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Case study

The challenge

Our client is one of the largest private broadband companies in the US, serving residential and commercial customers. With over 25 North American call centers—all working with outdated technology—our client needed a digital transformation strategy to streamline its customer service and modernize call center processes. Business challenges included high capital expenditure (CapEx) costs and high annual maintenance costs due to a fragmented on-premises technology stack. Complex interactive voice response (IVR) application, led to customer journey abandonment. Lengthy caller authentication with multiple inputs, many data lookups and complex call flow involving third-party applications resulted in difficulty tracing the call from end to end. There were high average handle and wait times for calls, limited self-service options which negatively impacted customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores and limited features on the agent platform, leading to reduced agent productivity. Our client wanted to introduce digital channels and use next-gen technology such as AI and machine learning (ML) for personalized experiences.

Our approach

Our step-by-step approach to customer service transformation and expertise across multiple services and platforms, providing the client with a one-stop shop for all its business needs, solidified Cognizant as the best partner for the digital transformation initiative. To accomplish our client’s goals, we performed a discovery and due diligence process to understand its pain points, benchmark contact center maturity and identify future opportunities for growth. Then, we consolidated the company’s fragmented set of technologies, processes and IVR call flows into one single platform—Avaya—and performed a version upgrade for better digital readiness.

To introduce customer self-servicing and reduce call volume, we enabled conversational AI-based voicebots and chatbots using Genesys DX. These self-service options handled routine customer requests such as viewing and paying bills, rebooting modems, setting up cable boxes at any time and viewing data usage. Cognizant also enhanced IVR journeys by streamlining and optimizing them to provide personalized self-service experiences for customers. In addition, we used end-to-end managed services and application support driven by strong service-level agreements (SLAs), governance and key performance indicator (KPI) reporting.

Digital transformation results in improved business metrics

Our client’s digital transformation initiative enabled previously lengthy processes to be completed using faster, more efficient digital channels. The integration of chat and email channels deflected voice calls by 8% and improved digital member engagement. Streamlined IVR and self-service options decreased call volumes, resulting in the elimination of multiple infrastructure and licenses, which reduced maintenance costs by 45%. Additionally, agents had more time to focus on complex issues such as improving customer loyalty as they were handling fewer calls. The company saved $800k in annual operating expense (OPEX) costs with IVR and call deflection and reached a self-service containment rate of 44.6%—an all-time high for the company. They also increased their CSAT score by 15%.

$800k

saved in OPEX costs

44.6%

self-service containment rate reached

8%

of voice calls deflected to digital channels