Transforming telecoms with AI

AI is transforming all industries and telecommunications is no exception. 62% of telecommunications providers are using generative AI to enhance customer experience scenarios with that number increasing to 90% by 2027.¹ By implementing AI-powered support systems, telecoms have improved customer satisfaction through faster and more accurate responses. They have automated processes such as network optimization, billing, and customer service inquiries, leading to reduced operational costs and more efficient resource allocation. And their targeted promotions powered by AI have increased revenue by delivering personalized offers to customers. 

Here are examples of what our customers are saying about the value they see: 

Generative AI is proving to be the key to unlocking unprecedented levels of personalization, performance, and customer engagement, as well as the opportunity to change the experience of being on the operator’s network. Microsoft’s strategy to support generative AI adoption in telecommunications centers on four pillars:

1. Elevating customer experience
2. Optimizing business and operations support systems
3. Modernizing the network
4. Unlocking new revenue streams

By focusing on these areas, we aim to enhance customer satisfaction through AI-powered support, streamline business operations with advanced automation, upgrade network infrastructure for better performance and security, and create new revenue opportunities through innovative AI-powered solutions. This comprehensive approach ensures that telecommunications providers deliver exceptional service while driving growth and efficiency.  

Elevating customer experiences 

Differentiation in the telecom industry is a growing challenge, and customer experience is emerging as a key competitive advantage. By leveraging AI-infused customer care, telecommunications companies are enhancing customer experiences through the use of branded service assistants. These AI-powered assistants provide personalized customer support and unique interactions—helping telecoms differentiate themselves from their competitors.

Vodafone Group is investing in both employee and customer experiences. Recently, they announced a plan to provide Microsoft Copilot for Microsoft 365 to their workforce. This generative AI tool will be rolled out to 68,000 employees across the organization to further improve productivity, innovation, and digital efficiency. This follows a successful pilot where Copilot for Microsoft 365 saved over three hours per person, per week—freeing employees to work on more creative, innovative, and valuable tasks, improving work-life balance and enhancing services and supporting Vodafone’s 350 million customers worldwide.   

Vodafone continues to personalize services and improve customer satisfaction by leveraging Microsoft Azure AI Studio, Azure OpenAI Service, and Microsoft Copilot along with Azure AI Search to enhance its customer experience with their virtual assistant, “TOBi,” and their customer agent solution, “SuperAgent.”   

“We aim to provide fast, personalized customer experiences that inspire confidence, but to continue to do that in the face of rising customer expectations, we needed to find a way to better manage complex customer inquiries efficiently and ensure timely and personalized responses.”

Ahmed Elsayed, Chief Information Officer United Kingdom and Europe Digital Engineering Director at Vodafone Group

Today, TOBi engages in more than 45 million conversations a month with customers and is expected to grow to half a billion over the next few years while reducing average hold time by more than one minute.  

Recently, PLDT selected Amdocs’ market-leading Intelligent Networking Suite to transform their network operations. The solution operates on the public cloud, featuring unified network inventory, service and network orchestration, and business process automation capabilities. This agreement also includes the customer service solution for case management, which is part of the Microsoft and Amdocs Customer Engagement Platform (CEP). CEP is a comprehensive, AI-powered solution designed for telecommunications service providers. It offers a unified platform for marketing, sales, commerce, and customer service—enabling telecoms to deliver seamless, digital-first experiences to both consumer and enterprise customers.

Optimizing business and operations support systems 

Telecoms are benefiting from modernizing their Business Support Systems (BSS) and real-time Operations Support Systems (OSS) with data solutions and Copilot for Microsoft 365, an AI-powered productivity tool that integrates with Microsoft 365 apps. At Telkomsel, their chat–based virtual assistant Veronika contributed to a 15% reduction in customer escalations resulting in a net promotor score (NPS) that is 27% above the industry average.

Generative AI assistants for employees empower customer care agents to manage multiple inquiries efficiently, broadening their expertise and resulting in more personalized services leading to improved customer satisfaction and retention.  

Orange France is using generative AI to enhance customer service, marketing, internal and external communications, and network operations, with dedicated support from Microsoft. Use cases include fully integrated tools for rewriting FAQs, generating product sheets, and assisting developers with writing code. Laetitia Orsini Sharps, Consumer Department Director at Orange France, sees this technology as “a promising vector for improving customer service and making employees’ work easier,” allowing service teams to reduce the time it takes an agent to investigate and analyze the root cause of complex cases from 20 minutes to less than 3 minutes.

Modernizing the network 

Telecoms can improve security, network efficiency, scalability, and reliability by using a carrier-grade, AI-infused, and secure hybrid cloud. This modernization effort will reduce costs and drive revenue growth, positioning telecoms as leaders in the digital age.  

Telecoms are protecting their networks from increasingly sophisticated cyber threats. Nokia’s latest innovation, the integration of a generative AI assistant with its NetGuard Cybersecurity Dome, demonstrates this proactive approach to security. Leveraging Azure OpenAI Service, this assistant enhances the efficiency of threat detection and resolution. Nokia expects the generative AI assistant to reduce the time it takes to identify and resolve a threat by up to 50 percent, depending on the nature of a cyberattack. As telecoms continue to fortify their defenses, such advancements are crucial in ensuring the security and reliability of critical operations. 

Real-time analytics capabilities allow telecoms to monitor network performance, detect anomalies, and optimize resource allocation to make data-driven decisions. Microsoft Fabric provides telecoms with real-time data, bringing order to a diverse and complicated data estate, enabling them to scale AI efforts. Fabric integrates data from various sources, including other clouds or on-premises sources, extending to where their data resides, providing a holistic view of telecom operations. The platform’s data visualization tools enable telecom companies to present complex data in an understandable format, facilitating better communication and collaboration across the organization.  

Unlocking new revenue streams 

Using Azure OpenAI Service to scale personalized customer experiences can result in an annual increase in average revenue per customer of 3% to 7% and a reduction in annual churn of 20% to 30%.² Telecom investments in AI and network modernization are unlocking new revenue streams with a platform for rapid development, deployment, and monetization of new services.  

As digital ecosystems expand, telecoms are offering advanced services where applications interact with their networks through APIs, turning their networks into programmable platforms that adapt to changing demands. Azure Programmable Connectivity (APC) offers a seamless Azure experience, providing a unified, standard interface across multiple operator networks globally while abstracting the complexities inherent to network APIs, ensuring code consistency and reliability, as networks continue to evolve. Developers can focus on building applications without worrying about underlying network changes.  

Telecoms can enhance their B2B strategy by leveraging Microsoft’s advanced technologies and strategic partnerships. Yobi Data works with telecoms to better understand customer behavior without compromising privacy.

“Accessing and managing the data necessary for effective AI can be prohibitively expensive—not to mention risky, and inefficient. Yobi Data finds the signal in the noise, empowering telecoms with access to advanced analytics and AI-derived insights into consumer behavior, network performance, and operational efficiency, all based on our own Private-by-Design data set. With these tools, telecoms can reduce churn, increase revenue, and improve customer experience—all without the time, expense, or burdens of new data acquisition.”

Max Snow, Chief Executive Officer, Yobi

The integration of real-time voice AI services using Azure OpenAI Service, Azure AI Translator, and other services allows telecoms to differentiate themselves in the market.

“By partnering with Microsoft, Norwood Systems is pushing the boundaries of innovation in telecommunications. Leveraging Azure AI in our cutting-edge solutions like our CogVoice™ and Visual Voicemail platforms, we’re empowering telecoms operators to unlock new revenue streams, elevate customer engagement, and deliver next-generation experiences. Together, we’re reshaping the future of communication services.”

Paul Ostergaard, Chief Executive Officer and Founder, Norwood Systems 

As telecoms continue to integrate AI into their strategies, the opportunities for growth and innovation are boundless. Recently Korea Telecom (KT) announced a multibillion dollar partnership with Microsoft to accelerate AI transformation for 650,000 companies and 17 million customers in Korea. “The partnership with Microsoft presents a pivotal opportunity, not only for technological collaboration but also for expanding Korea’s AI foundation and driving transformative innovation across industries and daily life,” said KT CEO Young-Shub Kim.

Microsoft’s commitment to supporting this transformation through advanced AI technologies and strategic partnerships will empower telecoms to stay ahead of evolving market and customer demands. 

Explore further how AI is reshaping the telecom industry

• Learn more about Azure OpenAI Service capabilities.
• Read the white paper “Scaling telecommunications AI at speed.”
• Connect with us at Mobile World Congress in Las Vegas, Nevada from October 8 to 10, 2024, where Microsoft is a Platinum Sponsor for the Telco AI Summit. We look forward to welcoming you to our speaking sessions or in our executive meeting rooms in the West Hall, Level 2.

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¹ IDC’s “Telecommunications Service Provider DX Plans and Strategies Survey Highlights Study”, IDC #US52480824, August 2024. 

² New Technology: The Projected Total Economic Impact™ Of Azure OpenAI Service In Reinventing Customer And Constituent Engagement, a commissioned study conducted by Forrester Consulting, July 2024. 

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Source: Microsoft Industry Blog