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Verizon has turned to Google Cloud’s Contact Center AI to automate phone calls

theregister.com

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Re: Verizon has turned to Google Cloud’s Contact Center AI to automate phone calls

#71

Post by woeirua »

jackson1442 wrote: post #66
sys_64738 wrote: post #45

I don't talk to computers other than to demand a human. I doubt very much I ever will. It's why stuff like Alexa and Siri is doomed to fail. People don't want to communicate that way.

On the other hand, Amazon's chatbot for order issues is actually one of the best customer support experiences I've had. Me: "I need to get a refund" Bot: "Which order do you need refunded?" Me: select order Bot: "What's your reason for requesting a refund?" Me: "Item did not arrive" Bot: "Alright, I've credited your payment method x#### used on this order." Fastest refund I've ever gotten-- the product never arrived…

You know that it's even faster through their return portal, right? I've had literally zero positive experiences with chatbots. There's a reason why they're not taking off.

Re: Verizon has turned to Google Cloud’s Contact Center AI to automate phone calls

#72

Post by linuxftw »

StillBored wrote: post #30

Except these automated systems never have the power to actually resolve problems. If they did, then someone would exploit them for gain. I had a problem last year with a major credit card processing bank, where they decided I needed a new card/number, but apparently were unable to actually ship said card to me for an extended period of time. During which, I was locked out of the online/automated phone/etc system beca…

I recommend Chase or Amex, I have had good success getting through and speaking with them about various issues. I'm not sure about not having the card number.

One thing you can try is the 'lost or stolen card' number rather than the general request line. They will get you taken care of most usually. Also, it's likely they already mailed your new card, so your card was indeed lost, only by them. I think this happened to me once.

Re: Verizon has turned to Google Cloud’s Contact Center AI to automate phone calls

#73

Post by Scoundreller »

Bjartr wrote: post #56
Scoundreller wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem is, the second they have my email address, they start spamming you. When they have to pay $0.62/message, it cuts down on the crap. I’m a member of a profession where you’re supposed to read all of their comms. Now that they’ve switched to email, they send way more crap that I have to sift through and I can’t block them.

> The problem is, the second they have my email address, they start spamming you. Being (arguably) legitimate companies, their unsubscribe links actually do work.

It doesn’t stop them from including crap in their invoices now that there’s no printing cost.

Then there’s the emails saying: “your bill is ready”, but you gotta login to see what it is and open a PDF.

Paper is more convenient.

Re: Verizon has turned to Google Cloud’s Contact Center AI to automate phone calls

#74

Post by TeMPOraL »

Scoundreller wrote: post #73
Bjartr wrote: post #56

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> The problem is, the second they have my email address, they start spamming you. Being (arguably) legitimate companies, their unsubscribe links actually do work.

It doesn’t stop them from including crap in their invoices now that there’s no printing cost. Then there’s the emails saying: “your bill is ready”, but you gotta login to see what it is and open a PDF. Paper is more convenient.

Or do it like PayPal: 'PayPal news and your transactions' - 'to view your transactions, please log in on the site. Additionally, here's a bunch of commercial spam.'

Re: Verizon has turned to Google Cloud’s Contact Center AI to automate phone calls

#75

Post by cashew_nuts »

KMnO4 wrote: post #12

I'm sure the telcos have statistics to validate this system, but it seems to completely oppose my own personal experiences. I have never phoned customer support to: - View my account details (available online) - Find out about new plans and promos (available online) - Pay my bill (available online) - etc (available online) I have only phoned customer support to: - Negotiate a better rate (requires a human) - Argue ab…

Created an account just to comment on this.

I design, implement and support contact centers for a living (think Avaya, Cisco, etc..). For the past five years, we've been preparing ourselves through education and training for this omnichannel take over of voice. While other channels have taken some of the voice pie, it's not nearly as significant as those of us in this field thought it would. I've created chat bots, IVRs and everything in between for automation, and people absolutely hate it and simply want to talk to a human. Most customers push going to the website, but the problem is that a lot of people don't know how to navigate properly. To help this, a lot of customers implement co-browse into their chat solution, but that's only helped a little. We too are using Google's Dialogflow and I'll be looking to deploy my first one in a couple months - very promising compared to other solutions out there like Amazon Connects Lex Bot. Regardless, leaders and technology evangelists in this field still preach that by 2025, the overall percentage of the pie for voice will end up being about 15%. But they emphasize that those humans who make up the 15% will be the most important in the customer service/support space.

Re: Verizon has turned to Google Cloud’s Contact Center AI to automate phone calls

#76

Post by oldgradstudent »

reportgunner wrote: post #13

I'm not a customer support agent but I took a basic customer support training at my previous company to get better at communication. If I remembered anything from the education it's this: You have to address the customer's emotional needs before addressing the customer's business need. If you don't you end up with an unhappy customer who had his problem solved. I don't see an AI satisfying my emotional needs any time…

There's nothing more painfully frustrating than a customer service agent that tries to handle what they think are my emotional needs.

My emotional needs are that they fix their damn service.

Re: Verizon has turned to Google Cloud’s Contact Center AI to automate phone calls

#77

Post by mysterydip »

cashew_nuts wrote: post #75
KMnO4 wrote: post #12

I'm sure the telcos have statistics to validate this system, but it seems to completely oppose my own personal experiences. I have never phoned customer support to: - View my account details (available online) - Find out about new plans and promos (available online) - Pay my bill (available online) - etc (available online) I have only phoned customer support to: - Negotiate a better rate (requires a human) - Argue ab…

Created an account just to comment on this. I design, implement and support contact centers for a living (think Avaya, Cisco, etc..). For the past five years, we've been preparing ourselves through education and training for this omnichannel take over of voice. While other channels have taken some of the voice pie, it's not nearly as significant as those of us in this field thought it would. I've created chat bots, I…

Instead of blaming the customer for not being able to navigate properly, maybe the website should be built more intuitively?

Re: Verizon has turned to Google Cloud’s Contact Center AI to automate phone calls

#78

Post by Nextgrid »

mysterydip wrote: post #77
cashew_nuts wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Created an account just to comment on this. I design, implement and support contact centers for a living (think Avaya, Cisco, etc..). For the past five years, we've been preparing ourselves through education and training for this omnichannel take over of voice. While other channels have taken some of the voice pie, it's not nearly as significant as those of us in this field thought it would. I've created chat bots, I…

Instead of blaming the customer for not being able to navigate properly, maybe the website should be built more intuitively?

Most non-tech companies' websites are absolutely awful. Either the login/authentication system is half-assed and you can't access your own account, or the documentation is not easy to find and there is no good search feature, or the website itself directs you to chat/phone once you finally find what you were looking for.

Re: Verizon has turned to Google Cloud’s Contact Center AI to automate phone calls

#79

Post by magoon »

I never call until I’ve exhausted all self service options.

I don’t need to be told every time “Did you know...you can find us online to X, Y, and Z?”

Verizon customers are paying more because they expect more, so this move by them is disappointing.

Re: Verizon has turned to Google Cloud’s Contact Center AI to automate phone calls

#80

Post by Nextgrid »

3814058 wrote: post #23
supergeek133 wrote: post #18

I've worked for large and small companies, and I've never understood the outsourcing/robot-ting of your phone customer care people. First and sometimes last line of defense in gaining or keeping a customer. Best Buy was probably the most egregious example of this.

Having worked in a call center for Internet, Telephone, and TV about 3 years ago. In my experience most people have the same stupid question. 1. Do I plug in the green wire in the green port or in the red port (They call before they have even tried to connect things). 2. My TV isn't working when they haven't pressed "Source". 3. Something is wrong, restart router. 4. My WiFi is slow when they have one router for 200…

The simple answer could be to charge a fee for support calls. Either a flat fee per minute, or a fee applied to the account that gets refunded if it ends up being an issue on their side that can't be self-solved.

They would reach a "sweet spot" where the fee would still be affordable but dissuasive enough to cut down on the amount of stupid calls, and would actually allow them to hire less, but more skilled support advisors.

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