The evolution of customer service: from handwritten letters to artificial intelligence robots

Although it seems like a given now, customer service has flourished relatively recently. Dovilė Andriuskaitė, head of Tele2’s Contact Center, says that in the approximately 200 years since its inception, customer service has not only been developed technologically, but has also become an extremely important part of a successful business.

The emergence was prompted by the industrial revolution

18th century The first industrial revolution of the late 1800s meant that products were produced at unprecedented speed and volume, but customer service still depended on human resources. Handwritten or typewritten complaint letters were not only common, but almost the only way to get customer service.

This was the case until the 19th century. when Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone and patented it. It took another 50 years or so for the next major step in customer service to take place: the first call centers where customers could call toll-free. Thus began the era of customer service specialists that continues to this day.

Communication channels and customer service have fundamentally changed in the last decade of the last century. With the advent of the Internet, information and services became more accessible, and communication became faster. Clients have been consulted by e-mails, websites, special service pages or direct correspondence.

Opportunities of the age of technology

At the turn of the century, customer service shifted from face-to-face to remote company-customer relationships. 21st century brought the most innovation and growth by introducing entirely new methods of customer service. One of them is social networks, where customers have the opportunity to leave public reviews and communicate with companies directly.

“Today’s customer’s main expectation is to have their problem solved with one call or text. He comes in with a problem and wants to leave quickly with a solution. Therefore, the task of a successful business becomes to provide such a service when the client needs it and in such ways that are most acceptable to him”, says D. Andriuskaitė.

As technology advances, the importance of live communication between the customer and the business remains. D. Andriuskaitė notices that Tele2 still serves the majority of customers in the Contact Center by calling, while it is more acceptable for some customers to apply in writing. This is supported by alternative communication channels: customers can find answers to frequently asked questions on the website, as well as leave a message in the self-service or contact us by e-mail. by post

Robots resemble people

However, the most important issue in the field of customer service today is artificial intelligence. In the last decade, chatbots have become extremely popular. chatbot), able to provide customers with quick and efficient assistance without human intervention. In addition, this tool allows companies to ease the workload of customer service specialists and reduce costs.

According to D. Andriuskaitė, there are two types of chatbots currently on the market. The robot-guide works according to a certain navigation of compiled questions and provides ready-made answers to standard questions. Robots created on the basis of artificial intelligence are able to recognize spoken human language, have their own tone of speech, character. The latter are able to more smoothly respond to customer inquiries and provide them with the information they need.

“ChatGPT, the famous chatbot created by the OpenAI company, has been the most discussed recently. However, advanced chatbots are also successfully used by organizations operating in Lithuania, which train this technology to match the available customer profile. For example, the artificial intelligence robots operating on Tele2’s self-service website communicate with their customers differently: “Rūta” is trained for more formal communication, while “Bot” who assists customers of “Fill” often speaks in slang and reflects a more youthful character. However, we must not forget that even behind such autonomous technologies lies human work,” says D. Andriuskaitė.

The technology of chatbots improves as they work: the more customers the bots serve per day, the faster they learn. People can even teach chatbots to make jokes, so this tool is becoming more and more acceptable to customers.