Increasing customer independence with chatbots and virtual assistants

By Rachael Harper, Research Manager –

The United States recently celebrated Independence Day, and it just so happens that Chartwell recently released a report focusing on how utilities can increase customer independence by introducing new self-service channels such as chatbots and virtual assistants.

By completing routine interactions in these channels, customers can bypass the contact center and free agents to handle more complex and urgent issues. Check out Customer Care – Increasing Digital Self-Service with Virtual Assistants and Chatbots – Report – 2019 (using your Chartwell member login) to see how utilities have improved the customer experience by providing these new channels to help customers save time and effort.


According to Chartwell’s 2018 Contact Center Survey, 94% of utility respondents said self-service will have the most notable impact on their call center in the next five years, and 44% of utility respondents cited chatbots as the most impactful trend. One of the biggest benefits of chatbots is the ability to reduce inbound call volume. Chatbots also have the ability to answer many chats at the same time, providing consistent information for each interaction, and enroll customers into other eService notifications.

As customers become more comfortable using chatbots and virtual assistants, utilities have a significant opportunity to provide a delightful and useful customer experience by using these technologies to allow customers to independently interact with them. Download this report today to see how several utilities are meeting consumer demand for these channels by leveraging partnerships and technology to create a seamless experience at the speed of voice.

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