In the broadband industry, the link between subscriber experience and operational efficiency is direct—and measurable. One of the clearest indicators of both is the volume of inbound calls your care team receives. High call volumes often signal breakdowns in communication, limited self-service capabilities, or friction in key customer journeys. Reducing those calls doesn’t just cut costs—it improves customer satisfaction, loyalty, and long-term profitability.
Generative and agentic AI offer powerful capabilities for customer support, but not every organization is ready to adopt them. Even in AI-enabled contact centers, these proven methods remain essential for reducing inbound call volume and improving agent efficiency. Note: We’ll have more to say about our AI solutions in the coming months.
Our customers typically see a 30-50% reduction in inbound calls as the customers embrace digital channels. Below are proven strategies broadband ISPs can implement to systematically reduce inbound care calls without compromising on quality customer experience.
1. Proactively Communicate Service Disruptions, Appointments, and Billing Events
Most inbound calls are simple inquiries about billing, payments, outages, and appointments. Proactively communicating relevant account information —via SMS and email—dramatically reduces this avoidable traffic. Research from Metrigy shows that nearly 69% of consumers say they want companies to reach out to them proactively, anytime (19.3%) or sometimes (49.5%).
What to do:
- Set up automated alerts for planned maintenance and network outages with a cadence of updates.
- Systems should automatically notify subscribers about account changes–a bill is due, past due, payment is processed, appointment is scheduled, a technician is enroute, etc.
- Meet the customer where they are–using the communications channel they prefer.
Example: Platforms like GOCare enable rule-based, automated outbound messaging tied to service or billing system events, minimizing the need for customers to seek clarification via a phone call. When clarification is required, customers can simply respond to the message on the current channel for automated or agent-driven responses.
2. Enable Robust Digital Self-Service
Customers prefer self-service (if it’s done right). A significant portion of customer service inquiries can (and should) be addressed through self-service—if that experience is well-designed and mobile-first. Subscribers should be able to resolve routine tasks without needing to talk to an agent.
Key features to offer:
- View and pay bills
- Check data usage
- Update account or payment information
- Reset equipment or troubleshoot issues
- Inquire on and report service problems
- Retrieve passwords
Self-service is most effective when it’s integrated directly into the digital channels your subscribers already use, such as SMS, web, and mobile apps.
3. Use Two-Way Messaging for Real-Time Engagement
Not all issues require a phone call. Being easy-to-do-business-with means meeting your customers on the channel they prefer for that particular inquiry. Today’s consumers are particularly drawn to digital channels–especially via SMS or chat—to resolve concerns in a faster, less resource-intensive manner.
Benefits:
- SMS is the single-most dominant form of communications today
- Allows agents to manage multiple conversations concurrently.
- Reduces average handling time compared to voice calls.
- Provides a written history that can improve follow-up accuracy and analytics.
Example: GOCare’s two-way SMS platform empowers care teams to engage with subscribers on their terms, while integrating with backend CRM and billing systems for context-aware support.
4. Automate High-Volume, Low-Complexity Interactions
Repetitive inquiries—like billing dates, service outages, or payment confirmations—can be fully automated using conversational bots or workflow-based triggers.
Automation candidates:
- “When is my next bill due?”
- “What’s my account balance?”
- “Is there an outage in my area?”
By automating these interactions, ISPs free up agents to focus on more complex customer needs, improving both resolution time and employee satisfaction.
Here are three examples of the automated replies based on operator-defined keywords offered by our customers: 360 Broadband, Blue Stream Fiber, and Gila River Telecom.
5. Use All Digital Channels—Not Just One
Most ISPs enable digital communications channels to subscribers like email, webchat, social media, and maybe even SMS. However, to effectively reduce inbound calls, ISPs must engage customers seamlessly across all digital channels and all contacts are handled with equal sense of urgency. Metrics focus on First ‘contact’ resolution, not first ‘call’ resolution.
The goal is not the elimination of any channel (voice), but rather enabling all channels so subscribers can define their own experience with each contact. When customers achieve resolution over the channel of choice, their satisfaction increases.
Digital channels offer the added benefit of being much more efficient – reducing handling times significantly. One GOCare client experienced the following in the 12 months following embracing the digital channels:
- SMS chat (two-way communications between a customer and an agent) is the single most preferred digital channel, handling 40% of digital communications. SMS chat has 50% more usage than webchat.
- Digital channels overall resolve issues in less than 2 minutes versus 7-8 minutes for phone calls representing a 75% operational gain in handling time. The client saved over 2 million minutes of handling time over the preceding 12 month period deferring the need to add headcount to their contact center.
- Their monthly long distance invoice is down 60% over the same period while their subscriber base almost doubled.
6. Contextual IVR Messaging
The IVR is a known ‘friction point’ for virtually all customers. When customers do call your contact center, leverage the data in multiple systems about who the customer is and why they may be calling to minimize their exposure to the IVR.
For instance, if the customer is in a known outage, play an intercept message acknowledging it. Most callers will then hang up, reducing the queue. Are they an active customer or have they gone inactive for non-payment? If so, forward them to the appropriate agent without an IVR tree.
Final Thought
Reducing calls to your care team isn’t about deflecting support—it’s about providing smarter, more convenient options that respect your subscribers’ time and channel preference. With the right mix of proactive communication, automation, and digital engagement, ISPs can deliver a better experience while improving operational efficiency. It’s not about hiding your phone number so customers don’t call, it’s about making ALL channels easily accessible and allowing the customer to define their experience on each interaction.
If you want to discuss how to implement these best practices, let’s talk. We’d welcome the opportunity to share how GOCare enables ISPs to execute on this playbook.
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Co-founder & CEO
After many years leading broadband network operators, Mike now leads GOCare in tackling the marketing and customer care challenges he knows firsthand.