If you lead customer service in a utility, you’ll know the kind of resistance that creeps in whenever you push for change. It usually sounds something like this:
- “We’re too regulated to do things differently.”
- “Customers don’t have a choice, so why bother?”
- “People only call when something’s broken — service isn’t a priority.”
It’s a neat set of excuses. But they’re still excuses. And while they make improvement sound impossible, the truth is utilities can deliver customer service that actually works. Plenty already do. The difference isn’t regulation, or customer behaviour. It’s whether the organisation decides to fix the systems that hold them back.
Why service feels harder in utilities
There’s no denying that utility contact centres face tougher conditions than most. When your product is water, energy, or broadband, the stakes are higher than in retail. If a delivery runs late, people grumble. If the lights go out, people panic.
That intensity creates pressure. And when outdated infrastructure meets rising customer expectations, the cracks show quickly. In fact, the State of Customer Service in Utilities whitepaper found the sector scores six points below the cross-sector average on the UK Customer Satisfaction Index. Germany, meanwhile, saw only 8 of 27 electricity providers rated “good”.
The message is clear: customer patience with poor service is thin, even in essential services.
The three traps utilities fall into
1. Treating regulation as an excuse
Yes, utilities are highly regulated. But that doesn’t mean you can’t modernise how you handle calls, automate repetitive tasks, or give customers better visibility. Compliance doesn’t prevent good service — it just means you need platforms that keep auditability and data security baked in.
2. Thinking customers don’t have options
Switching energy or broadband supplier isn’t always easy, but it happens more than leaders like to admit. And even where options are limited, public trust is fragile. A single winter outage mishandled can undo years of brand-building.
3. Letting agents drown in routine queries
From meter readings to billing questions, routine calls flood utility phone lines. Without automation, those calls block access for customers with real emergencies. It’s a structural problem — not an inevitable part of the sector.
Case in point: EnBW and OOWV
Take EnBW, one of Germany’s major energy providers. They process around 150,000 calls per month, and babelforce automation now supports 80% of them. The result? €500,000 in annual savings and agents freed up for complex work.
Or OOWV, a leading water utility. Faced with a surge of meter reading calls during regulatory deadlines, they rolled out a voicebot that now handles 15,000+ readings in a single week. That’s a 40% efficiency boost — and fewer frustrated customers stuck on hold.
The lesson is simple: utilities aren’t “different” in a way that prevents good service. They’re just burdened with legacy systems that need replacing.
The fix: modern platforms, smarter automation
What separates the laggards from the leaders is the technology behind their operations. A modern customer service platform for utilities does three things:
- Filters routine queries through automation.
- Routes urgent calls to the front of the line.
- Integrates seamlessly with CRMs and ticketing tools, so context follows the customer.
This is where CCaaS for utilities comes in. It’s not just about scaling phone lines — it’s about building a contact centre that can flex with demand, absorb shocks, and deliver service that customers actually notice.
Why babelforce matters
At babelforce, we work with utilities of every size, from municipal providers to national energy companies. What they all share is the need to:
- Automate up to 90% of repetitive tasks.
- Deploy voicebots in over 70 languages.
- Give agents transparency into who’s calling and why.
- Modernise without ripping out existing infrastructure.
The impact is real. Faster response times. Lower costs. More resilient service. And yes — higher customer satisfaction, even in a sector where that’s traditionally seen as impossible.
The excuses are easy. But the fixes are within reach.
