In the age of digital technologies, companies that go beyond one-way notifications are more valued by their customers. During this year’s CS Week, one of the most important events for North American utilities, Open International introduced proactive digital interactions, the latest innovation of its solution, Open Smartflex, aimed to transform utilities’ customer service strategies.

In the hyper-connected world we live in, customers continue to expect more from their service providers. For example, it is no longer impressive for a utility company to reach out to customers to tell them they missed a payment. Utilities are now expected to think ahead and contact their customers to prevent missed payments from ever occurring in the first place.

In this context, utility companies must take full advantage of the digital technologies available to them to offer their customers personalized and intriguing experiences that ultimately make their lives easier. That is the opinion of Jesús Sánchez, Chief Marketing Officer at Open International, a leading software company specialized in the utility industry, who adds, “Nowadays, customers want their service providers to be more timely and agile when interacting with them. What people value the most is having a personalized relationship with their utility, where as a customer, you feel that your service provider understands your needs, can help you solve problems before they occur, and offer you programs that are truly of interest to you”.

In response to the needs of both service providers and their customers, last week during the 46th edition of CS Week, Open International unveiled their most recent innovation of their solution, Open Smartflex: proactive interactions. This new initiative enables utilities to engage with their customers in a simple, efficient and personalized manner, allowing them to anticipate their customers’ needs through artificial intelligence and data analytics. Situations are automatically detected by the system which triggers a digital contact to inform the customer about said events. The communication starts through a message via SMS, WhatsApp, or Facebook Messenger that includes an access link to Open Smartflex's AI chatbot solution, which drives the interaction with the customer through a dialog based on a list of next best actions that each specific customer can choose from.

Regarding this innovation and Open’s presence in CS Week, Jesus also stated, “The incorporation of proactive interactions in our solution is just another example of our commitment to our clients to empower their businesses with cutting-edge technology to serve their communities better. We are happy to have been able to participate at CS Week and show the North American utility market what we have in store for them and how they can improve their customer experience and growth their business with Open Smartflex.” concluded Sanchez.