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Submitted by Mike Grenville on Mon, 27 Feb 2006 17:28 |
A Spanish operator has launched a text messaging system for pre-pay customers to request an instant automated loan if they are temporarily unable to buy phone credits.
Telefónica Móviles customers text Movistar's AnticÃÂpame Saldo - 'Lend me 2 Euro' - service by sending the word "anticipo" to 4484 to receive the automated credits. The loan is re-payed when they next buy a top-up. The service is just one of a number of innovations being enabled by an extension of Movistar's SMS Wizard automated customer care system supplied by Telsis installed a year ago.
SMS Based Customer Care
Telsis SMS Wizard responds instantly by text to natural language questions or requests submitted by text message. In the 12 months since installation, Movistar's system has already handled over six million customer care queries, giving its customers instant answers to frequently asked questions while freeing call centre agents to deal with more complex queries. Now Movistar is doubling capacity in readiness for further demand, and to enable the hosting of new text-based services for its 20 million pre-pay and contract customers.
SMS Wizard processes 'Lend me 2 Euro' requests, updates pre-pay accounts and sends customers text messages confirming their additional credits. Other new automated text services include loyalty points queries, mailbox setup, last invoice request and registration of customer care calls in any one of eight European and Arabic languages, which allows customers to text their language choice, so that in subsequent calls to customer services they are greeted by an agent speaking the requested language.
Telefónica Móviles CRM technology director, Mario Soro, says that the Telsis system was originally deployed to complement Web and IVR self-service queries in a strategy to reduce the load on call centres. But it has proved so successful that Movistar is moving to expand capacity and broaden the range of questions and requests that the system handles.
"We were the first mobile network operator to deploy SMS Wizard and it's clear that our customers welcome the opportunity to deal with us by text - two and a half million of them have done so in the last year. Now it's time to push the boundaries further. This range of value-added services is just the start."
SMS Wizard applications are developed using 'Telsis Integrated Text Language Environment', (TITLE). The system recognises natural language questions and within seconds returns answers by text message, using a Telsis Intelligent SMS Router. Answers are delivered from an internal knowledge base and from external systems such as customer databases.
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