How to Enhance the Subscriber Experience with Virtual Agents

Utility and communication service provider companies can sometimes struggle with historical stigmas of poor customer service or customer satisfaction. For example, one report indicates that an inability to modernize customer experience in the subscription TV service industry has contributed to low satisfaction levels. This is most notable in contact centers, which have a satisfaction score of 64 out of 100.

This blog will uncover how utility providers can leverage virtual agents to improve the subscriber experience and boost customer satisfaction.

What is the Subscriber Experience?

The subscriber experience is the same as the customer experience but related to subscription-based communications or utility services. Subscriber experience focuses on a specific type of customer: someone who has subscribed to a service. Like the customer experience, the subscriber experience covers the customer's entire journey with a service or company, including its contact center.

In the world of utility and communication service provider companies, customer service and support satisfaction are key factors to business success. However, as noted above, contact center satisfaction levels of entertainment service providers, like companies in the TV cable space, are notably low (64 out of 100). This low score is often because of unpredictable spikes in traffic related to outages or related to technical problems that complicate customer support.

If a communication service provider or entertainment service provider wants to boost these satisfaction levels, they need to start with contact center automation technology that will improve the subscriber experience.

Strengthen the Subscriber Experience with Contact Center Technology

Managing the subscriber experience encompasses both the technical user interface and one-on-one interactions customers have with contact center agents. Companies in the communication service provider and entertainment service provider sector have the looming threat of unpredictable spikes in traffic. Therefore, they stand to benefit from modern contact center technology that enables automation and offers predictability and flexibility to mitigate technical problems. Contact centers that deploy these tools can avoid being overwhelmed by an increase in calls that negatively impact the subscriber experience. 

One modern contact center technology that can strengthen and modernize the subscriber experience is virtual agents.  

Refresh: What is a Virtual Agent?

A virtual agent (also known as an intelligent virtual agent or IVA) is an AI-enabled contact center technology that helps deliver a positive customer experience. It can understand spoken and written requests through natural language understanding or natural language processing. This way, users can communicate naturally and the technology will understand and return a natural-sounding response. Virtual agents’ use of AI, machine learning, and other automation technologies allows them to generate personalized responses to users. These features also make virtual agents an effective solution to improve issue resolution and the subscriber experience, which we will dive into later. 

Mosaicx is an IVA that uses conversational AI to drive contact center satisfaction by providing personalized, real-time assistance to subscribers.

How Virtual Agents Enhance the Subscriber Experience

There are several ways a communication service provider and entertainment service provider can leverage virtual agents to strengthen the subscriber experience. We’ve listed four examples below.

1) Deliver Multichannel Support

IVAs are well-equipped to deliver multichannel support. As a refresher, multichannel support means that subscribers can engage with communication service providers and entertainment service providers across different channels or platforms (e.g., website messages, email, in-person, text, or calls). And they can do so at the most convenient time for them.

IVAs can operate across a variety of channels. This channel flexibility means that virtual agents can facilitate self-service issue resolution options for subscribers. Self-service options allow more customers to solve their issues quickly, independently, and on their own time. Meanwhile, phone services are available for customers who prefer to talk to agents and have their questions answered directly. The combination gives customers autonomy over the subscriber experience and the ability to quickly resolve their issues, which increases satisfaction.

As IVAs operate across channels, they gather valuable subscriber data. Communication service providers and entertainment service providers can then integrate that data to inform future interactions. The data can also inform training that can boost agent experiences. Providers can then deliver a more seamless, contextual, and personalized subscriber experience across all channels. The data also conveys predictive intent, allowing greater, continuous relevance for future calls and interactions. Mosaicx enables channel of choice management for subscribers, which means they can tailor how they manage subscriptions and interact with a company's contact center.

2) Enable Intuitive Conversations

AI-enabled virtual agents' ability to improve from past interactions allows the entertainment service provider's contact center to have more intuitive conversations with subscribers. Intuition in customer service settings is critical. An IVA's intuition allows the contact center to better address subscribers' individual needs and answer questions. 

Mosaicx uses machine learning and Google’s speech recognition models to facilitate intuitive conversations that understand intent. The technology enhances predictability and enables automation to help communication service providers and entertainment service providers' contact centers better understand and interact with their subscribers. 

For example, Mosaicx can determine if subscribers respond more quickly to a text than a phone call and automatically move towards that channel for future interactions. Through virtual agents' intelligent predictive outreach, Mosaicx has helped customers increase contact center rates by 30% or more.

3) Streamline Outbound Communication

Entertainment service provider companies often rely on outbound communications (e.g., emails, phone calls, texts, or app notifications) to share updates about service status or outages. A virtual agent can automate the cadence and delivery of these notifications. They can also provide a human-like dialogue if customers reply to the messages, or call the contact center for more information. Virtual agents are also equipped to handle high call volumes, so subscribers experience zero wait times when contacting support. 

Through the intelligence and intuition that Mosaicx IVAs offer, communication service provider and entertainment service provider contact centers know the best times to contact their subscribers. This is because the technology has insight into subscribers' communication preferences and past interactions. These factors streamline outbound communication, which aids in improving the overall subscriber experience. 

Communication service providers can ensure subscribers feel heard and experience less frustration from having to repeat basic information or questions. As a result, they will enhance the overall subscriber experience. 

4) Easily Manage Subscriptions

IVAs make it easy for subscribers to manage subscriptions. For example, subscribers can call to schedule appointments or check for updates on outages or service disruptions. They can also renew their subscriptions through automated texts or phone calls. And, if a customer falls behind on a payment, IVAs' automation and predictive capabilities help a communication service provider and entertainment service provider track down payments. 

More specifically, the intelligent virtual agent can proactively issue payment reminders via the subscriber's preferred channel. Then, customers can pay the bill directly with the IVA or schedule payments at their convenience. The ability for customers to manage subscriptions with real-time, automated, and personalized tools improves subscriber experience and drives revenue for the business.

Nurture Your Subscriber Experience

Subscriptions aren't one-off transactions. Utility providers need to nurture the subscriber experience. Contact center technology, such as intelligent virtual agents, help communication service providers and entertainment service providers better interact with their customers, despite the unpredictable nature of their industry. Mosaicx IVAs deliver true contact center automation that improves the intelligence and intuition of how customers manage subscriptions. These tools provide real-time and personalized support to boost the subscriber experience. 

As companies in the communication service provider and entertainment service provider sectors prioritize the subscriber experience, they will see stronger customer satisfaction and retention rates.