SoftBank Leverages AI to Calm Angry Customer Calls

AI is a game-changer when it comes to customer service, transforming it in a way that increases responsiveness and contentment. AI is implemented by replacing routine searches with chatbots and virtual assistants. It allows the common questions to get quick responses from the system and removes wait times, on the other hand, they free human agents to deal with other issues.

Customers are provided with AI-driven systems to review the data they have provided, tailor their interactions and identify needs and recommending solutions that will work for their interests. Natural language processing on a higher level allows AI to understand and respond to questions more precisely and sentiment analysis as well as serve to detect customer emotions, leading to appropriate responses.

AI as well is a factor that increases resource utilization by establishing call volume predictions and adjusting staffing levels to the existing situation. Consistent improvement is a peculiarity of the AI systems that learn from interactions. This is in order to attain greater accuracy, which is translated to better customer service. Aiming at operating efficiency AI not only enhances but it also enables proper customer service by being timely, personalized, and context appropriation fast enough.

Dealing with furious clients may be incredibly stressful for contact center employees. According to Reuters, Japan's SoftBank Corp believes it has a solution: AI enabled software that softens the tone of consumers' voices.

The country's third-largest telecommunications operator will begin testing the AI technology internally and internationally in the following year, with commercialization expected by the end of March 2026.

“We are working on the development of a solution that can convert the customer calls into a calm conversational tone and deliver it to our workers using AI-enabled emotion recognition and voice processing technology,” SoftBank said in a press release on Wednesday.

“With this solution, we aim to maintain good relationships with customers through sound communication while ensuring the psychological welfare of our workers.”

Japan takes pride in its excellent customer service, but harassment of service sector employees has received more attention in recent years. The government is considering laws to tighten worker protections.

Approximately half of the 33,000 respondents to a study conducted this year by UA Zensen, a labor union for workers mostly in the service and retail industries, claimed they had been harassed by clients in the previous two years. The instances included verbal abuse, intimidation, and, in some cases, customer demands that employees bend and bow in remorse. More than 100 respondents reported seeking mental treatment as a result of the harassment.