Telecoms operator Eir has agreed a €1 million deal with tech consultancy company Expleo to help improve customer service through the use of artificial intelligence and robotics technologies.
The project sees Expleo’s technology used to deal with common requests made by Eir’s customers, eliminating the need for customers to contact service agents, and freeing them up to deal with other, more complex queries.
Of the thousands of calls received by Eir every day, just under 20 per cent related to 13 common processes – moving home, adding authorised users, changing installation appointment dates, and so on. Using robotic process automation, Expleo has enabled customers to manage these requests online, around the clock, without having to wait on hold for customer care unless they would rather talk to someone on the phone.
Expleo said the technology allows the company to process more than 10,000 customer requests each month, and almost three-quarters are fully automated. Since the technology has been deployed, Eir’s figures put the average call waiting time below three minutes.
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The project is part of a €6 million investment by Eir into digital transformation to benefit its customers.
“The communication service we provide to our customers is essential. It is our job to ensure the two million people we serve have the communications infrastructure they need to live, work and connect all across Ireland, every single day. When they need us that interaction has to be seamless,” said Brian Chapman, Eir’s chief information officer.
“Eir has undergone a huge IT transformation in recent years, implementing new systems to provide best-in-class care journeys for our customers. By automating many of our processes, we can improve the outcome for our customers and the agents who work with them. We partnered Expleo with to implement a transformational robotics programme.”
The telecoms operator has come under fire in recent years for its customer service. According to the most recent report from the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (CCPC), Eir topped the list for customer complaints referred to the consumer body last year.
Eir also appeared before the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Transport and Communications Networks in 2020, with then-chief executive Carolan Lennon apologising for the company’s customer care issues.
The company said the robotics programme had improved things significantly, increasing its customer satisfaction rating by 22 points in 2022, and cutting complaints by 65 per cent.
“Businesses are seeing huge value not just in automation, but hyperautomation. Many are burdened by simple, repetitive tasks when they could be taken care of by robots,” said Rebecca Keenan, global head of intelligent automation at Expleo.
“Eir’s digital transformation programme is an excellent example of this and our partnership helps them ensure that as many high-volume but straightforward tasks as possible are being automated.
“In turn, customer service agents have more time to focus on customer-facing tasks, while also learning new skills in the area of automation.”
Ms Keenan said the role of hyperautomation – automation at scale – would grow in the future.
