Vodafone NZ Signs Strategic Partnership To Bring AI Into Contact Centre Solutions

An exclusive partnership between Vodafone New Zealand and Convai, a Probe Group company and specialists in intelligent contact centre solutions, has resulted in the launch of Vodafone Voice Concierge, a solution improving both the customer experience and efficiency of business call centres.

Using artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, and advanced speech recognition, Vodafone Voice Concierge responds to a customer call, analyses the customer request and directs the call to the appropriate outcome, whether that be to talk to a call centre agent or a self-serve option. Convai estimates the solution reduces the average call time by 15 – 30 seconds.

Lindsay Zwart, Vodafone Business Director, says that the cloud-based solution is designed for businesses of all sizes and is already integrated into Vodafone’s Contact Centre portfolio of products, including its recently released Vodafone Connect (powered by AWS) and Genesys Cloud contact centre platforms.

“Businesses with smaller contact centre needs can now enjoy the immediacy of an intelligent next-generation solution that can be up and running within two to three days,” she says.

“The intuitive and simple-to-use system can be plugged straight into a unified communications system, such as Vodafone One Business or Teams Connect, providing an end-to-end solution that can be operated without the need of technical expertise. For larger enterprises with more complex contact centre requirements, including those with on-premise deployments, Vodafone Voice Concierge can also be tailored into a bespoke solution that can be managed either internally or by our expert teams.”

Group CEO of Probe Group Andrew Hume says the solution’s advanced speech interpretation and AI-driven call routing means the system can understand caller intent and respond accordingly, handling large volumes of calls easily.

“At the heart of Vodafone Voice Concierge is a powerful voice interpretation function that turns the conversation into text and assigns the call to a topic for the contact centre agent to view. The agent can see both the intent of the call and the caller’s full language before even speaking with the caller, turning it into a more positive experience for all,” he says.

“The advanced interpretation enables insightful reporting, meaning managers can view the top reasons their customers are calling them at any given time, leading to faster issue resolution and response to recurring queries.”

Vodafone Voice Concierge builds on previous technology implementations Vodafone and Probe Group have delivered together over the last decade to some of New Zealand’s largest and most complex contact centres. These solutions, used in the likes of government and financial institutions, include functionality such as full natural language routing, voice biometric identification and dozens of self-service modules.

“Vodafone Voice Concierge finally enables us to deliver the high end sophistication in a way that can be consumed by all,” says Hume.

One of the country’s leading banks, Bank of New Zealand, has been using a similar Vodafone and Probe Group solution in their contact centre for years. BNZ GM of Customer Connection Hubs, Bridgette Dalzell says “The biometric identification tools mean that customers calling us can quickly and securely verify who they are, without lots of questions or complex passwords. The introduction of open speech navigation means customers can direct where their call will go and reach the right person the first time simply by saying what they want to do.”

Exclusive to Vodafone New Zealand, business customers can trial the entry-level Vodafone Voice Concierge for free for 30 days. To take advantage of the trial or for more information get in touch with the Vodafone Business sales team on 0800 888 305 or through www.vodafone.co.nz/business.

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