Photo by Divina Paredes
It is a digital first for our sector and gives our customers a choice of another way to deal with us
Mercury customers will soon be able to ask Alexa for energy saving tips and information about their account from the comfort of their home.
Alexa is Amazon’s voice-activated service, with its compatible devices launched in NZ earlier this month.
“It is a digital first for our sector and gives our customers a choice of another way to deal with us,” says Kevin Angland, GM digital services at Mercury.
Alexa will serve as another channel for customers to conveniently talk to Mercury, says Angland, in a statement.
“We’re making it easy for our customers through hands-free help and access to relevant information in real-time.”
“Customers won’t have to drop what they’re doing to find out basic information, such as what their account balance is. It’s a simple question with a quick and easy answer – which is exactly what we will offer our customers with Alexa.”
Watch Kevin Angland talk to Alexa about energy saving tips
Angland says voice-activated intelligence is becoming increasingly important for any customer-centric business.
An estimated 600 million people use voice-activated services at least once a week around the world.
“This is a small part of a much bigger journey for us and our customers as we move into the fast-growing world of voice assistance,” says Angland.
“The technology has moved beyond simply an interesting feature, to an important part of a customer-focused digital strategy.”
The technology has moved beyond simply an interesting feature, to an important part of a customer-focused digital strategy
He says that as customers continued to interact with Alexa, Mercury would develop the offering and explore bringing more ‘skills’ (capabilities) to the service, such as enabling customers to track their energy consumption or make a payment with a simple command.
“Watch this space – this is the start of a very exciting time for us, as we continue to develop innovative solutions for our customers through partnerships with tech leaders.”
Mercury says Alexa’s pilot launch is now complete, and the service will be available to all customers next month.
“This is a wonderful view of where our digital capability can go, and the benefits it brings to our customers, our people and our business,” says Angland.
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