Call Steering—Omni-channel customer engagement success stories

In 1998, T-Mobile became aware that its existing call center phone application—which used DTMF and single-word recognition—did not reach the level of service that its customers expected and deserved. Because the touch-tone system was cumbersome to navigate, many callers grew frustrated, preferring to wait in queues for a call center agent rather than use the self-service option. Seeking to differentiate its brand and gain competitive advantage through superior service, T-Mobile Germany decided to provide a self-service call center application that effectively balanced usability with automation in order to increase business efficiency while ensuring a rewarding customer experience.

T-Mobile replaced its touch-tone system with a new customer care speech application based on Nuance’s Foundation Speech and Dialog Technologies, which have helped hundreds of businesses achieve their customer service and financial objectives. The result was T-Mobile’s Speech-Enabled Customer Care Portal, an innovative speech self-service application focused on transaction success.

In 2004, T-Mobile launched its new self-service call center application, which now fully automates over 400 business processes by allowing callers to interact with the system using natural, conversational language. To complete a transaction or resolve a problem, callers can navigate the system quickly and easily by simply speaking their request. The system offers various options for commonly requested services and information, including:

—Tariff and option change
—Card cancellation
—Contract information
—Product information
—News
—Direct link to other applications, eg. SMS‑News, Mobilbox, or Account‑Service