Yesterday, Vodafone announced the release of its new generative AI chatbot, SuperTOBi. The chatbot is powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI and is already operational in Portugal and Italy.
Also Read: Microsoft introduces AI tools for customer service call centers
The company also revealed a new generative AI assistant named SuperAgent that will help customer service staff summarize their conversations with customers, resulting in efficient customer enquiry management.
Vodafone invests €140 million in SuperTOBi
The telecommunications giant said that it’s investing €140 million in the current financial year. The company said, “SuperTOBi is a key initiative in Vodafone’s wide-reaching transformation of the customer experience.”
SuperTOBi has the ability to understand complex questions and reply quickly. It has the ability to break down lengthy sentences and phrases compared to old chatbots that only answer simple questions. SuperTOBi gives a personalized experience and gets involved in natural conversations. If the AI chatbot can’t answer a question, it will transfer it to a human customer service agent.
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SuperTOBi is powered by Microsoft Azure OpenAI and is available for Vodafone’s customers in Portugal and Italy. It will be available for German and Turkish customers starting this month. Additionally, the generative AI chatbot will be accessible in other countries during the year. The new AI chatbot is an upgraded version of its exciting virtual assistant, TOBi. TOBi has been operational in 13 countries across Europe and Africa and communicates in 11 languages.
Portuguese customers are benefiting from SuperTobi. The rate of resolving customers’ enquiries from the first time has jumped from 15% to 60%, and customer satisfaction has increased from 14 to 64 points. The telecom company will add other customer journeys, such as billing.
Meet SuperTOBi 🦸🪄
Our new Generative AI virtual assistant will be here to save the day, coming to customers across Europe.
Say hi to SuperTOBi and find out more here ⤵️
— Vodafone Group (@VodafoneGroup) July 4, 2024
SuperAgent helps customer care staff
Vodafone released another AI chatbot assistant, SuperAgent, geared towards helping customer service staff. The generative AI chatbot is also powered by Microsoft Azure’s Copilot solution, and will assist customer service staff by generating customer conversation summaries. SuperAgent has knowledge only about Vodafone’s private database, making it more reliable than public data.
Also Read: MAI-1 from Microsoft Competes with GPT4 and other LLM Models
Earlier this year, Vodafone announced a ten-year strategic partnership with Microsoft. The partnership aims to enhance customer experience using generative AI technologies and scale the telecommunication giant’s IoT business with Microsoft. Additionally, the tech giants will work together to expand M-Pesa in Africa, aiming to enhance financial inclusion.
Vodafone is planning to invest $1.5 billion in the next ten years, focusing on cloud services and AI-powered customer solutions. The CEO of Vodafone Group, Margherita Della Valle, said: “…This unique strategic partnership with Microsoft will accelerate the digital transformation of our business customers, particularly small and medium-sized companies, and step up the quality of customer experience for consumers.”
Cryptopolitan reporting by Randa Moses
