Telecoms Provider Modernizes High-Volume Customer Service with Voice Automation

Overview

A large U.S.-based telecommunications provider supports millions of customers through high-volume service operations, where even small inefficiencies can translate into significant cost and customer dissatisfaction. As interaction volumes grew and expectations shifted toward more natural, conversational self-service, the organization recognized the need to modernize its legacy IVR environment—without disrupting live contact center operations.

The provider partnered with Kore.ai to modernize voice self-service using AI for Service, replacing rigid, menu-driven IVR experiences with conversational, intent-based interactions. The deployment established a scalable, production-ready foundation designed to improve containment, reduce repeat calls, and support outbound communications during high-impact events such as service outages, while preserving seamless escalation to live agents when required.

The Challenge

The provider manages a wide range of customer inquiries, including billing and payments, service changes, appointments, outages, and technical support. Legacy IVR systems built on static, menu-driven logic limited conversational engagement and made it difficult to adapt as customer expectations evolved.

During outage events, inbound call volumes spiked sharply, putting additional strain on the contact center and increasing customer frustration when updates were not easily accessible through self-service. At the same time, any modernization effort had to integrate cleanly with existing contact center infrastructure and backend systems, ensuring reliability at scale without disrupting live operations.

Key pain points included:

• Rigid IVR workflows that limited natural, intent-driven conversations
• High inbound call volumes that intensified during outages, driving congestion and customer frustration
• Repeat calls caused by incomplete resolution and lack of timely updates
• Strict integration requirements across contact center and core systems
• The need for smooth escalation paths with context-rich handoff to live agents
• Limited operational visibility, making optimization difficult over time

Together, these challenges underscored the need for an enterprise-grade conversational voice platform capable of operating reliably at telecommunications scale while reducing unnecessary inbound demand.

The Solution

The provider partnered with Kore.ai to modernize its voice self-service experience using AI for Service, replacing rigid, menu-driven IVR with natural, conversational interactions that are easier for customers to navigate and easier for the business to evolve. The focus was on improving containment, reducing repeat calls, and increasing visibility into performance, all while integrating cleanly with existing contact center systems.

Kore.ai's conversational voice layer and Voice Gateway front-end inbound calls, orchestrating interactions before routing to the existing contact center when needed. This approach allows the organization to modernize voice experiences without disrupting live operations or re-architecting downstream systems.

Key capabilities include:

• Conversational voice self-service that understands customer intent and guides callers naturally, rather than forcing them through rigid IVR menus
• Voice Gateway integration that routes SIP traffic into the existing contact center and enables context-aware escalation to live agents
• Speech services optimized for telecommunications use cases, including integration with Deepgram for ASR and TTS
• Secure backend integrations with billing, CRM, and account systems through existing middleware and redundant connectivity
• Outbound outage notifications that provide customers with updates, helping reduce unnecessary inbound calls
• Built-in analytics and reporting that give teams visibility into containment, repeat call drivers, and identification success

This incremental, production-safe approach allowed the provider to modernize voice self-service quickly, improve customer experience, and establish a scalable foundation for continued optimization and future expansion across voice and digital channels.

Business Impact

With AI for Service in production, Kore.ai now serves as the primary voice self-service layer, handling all inbound automated voice interactions at scale. Outbound SMS is live for outage communications, with timing and delivery actively tuned to keep customers informed and reduce unnecessary repeat calls during service disruptions. Together, this approach is helping the provider lower inbound demand during peak events, improve customer communication, and create a more resilient service operation.

Key outcomes:

• 134K+ customer calls handled in December 2025, with Kore.ai processing 100% of voice self-service traffic with support to scale to 20 million calls in 2026
• ~40%call containment at in first month, actively optimized against legacy baselines
• ~25% reduction in average call length compared to the prior IVR experience
• ~81%successful account identification, supporting secure and personalized self-service in the first month of implementation
• ~33%repeat call rate, actively monitored and targeted for reduction through improved outbound communication and tuningMore natural, conversational experiences, replacing rigid IVR navigation and reducing customer friction
• Cleaner handoffs to live agents, with richer interaction context passed through when human support is required
• Improved operational visibility, giving teams clearer insight into containment performance, outage-driven demand, and optimization opportunities

As the provider continues to refine both inbound automation and outbound communications, this foundation supports ongoing efficiency gains while strengthening customer trust through clearer, more timely updates.

The Kore.ai Advantage

Kore.ai delivered an enterprise-grade platform purpose-built for the scale, complexity, and reliability requirements of telecommunications environments. By combining conversational voice automation, Voice Gateway integration, and analytics-driven optimization, Kore.ai enabled the provider to modernize customer service without disrupting existing operations.

This foundation positions the organization to reduce inbound demand during peak events, strengthen customer trust through timely updates, and steadily evolve toward more agentic service experiences across voice and digital channels. The same approach provides a clear model for other service providers looking to modernize high-volume customer interactions while maintaining reliability, control, and flexibility at scale.