Last year’s Optus data breach led to a surge in consumer complaints so large the Telecommunications Industry Ombudsman (TIO) tested AI to keep up, with annual figures showcasing an overall dip of 16.5%.
A record number of consumers turned to the TIO, with 20,323 complaints lodged, representing 30.6% overall, and an increase of 29% compared to the previous year.
In comparison, Telstra complaints (the largest and most complained about Telco) dropped 35.7% year on year. Every other major Telco, apart from Vodafone, saw similar declines.
In October last year, TIO received 6,800 complaints, one month after the breach. The breach saw millions of customers’ personal and financial details stolen and ransomed, representing a 25.9% jump in complaints.
The TIO’s Early Resolution Group began exploring the use of bots “to facilitate contacting customers for follow-up purposes,” revealing the TIO got significantly slower at resolving complaints over the last three years.
53% of escalated cases were closed within 60 days between 2020-2021, dropping to 43% last year. The slowdown presents difficulties faced by the breach and challenges of a limited TIO workforce. In fiscal 2022-2023 that rebounded to 63%, still short of the 75% goal.
Phase one of a revamped complaints management solution is expected next month, however, a core part of the transformation includes the use of AI, which is being eyed at for streamlining complaints handling. This will be trialled over the next 12-18 months.
