In a highly competitive, heavily regulated industry, telcos are compelled to drive down cost to serve by simplifying engagement, and optimising sales through the use of relevant offers. Doing all of this in an environment of compliance is challenging for many telcos.
There was a time when telcos held all the cards. Before iMessage or even Skype, customers were beholden to expensive mobile phone plans - remember when we had to pay for texts by the character? Whilst that seems unfathomable to the younger mobile phone users of today, it was the reality, and telcos were reaping the benefits.
Fast forward to 2024 and the telco landscape looks very different. Data is the new currency and telcos are being forced to diversify their revenue streams. The explosion of communication technologies put the power somewhat back in the consumers' hands. What was a ‘one-size-fits-all’ product strategy now needs to shift to hyper-personalisation, efficiency, and impeccable customer experiences.
AI and profitability
Declining profits have forced telcos to leverage new technologies to increase profitability. Telcos are turning to AI to protect revenue and drive growth through personalisation, enable frictionless customer experiences, and meet new workforce demands, among other reasons.
‘AI leaders’, as defined by McKinsey, have experienced a five-year revenue CAGR that is 2.1 times higher than that of their peers and a total return to shareholders that is 2.5 times larger. Whilst it seems like a no-brainer, and almost a necessity, for telcos to adopt AI to solve industry challenges, telcos are yet to fully embrace it. A major cause of hesitation is simply understanding the AI use cases for telcos and the benefits they bring.
The use cases and benefits of AI for telcos
We’re yet to uncover all the ways AI can support innovation and growth across the telco industry. However, there are already a myriad of use cases that are changing the game for those leading the charge.
- Hyper personalised offerings: AI can provide personalised offerings by monitoring usage data and feeding that back to the business as actionable insights. For example, a customer might constantly go over their data cap whilst never using their minutes. When they receive their next bill, they receive a personalised prompt to switch to a plan that better suits their usage patterns. Another scenario could be if a customer travels overseas at similar times each year and is prompted to purchase a roaming package ahead of their next trip. Hyper personalised offering may reduce customer churn, where a customer trusts that the tTelco is constantly seeking to ensure customer value is attained.
- Seamless customer experiences: Beyond personalisation, AI can make customer interactions more natural and intuitive. Previously, experiences with AI in contact centres have felt clunky and slow, with many ending in frustration. Innovative technologies are available that connect AI virtual agents, chatbots and AI-based speech services that, for example, enable a customer to speak their native language directly to an AI bot and then it will translate it, process the information, and then respond in their preferred language instantaneously.
- Improved training capabilities: AI can monitor customer interactions and provide tailored training advice to agents, helping to improve customer experiences whilst boosting agent performance, lowering turnover rates, and creating operational efficiencies.
- Network optimisation: AI can help to analyse network traffic to predict and detect network issues or optimise resource allocation, resulting in major savings.
These are just some of the ways that AI can support the telco industry to use technology advancements to its advantage, rather than letting them become its downfall. Beyond the benefits they provide to the organisation itself, AI investments also become value adds to sell to customers, helping telcos remain relevant and potentially create new revenue streams. Telcos that embrace AI will improve customer loyalty, decrease staff turnover, and create efficiencies, whilst also building a stronger foundation for innovation and future growth.
Get in touch with SecureCo today to learn more about how we can support telcos to leverage AI.