Background

As Indonesia’s largest telecommunication company with huge user bases, Telkomsel receives a constant flow of customer requests all day. While some customers seek help to set up their equipment, others complain about something that is not working right, and so on. What makes it more difficult is that customers expect instant solutions as they depend a lot on mobile and internet connections. Their customers also prefer to have more interactive communication and omnichannel experiences that run 24/7, which costs big money.

Therefore, in 2017 Telkomsel started to utilize conversational AI technology to streamline customer service operations and boost revenue from more transactions. Telkomsel decided to partner with Accenture and Kata.ai to build an intelligent virtual assistant and revive Telkomsel’s Legendary Brand Persona named “Veronika.” This strategy makes Telkomsel the first telecommunication company in Southeast Asia that utilizes AI technology and messaging apps for a customer service operation.

Veronika is designed to automate customer service by offering personalized assistance. With Veronika, customers can redeem their Telkomsel Point, check and top-up phone credit, pay bills, and but internet package. Beyond that, customers can ask Veronika to make an appointment to come to GraPARI and report complaints. The benefits of these virtual assistants are expected to improve customer satisfaction and increase Telkomsel’s revenue from various products.

Solution

Veronika is a digital chat service that can assist all the needs of Telkomsel’s customers. We choose Veronika as persona because it is already familiar to customers and capitalizes on Telkomsel’s existing brand strength. To this day, Veronika virtual assistants are integrated with My Telkomsep apps, Telkomsel.com, WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, LINE, and Telegram to help millions of customers across the different channel. When customers need help or want to buy Telkomsel’s products, they can choose any channel that suits their preferences.

With Veronika virtual assistant, Telkomsel management wants to deliver customer experiences and solve customer problems without the need for them to talk to a human agent. Also, ensure that customers don’t have to endure long waits and endless options. But when complex issues come up, Veronika can connect the customer with a human operator and update the operator about the customer’s problem.

Veronika virtual assistant has managed to transform Telkomsel digital services to be more convenient for customers. It enables them to deliver 24/7 support availability, which is a good sign for the telecommunication business. This virtual assistant can also help increase conversion rates by automatically offering upselling or cross-selling products to customers based on their purchase history or past conversations.