Pakistan Telecommunications Company Limited (PTCL) – the leading telecom and ICT services provider in Pakistan signed a partnership agreement with Afiniti today, the US-based applied artificial intelligence company that transforms the way humans interact. While Afiniti works with customers in Americas and Europe, PTCL becomes the first company to “Go-Live” at scale, not only in Pakistan but also in Asia. The partnership will bring new innovations to the customer services and contact center operations of PTCL.
Before signing the partnership agreement, there was a period of six months during which a pilot project was undertaken to gauge the effectiveness of the Afiniti solution. Within the first two months of the pilot, Afiniti’s technology resulted in substantial improvements in PTCL’s contact center operations through the intelligent pairing of agents and callers. Afiniti is now live across PTCL’s sales platform, optimizing metrics such as new customers, cross-sales, upgrades and downgrades for queues of about 600 agents. Over the next three months, this count will increase to around 1,000 agents. With the new artificial intelligence based system of Afiniti, PTCL will be able to connect the callers on its contact center intelligently with relevant and suitable agents. Thus, improving the quality and speed of service offered to its customers.
Adnan Shahid, Chief Commercial Officer, PTCL expressed excitement in partnering with a global company with Pakistani roots and said, “It is really heartening to note that a company with its development team based out of Pakistan has made giant strides in the field of artificial intelligence. We are very impressed with the initial results and believe this technology will help us improve our contact center operations. PTCL is very proud of the fact that it has become the first customer of Afiniti’s artificial intelligence solution in Asia.”
Expressing his views about the partnership, Sundar Bharadwaj, Managing Director, Afiniti said that their company was delighted to make its first foray in Asia through PTCL. He added, “Afiniti works with top telecom operators in Europe and North America. We are excited to be working with PTCL on this project. Big data and artificial intelligence are next-gen solutions and PTCL is clearly at the forefront of embracing new technologies. We are looking forward to supporting and being part of PTCL’s journey as they help lead innovation in the country.”
PTCL has been serving Pakistan since 1947 and is the leading provider of advanced telecommunications services, next-generation IPTV, high-speed internet and smart solutions for consumers and businesses in Pakistan. Encompassing fixed-line, wireless, satellite and undersea connectivity, PTCL is the sole backbone of large-scale integrated communications and data solutions in Pakistan. It leads the digital revolution with a focus on state-of-the-art Information and Communications Technology. PTCL does not limit itself to technological innovation only but plays an active role in supporting education, health and environmental sustainability across the nation.
Afiniti’s Chairman and CEO, Zia Chishti, who is an accomplished entrepreneur recently met Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to discuss business opportunities and the introduction of new technologies to the country. Headquartered in Washington, DC, Afiniti has over 150 deployments in major enterprises across a range of sectors, including telecommunications, insurance, financial services and hospitality. Afiniti’s Enterprise Behavioral Pairing™ algorithm analyzes and predicts the behavior of incoming callers in contact centers in order to pair them with agents who will deliver the best results. The company operates throughout the world and has driven hundreds of millions of dollars in incremental revenue globally.
