Telefónica - Award for Innovation in Customer Service
Company: Telefónica, Madrid, Spain
Entry Submitted By: V2 Comms
Company Description: Telefónica is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world by market capitalization and number of customers.
Nomination Category: Customer Service & Call Center Awards Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Award for Innovation in Customer Service - Telecommunications Industries
Nomination Title: Using AI to Prioritize and Protect Seniors Using the Sound of their Voice
Telefónica is one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world by market capitalization and number of customers. It has a comprehensive offering and quality of connectivity that is delivered over world class fixed, mobile, and broadband networks. As a growing company, it prides itself on providing a differentiated experience based both on its corporate values and a public position that defends customer interests. The company has a significant presence in 14 countries and 344 million accesses around the world.
When the pandemic hit, Telefónica, like many others, saw an increased use of digital channels by consumers asking questions about billing and services, among other things. In addition, fraud attempts also increased among these digital channels during the pandemic, disproportionally affecting senior customers. To help protect and prioritize their senior customers, Telefónica asked Nuance to enhance its AI-enabled age detection capability to identify seniors by the sound of their voice as they called into their contact center for customer care.
Outline the nominated achievement since July 1 2019 that you wish to bring to the judges' attention (up to 250 words):
At the onset of the pandemic, Telefónica tried to prioritize elderly customers by using caller ID to look up a customers' account details. However, these outdated methods of age detection couldn't meet the challenge for new customers or those whose phones were lost or damaged. Facing their own difficulties in ensuring this generation was prioritized—paired with the increase in fraudulent attacks experienced globally by this group—Telefónica turned to Nuance for a solution that would help prioritize and protect seniors.
As the industry leader in conversational AI and pioneer of voice biometrics, Nuance, whose AI “brain” learns from over 31 billion customer transactions a year, was up for the challenge. Leveraging their insight and their technical expertise, the Nuance team acted swiftly to address Telefónica’s request by enhancing the AI-enabled intelligent age detection capabilities of its biometrics solution, Nuance Gatekeeper. Nuance Gatekeeper is one of the world's most advanced biometric solutions in detecting fraudulent activity and authenticating customers. Gatekeeper possesses thousands of intelligent detectors that help identify if a person is who they say they are — including everything from their device to the inflection in their voice and the words they use. Through Nuance's AI engine, over 1,000 characteristics of a voice are analyzed to determine a given caller in a particular age group. The enhanced intelligent detection capabilities are one-of-a-kind and allow large enterprises, like Telefónica, to immediately distinguish a person’s age and direct any calls from customers 65 and over to a live agent for immediate service.
Explain why the achievement you have highlighted is unique or significant. If possible compare the achievement to the performance of other players in your industry and/or to the organization's past performance (up to 250 words):
As a result of remote work and online engagements becoming more frequent due to the global pandemic, fraud attempts began to rise as bad actors sought to take advantage of the new digital environment. Preying on vulnerability, these fraudsters have increasingly targeted one specific group of individuals: seniors. According to a pre-COVID-19 analysis by the U.S. Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, people impacted greatest by fraudulent activity were ages 70 to 79 – averaging a loss of $45,300. https://www.aarp.org/money/scams-fraud/info-2019/cfpb-report-financial-elder-abuse.html
Recognizing that seniors were particularly vulnerable to fraud attempts, and their need for immediate service while adjusting to stay-at-home orders, Telefónica knew it needed a technology solution that could help them prioritize seniors who were more likely to call in with requests during the country's strict lockdown.
By partnering with Nuance, and becoming the first Nuance customer to deploy this technology, Telefónica was able to expedite the caller authentication process and allow seniors to access their accounts with limited frustrations brought on by pins and passwords, while simultaneously better protecting them from fraud. Ultimately, the solution helped ensure Telefónica and its customers were safe from fraudsters—or anyone else without special permission—who would otherwise attempt to socially engineer their way into an elderly individual's account to steal critical information. This not only enhanced customer experience but also aided a vulnerable population during an unprecedented time.
Reference any attachments of supporting materials throughout this nomination and how they provide evidence of the claims you have made in this nomination (up to 250 words):
https://whatsnext.nuance.com/enterprise/prioritize-seniors-voice-biometrics-customer-service/
https://www.fastcompany.com/90516397/this-ai-can-guess-your-age-from-the-sound-of-your-voice