Emotional intelligence, powered by AI: the future of customer service?
AI tools are not just for computer science and tech start-ups, we’re using new data tools to help better understand customer emotions, improve service speed, and create smarter experiences.
Ever wish you could interpret someone’s real emotions through the black and white of emails and text characters? Well, when it comes to customer service, this superpower would truly be a breakthrough innovation. Luckily, we’re not relying on mind readers — we’ve got AI on our side!
Across Europe, and here in the UK, we're using advanced AI tools to understand what our customers need, when they need it, and how we can improve their experience. From feedback analysis to interactive billing, we’re creating a more personalised customer service experience with AI.
UK innovations: listening, learning, and Billie!
At E.ON Next, we’re pushing the boundaries of AI to better serve the people who count most – our customers… truly making new energy work for everyone.
1. Whisper: transcription that talks
Ever wish you could get to the heart of a conversation without missing a word? We’ve launched Whisper, an AI transcription service that transforms customer calls into text, allowing us to ‘listen’ deeper and respond faster.
By transcribing every conversation, Whisper lets us run sentiment analysis and tag calls automatically — capturing tone, topic, and urgency with an efficiency a human listener simply can’t match.
2. Chattermill: our digital ear to the ground
Imagine being able to capture every insight from your customers — across social media, surveys, and emails. That’s where Chattermill comes in. Similar to our Whisper tool, this AI-powered ‘feedback aggregator’ (a tool that collects individual ratings and reviews, but from hundreds, thousands, even millions of customers) analyses sentiment across all these touchpoints, giving us a clear picture of how our customers are feeling and where we can step in to help.
The result: actionable insights that allow us to provide faster support and develop smarter solutions. We’re not just responding to customer feedback, we’re learning from it to create happier, more satisfied customers.
3. ‘Billie’: more than just a bill
Meet Billie, your new best friend in the world of digital billing. Billie is an interactive digital bill that features pre-recorded video explanations from our energy experts, answering common billing questions before you need to call us or open up a search engine. Launched in the UK, Billie has already been a huge success — billing-related calls are down by 5.5%, and customer satisfaction has shot up by 48%.
It’s a perfect example of how AI can simplify things for customers, saving time and making life easier.
AI-powered future
We're currently testing an AI voice-bot that engages customers by asking why they’re calling. The bot assesses sentiment and intent, offering options like submitting a meter read via the bot or seamlessly putting them through to the right team – allowing customers to get the help and support directly.
And, while our energy specialists are on the call, we’re developing an AI Wiki called ‘Wiki Whisperer’ that uses Generative AI to summarise business processes and answer queries such as “how do I process a home move?”.
Whether it’s interpreting emotions, simplifying bills, or solving customer problems before they arise, AI is transforming how we connect with and serve our customers. We’re not just using AI to make things faster or easier, we’re using it to make our customer service more human.