The Challenges
Telco A:
- Detect incoming calls from spoofed telephone numbers
- Personalize customer service(both in the IVR and when calls are transferred to agents)
- Authenticate customers in the IVR reliably
- Use a cost-effective solution
Telco B:
- Detect ANI spoofing to prevent fraud
- Increase IVR containment
- Improve the customer experience while improving security
The solution
Telco A
- 75% “Green” Rate
- 3X Return on Investment
- 2 Months Full Implementation
Telco B:
- 2% Increase in IVR Containment
- 70% Verification “Green” Rate
- Increase CSAT Scores
Methodology
This case study is based on interviews with executives responsible for contact center customer service and fraud prevention in two Fortune 250 telecommunications firms concerning the contact center challenges they faced and the needs that led them to look for a new technology solution. These interactions were for the purpose of discovering insights into the benefits and challenges associated with deploying and using Next Caller’s VeriCall® Technology.
Key Takeaways from the study include:
- Reliable spoofing detection enables the reduction of account takeover fraud in contact centers.
- Ensuring the incoming telephone number is accurate supports authentication in the interactive voice response(IVR) system and eliminates time-consuming knowledge-based authentication (KBA) questions and one-time passwords (OTPs).
- The customer experience is improved when passive methods are used to authenticate customers, greet customers by name, and respond quickly to their requests.
- Reducing the length of calls reduces costs and improves operational efficiency.
- Simple and fast implementation enables fraud to be reduced and the customer experience to be improved quickly.
- Point solutions that target and resolve a specific problem(e.g., spoofing) may be more cost-efficient and faster to deploy, resulting in a strong return on investment.
Telco A
Background/History
Telco A, participating in this research, is a telecommunications Fortune 50 firm. Almost 100% of incoming calls to contact centers go through the IVR initially; roughly 50% are eventually transferred to an agent.
Telco A strongly desired to improve the customer experience in its contact centers. Management’s vision was to personalize service, streamline authentication, and transfer information from the IVR to an agent when calls had to be transferred so customers could be greeted by name and meet their needs faster. To accomplish this, the firm realized it had to know definitively who agents were dealing with on each call as quickly as possible. The tipping point came when ANI spoofing escalated significantly, and executives realized it was time to take action. There was a strong desire to address the spoofing issues as fast as possible, so a solution that could be implemented swiftly was a strong consideration in the vendor selection process.
Outcomes
Implementing VeriCall® Technology was a resounding success. Using VeriCall® Technology,
three potential results are possible for every incoming call—green, gray, or red. In the IVR, all calls VeriCall® Technology denotes as green are considered authenticated by Telco A. As a result, they are fast-tracked; customers are greeted by name, and no further authentication is performed. If the customer’s needs cannot be met in the IVR, the caller is transferred to an agent who also greets him or her by name and acts to address the customer’s request. Telco A estimates that all green calls transferred to an agent have a reduction of two to four minutes average handle time; this is time that was previously required for authentication, primarily using KBA questions and OTPs. The reduction in authentication time resulted in an operational expense reduction in the millions of dollars annually. About 75% of incoming calls are green. Calls coded gray by VeriCall® Technology follow the process that was in place at Telco A prior to implementing VeriCall® Technology. Since the customer has not yet been successfully authenticated, calls that are labeled red by VeriCall® Technology (less than 2% of incoming calls) are treated as highly suspicious by Telco A; most honest customers do not spoof a telephone number, so the majority of these calls are normally determined to be fraudulent.
During the implementation phase, a few minor issues arose but were addressed and resolved quickly. This executive stated Next Caller is a small, extremely responsive and works to maintain a strong partnership with this client. Telco A has achieved three times the return on investment after implementing the VeriCall® Technology.
Lessons Learned
Choosing VeriCall® Technology from Next Caller had buy-in from all internal stakeholders. They have found the company to be responsive and a good strategic business partner, and the solution to be cost-effective. Compared to other solutions they considered, VeriCall® Technology is significantly less expensive to Telco A.
Telco B
Background/History
Telco B is a telecommunications Fortune 250 business. Over 98% of incoming calls to contact centers initially go through the IVR in this company.
The Telco B began experiencing an uptick in fraud in its contact centers and wanted to take action to mitigate fraud and better protect its customers’ accounts. Its biggest challenge was ANI spoofing, so it wanted to harden the IVR to prevent account takeover fraud. Telco B was using a web tool that was supposed to help identify incoming telephone numbers that were likely fraudulent, but fraud rates were rising. It examined various technology solutions available in the market that could help detect incoming calls from spoofed numbers.
Approach
In looking at competing solutions in the market, the firm’s executives saw many strong capabilities but were given pause by the price tags. Management decided that at that point in time, they didn’t really need a lot of the functionality offered by more expensive competitors; they just required reliable spoofing detection. Because the rate of fraud incidents was increasing, they also needed a solution they could implement quickly to better protect customer accounts.
As Telco B’s executives looked at Next Caller, they felt it had a very competitive solution and that the company would be a good business partner. While improving the customer experience wasn’t the primary reason they were looking for a solution, management was excited about the prospect as a side benefit of addressing their fraud challenge.
Outcomes
Prior to implementing VeriCall® Technology, Telco B was matching the incoming telephone number to an existing customer account, looking to see if there were any fraud alerts on the account, and requiring the customer to input an account PIN (personal identification number). After implementing VeriCall® Technology, for all calls determined to be green (about 70%), no PIN is required by Telco B. This frictionless verification was embraced by customers and company management alike. In addition, the use of the web tool that provided information about numbers that were likely to be fraudulent was discontinued without detriment after implementing VeriCall® Technology.
Perhaps the biggest challenge during the implementation was that there were unanticipated system integration requirements with the system Telco B uses in front of and behind the IVR.
Next Caller partnered with Telco B to address all of the issues quickly, but it delayed the overall implementation of VeriCall® Technology from two months to three months. Lessons Learned VeriCall® Technology requires minimal upkeep according to Telco B, and it requires two fewer data inputs than the system used previously. Telco B management is hopeful that Next Caller’s machine learning models will continue to improve the product’s percentage of green calls over time. Like Telco A, Telco B is very complimentary about Next Caller’s support.
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls can be very difficult to authenticate. While such calls are sometimes riskier, the mere use of a VoIP line does not mean the call is fraudulent. The executive with Telco B states that VeriCall® Technology does a very good job with incoming calls from mobile devices and landlines, and that Next Caller is working to improve results on VoIP calls.
Similar to Telco A, Telco B has achieved a decrease in the time a caller takes to be authenticated when speaking with an agent. If authenticated in the IVR (green call), there is a reduction of over a minute of handling time, which results in significant cost reduction in the contact center. In addition, Telco B has achieved an additional 2% IVR containment rate, and management is excited that as the solution’s machine learning models continue to learn, this percentage may rise further.
Last, Telco B’s customer satisfaction ratings (measured by an independent firm) have improved over the past two years—something management takes very seriously and is proud of. A portion of that improvement is attributed to the customer experience improvement in contact centers.
Lessons Learned
VeriCall® Technology requires minimal upkeep according to Telco B, and it requires two fewer data inputs than the system used previously. Telco B management is hopeful that Next Caller’s machine learning models will continue to improve the product’s percentage of green calls over time. Like Telco A, Telco B is very complimentary about Next Caller’s support.
What’s next
The uptick in fraud in contact centers crosses over many industries; the challenges described in this case study and the benefits achieved by Telco A and B are likely relevant for any contact center in which fraudsters can derive value by taking over a customer account.
Here are some key takeaways for consideration:
- While it sometimes makes sense to invest in technology solutions with capabilities not yet needed, in many cases, less is more. A product that meets your pressing needs quickly and more economically may be the best investment choice.
- Improving the customer experience is essential.
- Consumers’ expectations are constantly rising as they receive strong service from companies such as Amazon. Meeting the expectation of quick, painless customer service doesn’t have to be a dream; by making it a reality, companies can achieve a competitive advantage.
- Speed in implementation is vital; the faster benefits are realized, the quicker the technology provides a return on investment. This is also important because IT resources are often in scarce supply and in heavy demand in FIs.
- Customers expect their accounts to be protected. Companies that provide a great customer experience and strong security without adding friction can develop a competitive advantage.
- Reducing the AHT of calls in contact centers can save millions of dollars annually in large companies. Reducing the use of authentication tools, such as KBA and OTPs, reduces friction to improve the customer experience but also cuts back the time spent authenticating callers, thus improving operational efficiency.
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