Utilities now collect more information about their customers than at any time in history, and machine learning is emerging as a key way to empower them to leverage the data for competitive gain. As a result, machine learning is changing how these organizations respond to customer requests for the better.  

Customer service has been driven by data analysis and nowadays utilities have lots to examine.  In 2020, the world will create 44 zettabytes of information up from 10Z bytes in 2015, according to market research firm International Data Corp. (IDC). To put those numbers into context, one zettabyte of apples would fill the Pacific Ocean.

Collecting data is the first step in a process to leverage information and improve customer care. By itself, data does nothing. Its value only comes once corporations garner insights and use them to improve business processes. For years, energy providers tried to use data to better understand customer needs, and machine learning, the next rung on Artificial Intelligence ladder, has that potential.

Cutting Down on Paperwork

Leveraging information is labor-intensive. Traditionally, customer service managers had to sift through reams of reports, correlate items in an ad-hoc manner, make business decisions, and monitor their results. With data volumes growing, executives have been drowning in information.

Machine learning offloads much of the gathering process. The technology relies on algorithms to illustrate data point connections and generate reports that help utility execs identify trends, initiate changes, and streamline business processes.

Improving Customer Care

Customer service representatives have long thirsted for real time information, so they could respond to customer needs as soon as they arise. Previously, businesses lacked the compute power needed to sift through the countless possibilities that could occur at any moment. Currently, with the advent of massive cloud based data centers, high speed communications lines, and machine learning, that goal becomes possible. In fact, 57% of executives believe the most significant benefit of machine learning will be improving the customer experience, according to Forrester Research Inc.

Here, companies are taking multiple tracts to leverage machine learning to reach that goal. Quick resolutions to service calls is something that both companies and customers desire. Vendors currently collect lot of information about each customer interaction. Rather than simply continue to respond to seemingly random queries, enterprises are building models that anticipate what the consumer is looking for and respond proactively rather than reactively. For instance, if a client picks up the phone after clicking through your Web site, the contact center representative deduces they have been unsuccessful in finding needed information.

Recent technical advances enable companies to collect oodles of customer information. Machine learning is empowering them to use that data to improve customer satisfaction, reduce costs, and increase revenue. As a result, the emerging technology is becoming a key cornerstone in today’s customer service center.