The challenge

Telecom and utility providers manage some of the most essential services in people's lives: internet, electricity, water, gas, and mobile connectivity. Customers expect these services to “just work,” but when issues arise—an outage, a confusing bill, or a delayed upgrade—their tolerance for delays or unhelpful answers is extremely low.

Traditional call centers face enormous strain during peak times, such as regional outages or billing cycles, with call queues stretching for hours. Human agents are often forced to repeat the same explanations dozens of times a day. The result is high operational costs, long wait times, and frustrated customers who may even switch providers if they feel unsupported.

Ontopix's approach

Ontopix Virtual Agents are designed to take on the most common, high-volume interactions in telecom and utilities. They provide:

• Billing clarity: Explaining charges, due dates, and payment options instantly.
• Outage reporting and updates: Allowing customers to check the status of an incident in real time without waiting for a human.
• Service upgrades and changes: Guiding customers through options for faster internet, new plans, or additional services.
• Proactive communication: During outages or maintenance, agents can proactively inform customers and provide estimated resolution times.

Because they integrate seamlessly with existing systems (billing, CRM, service dashboards), virtual agents can deliver accurate, personalized answers with no extra workload for human teams. And when an issue requires escalation, they hand over full context to human agents, ensuring no information is lost.

Benefits in practice

For telecom and utility providers, Ontopix brings measurable advantages:

• Massive call deflection: Routine queries are resolved automatically, reducing agent workloads by 60–80%.
• Scalable peak handling: Virtual agents absorb spikes during outages or billing periods without additional staffing.
• Cost efficiency: Lower onboarding and training needs for new human agents, as AI handles repetitive work.
• Customer trust: Real-time, consistent answers build confidence and reduce churn.
• Employee satisfaction: Human agents focus on complex, rewarding cases instead of repeating billing details endlessly.

A day-to-day scenario

It's the first Monday of the month—billing day. Thousands of customers log in or call to ask why their bill is higher than expected. Instead of waiting on hold, they chat with the virtual agent:

• A customer types: “Why is my bill higher this month?”
• The virtual agent immediately checks their account, identifies a one-time installation fee, and explains it clearly. It also provides a link to payment options.
• Another customer calls to report “Internet down in my area.” The virtual agent cross-checks outage maps, confirms there's maintenance scheduled, and informs them of the expected restoration time.
• Meanwhile, proactive notifications are sent out to all affected customers, dramatically reducing inbound calls.

In minutes, thousands of customers are reassured, informed, and guided—without overwhelming the human support team.

Why it matters

In telecom and utilities, customer loyalty is fragile. People rarely remember the months when service was flawless—but they never forget the day they felt abandoned during an outage or ignored when a bill was unclear. Ontopix Virtual Agents ensure that even in high-pressure moments, every customer receives an immediate, accurate, and empathetic response.

By automating routine support, providers not only cut costs but also protect their reputation, reduce churn, and give their human teams the breathing room to focus on service improvements. In industries where reliability and trust are everything, this makes the difference between keeping or losing a customer.