Japanese tech companies NTT Communications Corp. and SoftBank Corp. are developing systems utilizing artificial intelligence to help call-center workers deal with abusive customers.
NTT Communications has created a call center support system that can monitor exchanges between customers and workers and display examples of appropriate responses on operators’ screens.
In a demonstration open to the media, a prototype system offered an operator an example response to a customer complaint about a telecom contract. After the operator replied to the customer in line with the advice, it tagged the response “No problem.”
The company says the system can reduce employees’ psychological burden, with many operators finding it difficult to remain calm when receiving strongly worded complaints.
It is also expected to help reduce customer anger by offering swift responses, the company said.
SoftBank is also utilizing AI to develop a system that softens the tone of customers’ voices when operators respond to their calls. The company aims to make it into a business by fiscal 2025, it said.
The development comes as so-called “kasu-hara,” or abusive behavior by customers, has become a social issue in recent years in Japan, a country known for its hospitality culture.
Some victims end up leaving their jobs or suffering from mental illness as a result of behavior ranging from verbal abuse to being forced to apologize by prostrating themselves, prompting many firms in the retail and restaurant sectors to draw up guidelines to handle abusive behavior by customers.
