Vodafone Scales Global Customer Care with Microsoft Azure AI Digital Assistant

Vodafone, a global telecommunications provider with 300 million mobile customers, faced the challenge of managing legacy technologies and disparate IT systems across 26 countries. To modernize its service model and support users in more than 40 languages, the company sought a scalable, AI-driven solution. Vodafone implemented Microsoft Azure AI Bot Service and Azure AI Services to develop TOBi, a personable digital assistant capable of handling complex customer inquiries ranging from billing questions to contract updates.

The implementation enabled Vodafone to centralize its digital strategy while delivering localized support across 15 different language markets. By leveraging natural language processing and real-time translation, the company significantly increased its digital containment and reduced the operational burden on human agents. TOBi currently handles 60% of customer interactions, facilitating between 25 million and 30 million conversations every month. This automated approach has led to a 12% year-over-year reduction in the frequency of customer contacts to traditional call centers.

Vodafone continues to refine TOBi by investigating advanced conversational language understanding to support additional regional languages, such as Zulu in South Africa. This modular approach allows the organization to reduce development costs and accelerate time-to-market for new features. By integrating Speech to Text and Text to Speech capabilities, Vodafone ensures that interactions remain natural and engaging, reinforcing its commitment to a digital-first customer care strategy.