Jens Voigt, Vice President Customer Support, Western Europe, Kaspersky Lab
Category
  • Next Generation Customer Experience
The Project

Since most of our customers conduct their personal and professional business online, we knew we had to deliver an online self-service option to meet their needs.  To do this, in 2010, Kasperksy launched Lena, an intelligent virtual agent powered by VirtuOz.  Initially, the goal was to provide a 24/7 automated system that delivered a fast, personalized, contextual customer experience and free up support resources for more advanced, paid technical services.  However, with robust analytics capabities able to capture the voice of the customer, we soon realized that our customers were using Lena as the online equivalent of a tech-savvy sales representative.  So in November 2011, Kaspersky expanded Lena’s role to the sales function, which quickly garnered tremendous success.  

The Technology

VirtuOz intelligent virtual agent, VirtuOz

Metrics Matter

ROI was the key metric that drove the business case, and is mainly determined by the decrease in call center inquires and emails.  To calcuate the ROI, we compare each coversation with Lena with the average cost per incident we have in support.  We also factor in the fact that Lena can handle multiple conversations at once.  We were able to achieve ROI within the first four months.  

As a cross-functional agent, we use a rich mosiac of metrics aimed at helping us continally improve the customer experince.  Our results to date include:   

  • 85 percent average customer support resolution rate 
  • 22 percent decrease in call center inquires and emails  
  • 80 percent sales support success rate
  • 8 percent increased order value
  • 30k conversations processed monthly

As part of their services, VirtuOz delivers a monthly virtual agent performance scorecard with critical key performance indicators (KPIs), including ROI.  These reports not only help ensure that we are on track with our project goals, but also helps us fine tune our agent to ensure she continues to deliver the most compelling, relevent and up-to-date user experience possible. 

Disruptive Factor

The use of “disruptive technologies” is a way of life at Kaspersky, so when the commercial use of artificial intelligence became a reality, we were one of the first to adopt.  At the same time, we needed to make sure that the technology was mature enough to keep our superior customer support in tact, yet innovative enough to meet the demands of our Web-savvy customers.   With guidance from VirtuOz, our initial prototype Lena was up and running within four months, and she was so successful, that we expanded her role into sales in Germany, and this summer we’ve added her to our US, UK and France web sites.

Shining Moment

With robust analytics capabities able to capture the voice of the customer, the a-ha moment came when we realized that our customers were using Lena as the online equivalent of a tech-savvy sales representative.  So in November 2011, Kaspersky expanded Lena’s role to the sales function, which quickly garnered tremendous success.  Many of our customers use her as a product guide that can provide competitive comparisons and ulitmately, recommend a product that meets the specific needs of each customer.  She is the online equivalent of a tech-savvy sales rep on the floor, but without the annoyance of a pesky saleperson.  

 

ABOUT Kaspersky Lab

Kaspersky Lab is the world’s largest privately held vendor of endpoint protection solutions.  The company is ranked among the world’s top four vendors of security solutions for endpoint users.  Throughout its 15-year history Kaspersky Lab has remained an innovator in IT security and provides effective digital security solutions for consumers, SMBs, and Enterprises.  The company currently operates in almost 200 countries across the globe, providing protection for over 300 million users worldwide.  Learn more at www.kaspersky.com.