BT has deepened its relationship with ServiceNow. It is looking for the global software company to help enhance customer and employee experiences. BT has worked with ServiceNow for several years. In 2022, it announced that it would modernise the Group’s service management with the delivery of a unified service management platform underpinned by the Now platform.
In 2023 ServiceNow helped to simplify its contact centre transformation. With a turnkey, contact-centre-as-a-service (CCaaS) package integrating digital workflows, global communications and a cloud-hosted contact centre platform.
The existing platform leverages Now Assist generative AI. BT agents have used it to write case summaries and review complex notes faster, cutting times by 55%. Now, BT will extend the ServiceNow service management capabilities across all BT Group units .
BT will also use the ServiceNow Service Bridge to connect BT Group with their enterprise customers for seamless automation. The BT Group will also pilot ServiceNow’s Now Assist for Telecom Service Management (TSM). This infuses generative AI across the TSM product.
Hena Jalil, Managing Director, Business CIO at BT Group, commented, “Reimagining how we deliver service management requires a platform first approach, building stronger foundations for us to do things faster and smarter. Our approach, powered by ServiceNow and enhanced with AI, will transform the customer experience at BT Group, unlocking value at every stage of the journey. In short, it is further evidence to customers that we’ve got their back.”
Can Service Bridge span the gap between enterprises and BT?
One might argue that the ServiceNow Service Bridge is incorrectly named. A bridge would indicate bidirectional flows between two points. Service Network or Hub would be a more appropriate term. As BT intends to use the capability to connect internal teams with all enterprise customers.
The Service Bridge will enable BT to automate tasks such as orders, support, and service. To do that, it supports rapid onboarding of new customers and partners to the platform. BT can also configure the Remote catalogue capability, enabling customers to quickly identify their needs from the BT Service catalogue.
The platform also supports multi-party and multi-instance workflows. This means that complex telecom requirements needing coordination between internal departments for services and assets can be coordinated easily. BT service teams will be able to see customer requests and tasks from within their ServiceNow system. That is the promise. The reality will be in BT customer stories, where enterprises have seen improved service levels and better-coordinated engagements.
In a pilot of Now Assist for TSM, BT have seen meaningful results. Case summarisation has reduced the wrap-up time for every call, reducing the time taken by 55%. The summary has also ensured that handoffs between teams have consistent and detailed communication. To ensure the handoff experience is seamless. Also, BT estimates that agents have saved 55% in time, when reading through the summaries rather than wordy descriptions. Overall BT estimates that Now Assist with TSM has reduced the average tie to resolve cases by a third.
Paul Smith, Chief Commercial Officer, ServiceNow, said, “We’re excited to partner with BT Group to accelerate their ambitions around business transformation. In this new era of intelligent automation, ServiceNow puts AI to work for our customers – with speed, trust, and security. By leveraging the speed and scale of the Now Platform, we’re creating a competitive advantage for BT, driving enterprise-wide transformation, and helping them achieve new levels of productivity, innovation, and business impact.”
Enterprise Times: What does this mean?
Partnerships can be judged on their success by how they develop over time. This is the third year in a row that ServiceNow and BT have had something to announce. It represents that BT is not only happy with the relationship but it is also willing to further invest in ServiceNow.
The question is, though, at whose expense? If BT is rolling out ServiceNow across all business units, which solutions will BT cease to use? Is there a cost saving involved for BT in doing this as well? Now, it has found a solution that it is happy with. As the Now platform rolls out, will it match some of the idiosyncratic requirements that some business units have. And that they have developed on their customised platforms over the years.
This is not a small project, and it will be interesting to see what progress BT has made over the coming 12 months.
