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T-Systems accesses AI to guide customers through the internet
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The Hamburg-based software company, novomind AG, add software giant T-Systems to their client portfolio
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Hamburg, Germany, 23rd May, 2002 –
Since April 2002, visitors to the website of Telekom subsidiary T-Systems can turn to a virtual agent for further assistance. Europe’s second largest systems provider greets users via a dialog window and asks them to type in a topic or question. Visitors can enter questions in English or German and an intelligent software provides an answer in a text output window. The software behind the natural language realtime technology comes from novomind AG, a leading provider of intelligent software solutions.
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The virtual agent simplifies the process of answering client queries on the highly complex T-Systems website, ensuring that visitors do not leave the site frustrated after failing to find the information they needed – information often deeply embedded in the site’s topic-specific pages. Using this modern form to address clients directly, T-Systems can boost service quality significantly and stand out from the competition. What is more, virtual agents take the pressure off company call centers by reducing the number of incoming FAQs (frequently-asked questions). This reduces company costs and leads to increased turnover. T-Systems (with 42,000 employees and a turnover in excess of 13 billion Euros) combines global expertise from the fields of information technology and telecommunications to provide the basis for eBusiness and convergency solutions such as Application Service Providing, Customer Relationship Management applications and electronic marketplaces.
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novomind CMO Marco Busacker predicts that virtual agents, already a hit in the USA, will soon be implemented widely in Germany – and in all market sectors. Firstly, companies are increasingly opting to cut costs by investing in automated customer services. Secondly, the 70 % rate of abandonment of eCommerce shopping carts is extemely high. Customers add products to their carts only to abandon them later on, sometimes due to problems encountered at check-out. Virtual agents can provide ongoing assistance and advice to simplify the purchase process. Thirdly, implementing a virtual agent is an ideal way of generating market research. Customer responses and product choices can be used to create detailed customer profiles.
The solution is created using the novomind IQ™ agent technology software. novomind has developed a natural language interface to link website information. Artificial intelligence processes enable the software to understand everyday language and help customers communicate and navigate the site. If the virtual employee is unable to process the customer request, the novomind TrueTALK™ software can optionally be implemented to set up a direct connection to a Live Operator based in a company call center.
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novomind implemented the T-Systems project in collaboration with its new partner, I-D Media AG. The Berlin-based company is one of the country’s top multimedia agencies, developing eBusiness and eMarketing solutions, as well as new media technologies and applications. Their clients include Deutsche Telekom, the Swatch Group, Yello Strom, the Ergo insurance group, the Otto Versand mail order house, Loewe, Credit Suisse, 20th Century Fox, Warner Bros. and Interfunk EG (Red Zac).
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novomind AG, based in Hamburg, Germany, is a leading provider of intelligent software. The company was founded in December 1999 by Peter Samuelsen, Marco Busacker and Peter Wiedekamm, and currently has a staff of over 40 employees. Despite the current market climate, the software company, which has not yet gone public, increased its turnover last year to 3.2 million Euros – double the figure of the previous year – and ended the year in the black. Its clients include front runners such as the Bertelsmann publishing group, health insurance provider BKK Zollern-Alb, Gruner+Jahr, bol.de, the Otto Versand mail order house and solutions giant T-Systems.
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