Customer Success Story: Telecom

This customer reduced their OpEx costs and mapped their Digital Transformation strategy with Gyst

“Using Gyst, we were able to reduce costs, provide better customer service, and improve our existing call flows."

- VP Customer Experience

The customer

This customer improves the customer experience of brands with more than sixteen thousand employees at 14 locations in Europe. Besides its deep experience in the telecommunication industry, the company provides services with its expertise in finance, insurance, retail, e-trade, transportation, energy and public sector and based on a broad customer portfolio. It offers customer-experience-focused solutions to create value in customer services, customer acquisition, tele-sales, technical support, customer loyalty, collection, customer data management and experience analytics.

The problem

This company turned to Gyst to help them reduce contact center operating costs (OpEx), improve the customer experience (CX), and gain actionable insights into caller behavior in the IVR. Since implementing our technology, the provider realized a 20% increase in caller use of the IVR along with a 16% decrease in caller error/re-prompting rates. In addition, the average handle time (AHT) for self-service calls was reduced by 11 seconds.

The solution

During the initial proof of concept (PoC) period with the customer, we implemented our technology to determine what effect dynamically adjusting the audio playback rate of voice prompts in their IVR would have on voice self-service performance. During this period, we ran A/B tests on over 60,000 phone calls over a one month period. We also used Gyst Analytics to collect data on caller behavior as it relates to engagement within the voice application. Existing voice prompts were speed adjusted in direct relation to individual caller skills.

During the trial period, audio playback speed adjustment levels of 100, 110, 114, 117, and 119 percent were used. A playback level of 100 indicates the normal playback rate of the audio, 110 represents 110 percent of normal, and so forth.

The outcome

In summary, the results indicated: 


Callers using speed adjusted audio had 20.6% more engagement (Conversation Turns) with the IVR over callers using standard audio. They also encountered 16.2% fewer error messages and thus, had to reenter information 16.2% fewer times. Additionally, while AHT was reduced by 11 seconds in the IVR, almost 2 percent more callers reached at least one of their goals via voice self-service when using our technology.

The difference in cost between a call handled by voice self-service and a call handled by an agent can vary between $2 - $6 or more, depending on the length of the call, the knowledge and training level the agent receives, onshore/offshore sourcing, and other factors. This adds up to significant costs when agents have to answer calls that could otherwise be handled in the IVR.

Direct cost savings aside, having customers experience fewer error messages and requests for the reentry of information, along with handling their inquiries on their first contact and freeing up agents for less mundane calls, all contribute to additional benefits in terms of improved customer service and brand image.

Take a test drive

We've made it easy for you to give Gyst a test drive with your own callers and your own voice applications.

Via our Proof of Concept (PoC) plan, we first request a cloned version of your voice application from you. Then, we enhance this cloned version of the application with Gyst by inserting calls to our web API. Next, we run both versions of the voice application side-by-side in limited production - starting with only a trickle of phone calls to the Gyst enhanced version of the voice application.

As the call volume to the Gyst enhanced version is slowly increased over time, we use A/B tests to compare performance metrics for call handle times, voice self-service rates, reduced caller input errors, increased IVR usage/engagement, goal completion, and other metrics. This will unequivocally prove out the technology benefits for your organization and your callers as they engage with your voice application. As an added bonus, we'll perform a highly detailed analysis of your current voice application efficiency and performance using our Gyst Analytics software. You can see the level of detail you'll receive in this report here.

The PoC usually takes about 2 weeks to accumulate enough phone calls for A/B testing, though we can adjust this time period to suit your daily call volume and sampling rate preferences. And if you have an existing Amazon Web Services account, the PoC can usually be administered and paid for via your existing contracts and volume agreements with AWS. While the PoC is provided for you as a fully implemented turnkey service, you can read more about the technical details on how Gyst is implemented in AWS here.