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While waiting for IT services manager Keith Greater, I started to read the Co-op’s in-house magazine. I was amazed to find that the Co-op Bank is one of the first organisations in this country to use a customer service avatar (Mia - pictured) to help in-branch advisers sort out customer queries more quickly and accurately, but also reduce repeat calls and the time customers spend ‘on hold’.  This could prove crucial by helping Co-op Bank maintain quality when taking over a whole batch of Lloyds Bank sites this year 

 

Peter Rowbottom, function leader within the Co-op's banking group, told Computerword about the impact of this technology. "Mia's natural language technology has enabled us not to just improve the customer experience, it's also having a positive effect on call centre staff, with the extra assistance helping them achieve their own targets, and giving them confidence in providing a consistently accurate message to customers." 

 

Mia ensures that call centre colleagues are fully briefed on new products, services and changes in policy, allowing them to ask questions using everyday language, while Mia dynamically reassesses a question to provide the right answer or to prompt the advisor to ask for further information where necessary.  The Co-op envisages rolling out Mia to branch staff and other internal customer facing departments and also plans to deploy it as an external-facing virtual assistant to help customers directly.

 

Of course technology is not the only answer – this initiative is just part of the comprehensive mix of customer service initiatives that Co-op Bank is introducing. Mortgage applicants will get text updates on the progress of their applications, freeing up advisors who typically spend much of their time gathering and keying in customer details.  Texts with account balances and alerts will be introduced, alongside an iPhone app in the next few months - with other platforms to follow - allowing customers true mobile access to their money.

 

Avatars like Mia were first introduced ten or so years ago, but haven’t proven their worth as a cost effective way of replacing or augmenting 'live' contact centre agents and customer facing staff.  With costs falling, the ordering of knowledge and interfaces improving, and IT becoming more integral to all areas of business, I’m sure we’ll see more of these systems in action.  Besides, there is less resistance today to animated characters due to the familiarity with gaming avatars and players - so keep your eyes peeled for more ‘Mias’ soon. Congratulations to the Co-op for being the pack leader in this.

 

 

Howard Kendall,

Founder of the Service Desk Institute

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