NI Water has launched an online virtual assistant in a bid to make customer queries as effortless as possible.

The virtual assistant will help customers get answers to simple queries more quickly than ever before and not necessarily with the need to speak to anyone.

Orla McGivern, Customer and Insights Senior Manager at NI Water commented:

“As part of NI Water’s digital transformation strategy to enhance customer experience, we decided to partner with IP Integration (IPI) to develop this knowledge based assistant.

“It adds to the functionality of NI Water’s website and our 1.8 million-strong customer base. Staff worked hard to develop customer focused content that the assistant would draw from to provide intelligent and conversational answers to frequently asked questions. To improve accuracy, it will use Artificial Intelligence, to analyse responses given and then actively refine and improve on them.

“As a utility company, we know our customers sometimes need information quickly, so don’t want to be on hold with a call centre or have to search through pages of information for the answers they need. The online virtual assistant solves this, providing quick and easy access to information and improving our customers’ experience. We have already seen some benefits with really positive customer feedback.”