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UtilityWeek 8th December 2017

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26 | 8TH - 14TH DECEMBER 2017 | UTILITY WEEK Operations & Assets Roundtable The Customer of the Future Wednesday 15 November, Hotel Du Vin, Birmingham Service in a digital world A Utility Week roundtable, sponsored by Vodafone, sought to identify what the customer of the future might look like, and how technology might help or hinder future service provision. C ustomers increasingly want more, they want it faster, and they want it to fit in with their individual needs and val- ues. A Utility Week roundtable, sponsored by Vodafone, discussed how these trends will shape the profile of future customers, and what they will mean for the utilities industry. First and foremost, delegates agreed there is no single profile for a customer of the future. While advances in technology and the service levels offered by other sectors are changing expectations across the board, customers are not a homogenous group. Dif- ferent individuals, and indeed communities, will be driven by different needs, preferences and values, which will define the type of ser- vice they want. For some utilities, it is the changing pref- erences of groups rather than individuals that may be more significant. For example, National Grid's head of strategy (Global IS), Susan Robson, said the transmission opera- tor is focused on understanding the needs of smart cities rather than smart homes, explor- ing the dynamics of energy communities and the development plans of city authorities. Whether focused on individuals or com- munities, however, it is certain that utilities need to become more adept at differentiat- ing their service offerings. As Vodafone's IoT utilities lead, Wayne Flanagan, pointed out: "We have to create a different, tailored ser- vice for each demographic, which engages each of them in the way they prefer." One of the biggest challenges to doing this is how to know when to apply differ- ent service offerings or communications channels, because a customer's prefer- ences will change depending on the nature of their enquiry or their changing personal circumstances. This is where artificial intelligence (AI) may be able to help, said attendees. Increas- ingly capable AI systems are getting better at recognising language and sentiment in human communications, opening up two key opportunities for increased customer care efficiency. First, advances in AI capability mean chatbots and other automated customer interactions can effectively respond to an increasing range of queries. Second, sensi- tivity to sentiment and customer needs can allow AI platforms to nominate human inter- vention where appropriate. Together, these capabilities could allow utilities to differentiate with great precision and efficiency between customer needs that can be served with technology and those that require a human touch. Mark McEwen, general manager for cus- tomer service at Scottish Water, found this potential exciting, saying it could enable the company to analyse scripts from cus- tomer contacts and identify the most com- mon contact types. "That would allow us to understand how many times calls could be answered by AI. I think customers just want an answer – but it has to say exactly what they want to know: no less, and not too much more, and in a way the customer trusts. And that's just the start. The real suc- cess will be when AI then raises a task or job if it's required and keeps the customer informed along the journey to conclusion." Alongside such excitement, however, it was notable that there was also caution about the impact of widespread adoption of AI-driven customer service, especially on vulnerable customers. Some expressed con- cern that technology-centred strategies for future customer service could end up isolat- ing certain customer types. National Grid's Robson suggested some of this concern was unfounded, although in certain instances the rise of AI and automa- tion may pose challenges for utilities with a social responsibility to provide essential services to all. "The perception that technology cuts off older customers is not real," she said. "In fact, increased use of voice searches (such as Amazon Echo and Google Home) and chat- bots enable the non-tech-savvy to access ser- vices through intuitive interactions. "Where we need to think a bit harder is about the customers who are in the hard- to-reach sections of society, where access to technology is restricted by lack of wealth. We must use technology and design cleverly to ensure we bring energy to all customers in our society in an efficient, reliable and sus- tainable way." Joanne Hollamby, head of customer strat- egy at Severn Trent, agreed, saying appropri- ate applications of technology could help hard-to-reach customers, or those in diffi- culty, rather than alienating them. She said she had been "truly moved" by the differ- ence the introduction of digital communica- tion had made for one transiently vulnerable customer group in particular. "Those going through bereavement, upheaval in any way, who are having a hard time – they don't want to speak to anyone, they don't want to converse, they want to type in their requests and get an instant response. It's much easier to type some- thing than to say it in some scenarios," she explained. The varied discussion throughout this roundtable debate challenged the art of the possible in utility service provision – includ- ing whether or not utilities will always be best placed to deliver future services, and what the role of third parties might be in years to come. The tone overall was one of determined ambition, to continue bringing new capability to the table and to exceed customer expectations where possible. How- ever, the underlying issue of utility legiti- macy was a sobering anchor for even the most committed technology and innovation enthusiasts.

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