The telecom industry is a hub of innovations.
Since telecom caters to one of our basic needs (the need to communicate over a distance), it always remains a ground for advancements and improvements.
At present, telecom is more than just about mobile phones and internet services.
With its major focus on Artificial Intelligence (AI), the industry is becoming sophisticated and transforming the traditional ways of providing customer service. AI has a significant impact on the key aspects of telecom. It can improve telecom network management by making it more swift and efficient.
But, does AI have a sustainable role in the telecom industry? And will it pave the way for more advancements in the future of telecom?
Let’s find out.
But, before we proceed, let’s first take a look at what challenges telecom is facing today.
Current Challenges in the Telecom Industry
Contemporary telecommunication companies are coping with a state of rapid change, disruption, and uncertainty.
The uncertain state of the industry is underpinned by several challenges such as:
Operational Costs
Telecom companies have millions of subscribers who demand customized products and services.
As subscriptions increase, a network grows and becomes more sophisticated. The rapid growth of networks makes their maintenance increasingly difficult for the companies.
To handle complex tasks such as network interruptions or hardware failures, companies need more resources and tools. When companies invest in these areas, their overall operational expenses increase.
Customer Demands
Most telecom companies receive millions of customer requests daily, with customers expecting quick responses.
After the pandemic, customers have grown impatient to see an immediate response to their requests. When companies face problems providing on-spot responses, customers lose trust in their service.
To keep up with rising customer demands, telecom companies need to focus on providing quick and personalized services through omnichannel communication.
Security Threats and Data Breaches
New technologies in telecom pose new security threats. With advances in networks, ensuring network and application security has become tremendously challenging for companies.
AI Technology in the Telecom Industry
One of the exciting things about the future of AI in telecom is that the majority of telcom executives are enthusiastic to embrace the technology.
Why?
Because they strongly believe AI has the power to transform their business.
In a report by Deloitte, 76% of executives (the majority of them being from media, technology, and telecom companies) claimed that cognitive technology has the power to “substantially transform” their business in the future.
They are excited to adopt AI to achieve a wide number of goals, including making more profits and staying competitive.
The potential of AI to support telecom is strongly tied to emerging innovations and technologies, including but not limited to:
AI-powered Virtual Assistants
The telecom industry can benefit from the application of AI-powered virtual assistants to deliver better customer service and satisfaction.
Intelligent virtual assistants optimize the processing of huge numbers of customer support requests for troubleshooting, inquiries, billing, device setting, maintenance, and more.
Using these assistants, communication service providers (CSPs) can handle customer communication and process transactions with higher efficiency and speed.
With the help of virtual assistants, CSPs can automate customer support and potentially save up to 30 percent on operational expenses.
Self-optimizing Networks (SONs)
Self-optimizing networks (SONs) are another type of technology supported by AI. The networks eliminate the need for human engagement and are capable of automatically responding to network issues.
By enabling automation, AI powers these networks for self-diagnosis, self-healing, and self-orchestration.
They can automatically capture and process vast amounts of data to detect and predict network anomalies.
Besides identifying, they can proactively fix the issues before they negatively affect the end-user.
AI-powered self-optimizing networks can help CPCs achieve better network infrastructure, accelerate network performance, and derive customer satisfaction.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
Robotic process automation (RPA) is an artificial intelligence technology that configures computers to gather data and manipulate applications.
This automated process is capable of reducing the back-end work for telcos. So, they can automate activities like data entry, reconciliation, and validation, optimize customer support and cross-selling, and up-selling.
Resultantly, RPA applications will help CSPs be more responsive to the dynamic needs of customers.
The biggest benefit of RPA for companies will be to gain an advantage over competitors and thrive in the ever-changing telecom market.
Conclusion
Utilizing AI in telecom offers many advantages to telecommunication service providers. AI and automation can keep networks healthy and secure while also saving operational costs.
This is why telecom companies value AI and look forward to adopting this technology for better business opportunities.
The exceptional ability of AI to analyze vast amounts of data and save from downtimes and service interruptions seems to have a greater scope in the future.
If advances continue, AI paired with other innovative technologies like machine learning and computer vision can significantly help the telecom industry deal with present and future challenges.
