O2 is substituting customer service staff with robots as part of cost-cutting measures
A new digital personal assistant will help the telecoms firm to cut costs in its customer services operation
TELECOMS firm O2 is planning to cut costs in its customer services operation by replacing staff with artificially intelligent robots.
Customers will be able to ask questions about their account, or add new services, such as a roaming package, without having to speak to a person.
They'll be able to find out how much of their monthly data allowance is left or what their next bill will be.
The voice recognition technology, which is set to be rolled out over the next 12 months, will be able to deal with increasingly complex customer queries as it is developed.
Telefónica, the Spanish owner of O2, unveiled the digital personal assistant, called Aura, at the Mobile World Congress trade show in Barcelona.
José María Álvarez-Pallete, the chairman of Telefónica, said: "Cognitive intelligence will allow us to understand our customers better, so they can then relate to us in a more natural and easy way, and generate a new relationship of trust with them based on transparency and the control of their data.
“We’re expanding the relationship with our customers, seeking to increase their satisfaction, and opening new possibilities for them so that they can enrich their digital lives with us”
He said the technology was a “pioneering” step for the mobile industry, and one that will help Telefónica cut costs as it continues to repay a €48 billion debt pile.
An O2 spokesperson said: “Aura will be a natural extension to the customer service options we already provide, giving our customers more choice in how they want to engage with us.
"We are committed to delivering the best possible service to our customers. Aura will be a further example of this, giving customers additional flexibility in how they manage their relationship with us.
"We have no plans to change our contact centre arrangements with Capita.”
In 2014, in a bid to "set the highest standard for customer service in the telecoms sector", EE launched a queue jump initiative which allowed customers to get to a customer services representative quicker - if they paid a 50p charge.
The controversial move meant those "in a hurry" who paid the fee could jump to the front of the queue, while those who chose not to pay faced longer waiting times.
At the time, Steve Nowottny, MoneySavingExpert.com's consumer expert, said: "Mobile phone companies should be offering prompt customer service as standard, rather than acting as though it's a luxury they can charge extra for."
The scheme has since been scrapped.
02 customers face bill increases
O2 recently announced that it would be hiking bills by 2.6 per cent for millions of pay-monthly and sim-only customers from April.
The increase will add around around £10.50 a year to a customer who pays £35 per month for their phone contract.
The firm is allowed to impose mid-contract price rises because of a clause in its terms and conditions that warns customers about possible price increases in line with inflation.
The hikes do not affect pay-as-you-go customers from either network.
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