Mercury has become New Zealand’s first energy company to commit to bringing Amazon Alexa to consumers.
Customers will be able to ask Alexa for energy savings tips and information about their account as well as unlocking
discounts and other offers from the comfort of their home.
Alexa is Amazon’s voice-activated service, with its compatible devices launched here earlier this month.
Mercury GM Digital Services, Kevin Angland, says Amazon Alexa will serve as another channel for customers to
conveniently talk to Mercury.
“We’re making it easy for our customers through hands-free help and access to relevant information in real-time,” says
Mr Angland.
“Customers won’t have to drop what they’re doing to find out basic information, such as what their account balance is.
It’s a simple question with a quick and easy answer – which is exactly what we will offer our customers with Alexa.”
Mr Angland said voice-activated intelligence was becoming increasingly important for any customer-centric business. An
estimated 600 million people use voice-activated services at least once a week around the world.
“This is a small part of a much bigger journey for us and our customers as we move into the fast-growing world of voice
assistance. The technology has moved beyond simply an interesting feature, to an important part of a customer-focused
digital strategy.”
He said that as customers continued to interact with Alexa, Mercury would develop the offering and explore bringing more
‘skills’ (capabilities) to the service, such as enabling customers to track their energy consumption or make a payment
with a simple command.
“Watch this space – this is the start of a very exciting time for us, as we continue to develop innovative solutions for
our customers through partnerships with tech leaders.”
Mercury’s pilot launch internally is now complete, with the next phase to be rolled out to all customers early next
month.
“This is a wonderful view of where our digital capability can go, and the benefits it brings to our customers, our
people and our business,” said Mr Angland.
See Mr Angland talk about Alexa and demo the Mercury ‘skills’ here: https://mcy.nz/Alexa
ENDS