Last Updated on: 5th February 2025, 04:32 pm
Churches Fire & Security, the UK’s only fully integrated fire safety provider, has successfully improved its customer service operations by leveraging an advanced AI-powered analysis system. This innovative approach has provided crucial insights into customer behaviour and paved the way for significant automation opportunities.
Partnering with digital customer experience (CX) transformation experts Sabio Group, the company conducted an in-depth Intent Capture & Analysis (IC&A) process. This involved evaluating over 25,000 customer calls to identify common pain points and areas for enhancement.
The findings revealed that 17% of all incoming calls—equating to more than 16,000 annually—were simple requests to test fire alarms, making it the most frequent reason for customer contact. In response, Churches Fire & Security is now developing automated self-service solutions via its online portal, potentially saving thousands of hours in customer service operations.
In a recently published case study, Charlie Haynes, CEO of Churches Fire & Security, stressed the strategic impact of the IC&A initiative:
“As a business, we have an increased focus on self-service and operational efficiency whilst maintaining customer experience. The nature of our very business means that it is crucial for us to understand our customers’ needs and streamline our processes accordingly.”
The analysis also highlighted challenges in call resolution, showing that 60% of customers needed to make multiple calls to resolve their issues. Even more notably, 83% of repeat callers regarding fire alarm servicing had previously contacted the company at least once for the same matter, underlining the need to enhance first-call resolution rates.
Kevin McGachy, Head of AI Solutions at Sabio, highlighted the significance of these insights:
“This programme surfaces insights into customer behaviour – key data that Churches and other organisations, with the best of intentions, did not fully know: specifically, the exact reasons as to why their customers were calling in.”
As part of a broader three-phase transformation strategy, the IC&A findings have already driven meaningful improvements. Rather than overhauling its entire customer service infrastructure, Churches Fire & Security has taken a targeted approach, implementing changes based on actual customer data.
One of the key initiatives now underway is the integration of a PCI-compliant payment system into the company’s telephony infrastructure, following the discovery that billing and invoice payments were the second most common reason for customer contact.
Haynes added:
“The IC&A solution has been a game-changer for us. The insights we gained have allowed us to make data-driven decisions, prioritise automation efforts, and ultimately improve the experience for both our customers and employees.”
Kevin McGachy reinforced the broader impact of this initiative, stating:
“The success of this initiative highlights how organisations can approach customer service transformation, demonstrating the value of data-driven decision-making in improving operational efficiency while maintaining service quality.”
