is...

... the ability to solve problems quickly and effectively. However, it often reaches its limits, whether due to a lack of qualified employees, peak workloads or cost reasons: Training costs are added to high personnel costs in order to train new employees or to bring up-to-date knowledge into the team.

AI-supported dialog systems offer a win-win situation for both companies and customers. The application scenarios are diverse and are constantly evolving. In most cases, the use of such a solution pays off for our customers in less than a year.

• Recognize concerns: Conversational AI can process inquiries on the hotline automatically and largely independently around the clock, for example informing logistics companies of the delivery time. Up to 1,000 calls can be answered in parallel - with no waiting time for customers, even in the event of unforeseen events. Employees who previously dealt with similar inquiries several times a day can take on more qualified tasks. This increases motivation and reduces staff turnover.
• Supporting service staff: If companies such as insurance companies do not want the AI to interact directly with their customers, for example with sensitive processes and products, a conversational AI can run in the background. It transcribes the conversations in parallel for post-documentation and supports employees live by searching for solutions in connected systems and suggesting them. This makes it easier and quicker to answer queries. It also significantly reduces the training time for new employees.
• Call yourself: In marketing and sales, AI-supported dialog systems can - with the customer's consent - take over calls, for example to remind them of appointments or draw their attention to events or products. This saves costs for highly standardized calls with identical content.

Customized AI solutions with the technology leaders

Deutsche Telekom knows what good voice assistants have to do. Its chatbot "Ask Magenta" has already won several awards. It therefore relies on leading technologies and offers solutions from various partners. As a "general contractor", Deutsche Telekom provides consulting, implementation, service and operation for the use of conversational AI in customer service. The solutions are intuitive to use. Companies do not need any programming knowledge or an IT department to integrate them into their processes. The development and training of the AI is carried out in accordance with European guidelines, service and support are provided in Germany and the solutions are operated in German data centers in accordance with the requirements of the General Data Protection Regulation. Deutsche Telekom has introduced binding ethical guidelines for dealing with AI.

There is no question that AI needs fast internet that can transmit the data volumes that AI systems process quickly and reliably. This is where fiber comes into play. Deutsche Telekom offers its business customers independent fiber-optic tariffs ranging from "Fiber 150" to "Fiber 2,000". In addition, there is outage protection, a non-stop network, so to speak. So that the invisible heroes in customer service can work perfectly.

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