More than 92.7% of operators think biometrics-based subscriber authentication and AI/ML-based intelligence will be effective in addressing major gaps in customer care; 96.1% of operators expect these capabilities to drive a superior CX while reducing customer care costs
The Fast Mode today released a new report 'How Operators are Putting CX First with Biometrics and Artificial Intelligence: Towards Enhanced Service Differentiation and Monetization'. The report was created in collaboration with Nuance Communications, a leader in conversational AI and ambient intelligence.
According to the report, more than 94.0% of operators identify the use of biometrics for subscriber authentication and fraud/cyber-threat management as an effective means to address gaps in their customer care. Biometrics uses voice signatures, conversational patterns and on-device behaviour to identify subscribers. More than 11.2% of operators say that the use of biometrics will be a game changer for their organizations.
Artificial intelligence (AI) / machine learning (ML), which can be integrated into customer care channels to deliver intelligence, automation and context-aware engagement, is identified by more than 92.7% of operators as another key capability for enhancing customer care operations and performance. More than 10.2% of operators see AI/ML as a game changer for a wide range of customer care use cases including voice and conversational IVR, proactive notifications, virtual assistants, chatbots and messaging services.
The report finds that despite more than 88.2% of operators having a CX strategy in place, huge gaps continue to exist across operator customer care. The survey shows a surprisingly high level of confidence among operators, specifically from North America and Australia, on their CX performance vis-à-vis their competitors. Despite this, most operators continue to grapple with a high dependency on human intervention, in-silo management of channels and the susceptibility to fraud risks.
The report, which was participated by 211 operator respondents, also assessed operator AI/ML capabilities. “When it comes to conversational intelligence, only 13.6% of operators think they have the ability to really deliver conversational/human-like interactions for customer care,” said Ariana Leena Lavanya, Principal Analyst at The Fast Mode. Operators however, see AI/ML capabilities as a strategic soft asset for their brand. “We notice that close to half of the operators surveyed plan to develop their own AI software, internally or in partnership with external vendors,” added Ariana.
Discussing possible challenges in onboarding subscribers to biometrics-based authentication, there’s a strong influence from other industries such as banking, healthcare and utilities where this is already normalized. This, coupled with the push from a younger, tech-savvy subscriber base, is expected to outweigh privacy concerns associated with one’s voice and movements being monitored by a machine.
The push for biometrics-based subscriber authentication and AI/ML-based intelligence comes at a juncture where customer care channel interactions are becoming increasingly influential in defining operator CX, and as operators reposition CX to go beyond managing customer issues to becoming a catalyst for operator service differentiation and monetization. 96.1% of operators expect biometrics-based subscriber authentication and AI/ML-based intelligence to deliver a superior CX while reducing customer care costs, with 40.6% of the respondents expecting a significant enhancement in these areas.
These and a host of other findings, including customer care use cases for biometrics and AI/ML, deployment models and regional influences on operators’ approaches to adopting these technologies can be found in the How Operators are Putting CX First with Biometrics and Artificial Intelligence report.
The Fast Mode and Nuance Communications will be presenting detailed findings from the report in an upcoming exclusive webinar for operators entitled "Biometrics and AI/ML-based Intelligence for Operator CX" featuring expert speakers from the industry. Register here to reserve your slot.
