Vodafone Idea announced the launch of VIC chatbot which is an artificial intelligence-powered digital customer service and supports virtual assistant for its customers. It is now available on My Vodafone and My Idea Apps, on the company’s websites, and on WhatsApp. The concept was developed by ORISERVE, a startup that specializes in making multilingual conversations chatbots. The service is currently available in Hindi and in English.
It certainly would not be the first time that a company is taking the help of chatbot to conduct its business, but it is indeed a first for any Indian telecom operators. It should be mentioned that recently Reliance Jio telecom has collaborated with Facebook-owned Whatsapp to start a service that lets its user’s order groceries through the messaging app; the initiative is currently a local venture limited to Mumbai.
Vodafone Idea users will receive a link via SMS to initiate a conversation using VIC chatbot on WhatsApp. The VIC will help curb the customer service that is currently lagging behind due to the COVID19 and the nationwide lockdown situation. It would serve to circumvent the human-dependent customer support channels and work as the regular retail touchpoints.
Telecom operators are also taking into account the difficulty that the people are facing when it comes to recharging their data packs, and have started offering incentives that would push the customer towards finishing their recharges online. Cellular Operator’s Association of India has repeatedly reached out to government bodies to open access to retail recharge points.
Vodafone Idea VIC Virtual Assistant will be up and running 24×7 for customers so that they get instant response for a number of services including but not limited to bill payments, recharges, value-added services, plan activation, new connection, data balance, bill requests and much more. It is likely that other telecom operators will follow suit.
