If you get frustrated at the very thought of connecting with your mobile service provider for the time it takes to complete an interaction, there is hope. A new Ericsson report on Monday said that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and automation have the potential to solve such issues with minimal effort.

Currently, it takes customers on average 2.2 attempts and 4.1 days to successfully complete an interaction with their mobile service providers, said the Ericsson "Consumer and IndustryLab" report.

For the study, titled "Zero Touch Customer Experience", responses from approximately 7,000 online interviews with smartphone users aged 16 years and over across the globe were analysed.

The results showed that consumers expect telecom service providers to match leading digital consumer experiences.

More than half (56%) of the smartphone users expect operators to anticipate their needs even before they realise what they are, it said.

The new zero-touch methods, such as those used in voice-enabled home assistant devices such as Amazon Alexa, can do away with need of typing, clicking and swiping on our devices.

This is setting consumer expectations for interactions with companies, including telecom service providers, the report said.

"The zero-touch customer experience report shows that zero-touch experiences are now an expectation of their customers," Pernilla Jonsson, Head of Ericsson Consumer and IndustryLab, said in a statement.

Today, smartphone users interact with operators across multiple touch points -- from discovering offerings and signing up to services, to requesting support for ending a contract.

Consumers believe telecom service providers treat these touchpoints like they are isolated interactions.

The report highlights that mobile service providers can leapfrog to a zero-touch customer experience future by harnessing the power of AI and analytics.

Enabled by AI, telecom service providers could use data from earlier interactions and consumer behaviour to predict what consumers need before they even contact them for support.

"Telecom service providers could leapfrog one-click and move from multiple-click to zero-touch by deploying future technologies in their customer offerings," Jonsson said.

First Published:May 15, 2018 6:05 AM IST