Utility Week

21 ISSUE 03 MAY/2019 " e challenge is that customers expect these tools to provide better service than a human agent." Customers increasingly expect AI- enabled utilities services to match and even exceed their experiences with other sectors that are early adopters of the technology, whether it is chat boxes on retail websites or smart recommendations on social media platforms. AI can undoubtedly help customer service centres reduce incoming enquiries as people increasingly resolve simple requests for themselves. But simply reducing the number of customer service staff should not be the ultimate goal for businesses. "We might be able to employ AI to reduce the number of agents processing address and subscription changes, but we still need to invest in customer service staff to deal with complex, emotional issues and differentiate our brand," says Richardson. "Today's smartphone empowered customer is more intelligent, they are more informed as they research issues, they are more complex, emotional and social. As a business we need to respond by ensuring that we have humans to provide empathy and have the time to resolve complex issues and go that extra mile to ensure that the customer is not just satisfied but a social advocate." HELP FOR THE ELDERLY? AI devices such as conversational bots coupled with interactive voice devices such as Alexa can make it very easy for utilities to improve customer services for vulnerable or elderly customers, writes Jamie Hailstone. "Chatbots can remove or reduce the impact of language barriers which can help people who don't have English as a first language or are hard of hearing," says Capgemini's head of insights and data for UK energy and utilities, Raj Malayathil. "Utility companies can use these models to help elderly customers, who can talk to their bots to interact with their utility provider. Ultimately, this voice- controlled AI is allowing utilities to engage with their customers directly into their home, at a time convenient to them, and removing barriers such as lack of access to web and phone while overcoming barriers often found when engaging with the elderly and vulnerable demographic." But George McNamara, director of policy and influencing at charity Independent Age, says while there are "clear benefits" of utilities using AI, he also has some concerns, particularly around how it can impact older and vulnerable customers. " ere's a real danger of going down the route of a two- tier service, because a significant proportion of older people are not au fait with this type of technology. We know there are around two million over-75s who have never used the internet. at's a significant number." But on the positive side, McNamara also says there are opportunities around how data from energy and water companies can be used to reduce health risks, particularly for older customers. " ere are some great opportunities around the prevention agenda and how it could give early identification of health conditions," he says. "We need to look at how we can integrate this wealth of information to the wider health economy." is vision is also shared by Malayathil, who sees a role for utilities in supporting independent living. "AI could be able to identify changes in behaviour that could indicate a potential problem and raise alarms to carers or contact the vulnerable person to ensure they are okay," he adds. // Our mission is to make buying energy as simple as buying cornflakes, in an energy market riddled with complexity and customer confusion // Greg Jackson, founder and chief executive, Octopus Energy

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