How SignalSpan Telecom Scaled 24/7 First‑Line Support with a WhatsApp AI Chatbot
Background
SignalSpan Telecom serves business customers with multiple locations, from retail chains to distributed offices. Rapid growth brought pressure on the support desk, especially after hours when store openings, shift changes, and nightly updates often coincide with connectivity questions. The team needed a friendly, always-on first line that could guide non-technical staff, resolve common issues quickly, and keep everyone informed without long waits.
Why WhatsApp
- No apps to download: Staff in stores and on the road can start chatting instantly.
- No new logins or passwords: The user’s mobile number identifies them, reducing friction and lost time.
- Personal, familiar experience: A conversational channel employees already trust, with human-like guidance that reduces stress in outage moments.
What the chatbot does
- Greets users by name and location: Confirms the site and services automatically by matching the mobile number with the CRM—no account numbers required.
- Checks live service status: Instantly confirms if a site or region is affected, so users know whether it’s local or wider.
- Guides non-technical users: Clear, step-by-step prompts for common fixes—like rebooting equipment, checking status lights, or briefly plugging a laptop directly into the router—explained in plain language.
- Creates and manages tickets: Opens support tickets with SignalSpan and, when needed, with the underlying carrier. Shares reference numbers and next steps.
- 24/7 availability: Consistent, friendly help during store openings, late-night replenishment, or weekend shifts.
- Proactive updates: Sends regular status messages while a ticket is open and confirms once service is restored—no chasing required.
- Sentiment-aware monitoring: A second AI watches for frustration and flags the human support team to step in immediately when needed.
Human-like guidance that avoids jargon
The chatbot speaks in everyday language and breaks tasks into simple, confidence-building steps. It anticipates common questions, offers gentle reminders, and validates each action, so non-technical staff can move forward without fear of “doing the wrong thing.”
Always-on support for multi-site operations
Whether it’s a single store with a local issue or multiple branches affected by a regional event, the chatbot scales instantly. Managers can check different locations in one conversation and get consistent, clear answers, day or night.
Faster resolutions, fewer escalations
By handling common fixes at the first line, the chatbot reduces time-to-resolution and frees engineers to focus on complex cases. First responses arrive in seconds, and many issues are resolved before they ever reach a technician.
Seamless escalation and transparency
When an issue requires deeper investigation, the chatbot opens the right ticket, including with the underlying carrier, and keeps the user updated with reference numbers, estimated timelines, and progress milestones—all in the same WhatsApp thread.
Sentiment-aware safety net
If a user sounds anxious or frustrated, the monitoring AI alerts the human team to join the chat or call directly. This protects relationships, maintains SLAs, and shows customers they’re heard.
Business impact
- Higher availability at the edge: Common issues get resolved quickly, reducing downtime during trading hours.
- Stronger SLA performance: Immediate triage and automated updates keep incidents moving.
- Scalable support: Handles peaks and after-hours demand without hiring surges.
- Happier end users: Plain-language help, proactive updates, and no need to repeat details.
- Better visibility for managers: All conversations link back to the CRM, giving a clear picture across locations.
Operational highlights
Rollout required minimal training because the experience is intuitive and familiar. Employees message on WhatsApp, the bot recognises them via their mobile number, and help begins—no forms, no portals, just fast, human-like support.
What’s next
SignalSpan plans to expand with multilingual support and more proactive alerts, further reducing interruptions and keeping multi-site businesses running smoothly.
Example Conversations
Below are some example conversations between a user and the chatbot, whilst fictional, they have been generated by the same AI that powers the chatbot and represent realistic interactions.
1. Store manager reports card terminals dropping; bot verifies status, guides reboot and wired test; connection stabilizes and fix is logged without ticket.
Hi, our card terminals keep dropping this evening. We’re trying to close and it’s causing queues. Can you help?
Hi Alex — I’ve matched your number to Urban Deli, King’s Road (Chelsea). Service: Business Fibre with 4G backup. Checking live status…
No regional outage and your line is up. Are other devices browsing fine, or just the card terminals?
Wi‑Fi is fine. Tills stutter occasionally but mainly the card readers drop.
Let’s run quick checks behind the counter:
- Is the router and any small switch powered on and cool to touch?
- Any plugs loose?
- Which lights are on: Power and Internet should be steady.
Tell me what you see.
Power is on. Internet light was flickering earlier; now it’s on but I’m not sure. Cables look snug.
Let’s do a safe reboot (about 2–3 minutes):
- Unplug the router’s power.
- Wait 20 seconds.
- Plug back in and wait until Power and Internet go steady.
Then try a test card. I’ll stay with you.
Done. Lights are solid. First card went through, then one failed again a minute later.
Next, a quick wired test to isolate the connection:
- Plug a laptop into the router’s yellow LAN port with the Ethernet cable.
- Turn off Wi‑Fi on the laptop.
- Open a couple of websites and tell me if it stays stable.
If possible, try one more payment while the laptop stays plugged in.
Laptop wired works fine; pages load fast. Two test payments approved. Readers seem stable for the last 5 minutes.
Brilliant—connection looks steady now. I’ve logged “router reboot resolved intermittent terminal drops” on your Urban Deli – King’s Road account. No ticket needed. I’ll keep an eye on the line for the next hour.
If it blips again, reply “HELP” and I’ll escalate to our on‑call team 24/7. Good luck with close!
2. User reports outage; bot correlates multi-branch issue, opens carrier ticket CARR-482761, sends ETAs, and confirms restoration with proactive updates.
Hi, our internet just dropped at FreshMart King’s Road. Tills can’t take cards. Can you help?
Hi Sarah — I’ve pulled up FreshMart King’s Road from your number. Let’s check basics while I run a live status check.
- Are the power and broadband lights on?
- Any cables recently moved?
I’ll keep you posted. We’re 24/7.
Power’s fine. Broadband light is blinking red. We tried one reboot.
Thanks. I’m seeing fresh reports from your Camden and Clerkenwell branches in the past 3 minutes, pointing to an upstream carrier fault.
I’ve opened a carrier ticket with consolidated evidence: CARR-482761. I’m sharing this same reference with each site manager. No need to chase—we’ll update you.
Tip: use cash or a mobile hotspot for card terminals if possible.
Update on CARR-482761: the carrier found a fibre break near Chelsea. Engineers are en route. Current ETA to restore: 45–60 minutes.
I’ll message again when they arrive on site.
Thanks. Please keep me updated for all affected sites.
Quick update on CARR-482761: engineers are now on site splicing fibre. Revised ETA: about 25 minutes.
King’s Road, Camden, and Clerkenwell are all covered under this single reference.
Good news: services are back up across King’s Road, Camden, and Clerkenwell. CARR-482761 has been resolved by the carrier.
Can you confirm card payments are working again your side?
Yes, we’re online and card terminals are working. Thank you!
Brilliant. I’ve logged the timeline in your portal and we’ll monitor stability for 24 hours. If anything blips, just message here.
Have a smooth day.
3. Regional manager verifies new store services; bot checks status, suggests switch power-cycle, confirms healthy, notifies team, and logs transcript to CRM.
Morning, this is Alex from North Region. Checking Store 214 (High Street) is ready for tomorrow’s opening. Can you confirm internet and phones?
Good morning, Alex! I’ve matched your number to City Bakes Ltd, Store 214 – High Street.
Running a quick live check on fibre broadband and phones now…
Shall I log this pre‑opening check to the CRM?
Yes, please log it. Any issues so far?
All set to log—done.
Initial results: broadband healthy; 4 of 5 phones online; the back‑office switch looks sleepy.
During setup, please power‑cycle the small 8‑port switch by the router: switch off, wait 10 seconds, switch on.
I’m by the rack now. Turning it off… waiting… back on.
Perfect, thanks. I’ll recheck the site—this can take 2–3 minutes. I’ll update you as soon as it settles.
Great news: all 5 phones are registered, internet is stable, and the switch shows a clean connection. Failover is on standby.
Store 214 is ready. Want me to notify the opening team and close this check?
Yes, please notify them. Anything else I should do?
Done—team notified, and this transcript is logged to the CRM for audit.
Keep the router and switch powered overnight. We’re here 24/7, and I can raise a ticket if anything changes.
Good luck with the opening!
4. District manager reports evening slowdowns; bot empathizes, checks status, opens high-priority ticket, brings live specialist who deploys mitigation and updates.
I’m the North district manager. For the third night in a row your service is crawling every evening. Card machines are timing out and stores are fuming. Fix this tonight.
I’m really sorry — I can hear how frustrating this is. I’ve pulled up your account from your mobile number: 12 shops in North District.
Live check shows repeat slowdowns 18:45–21:30 across multiple sites; no outage, but heavy evening congestion in your area.
I’ve raised high‑priority ticket INC-58421 and flagged this for immediate attention — our system alerted me as soon as you messaged. A live specialist is joining here within minutes.
Quick confirm: is it mainly card payments and Wi‑Fi? Please don’t reboot anything yet.
Yes, payments and Wi‑Fi. Oak Road and Riverside are the worst. And don’t tell me to reboot — we’ve done that all week.
Sam (Live Specialist): Thanks for bearing with us. We’ve confirmed evening congestion with our carrier; capacity upgrade is scheduled overnight (from 01:00).
Mitigation for tonight: we’ll switch payment terminals to 4G backup 18:30–22:00 and pause non‑essential updates so tills stay fast.
Do you want this at all 12 sites or just Oak Road/Riverside? Ticket INC-58421. Carrier ref C-77193. I’ll update every 15 minutes.
Do it for all 12. Please keep me posted. This can’t hit us again tomorrow evening.
Sam: Understood. Enabling backup now — Oak Road and Riverside first, then the rest. Expect payments to stabilise within 5 minutes.
I’m setting an evening alert and requesting a permanent capacity change for tomorrow. I’ll confirm once all sites are done.
Update: Backup is active at all 12 sites. Card payments are back under 1s; queues are clearing at Oak Road and Riverside.
Wi‑Fi may feel slower at two stores for now — we’re prioritising tills. Next update at 19:50. We’re on this 24/7.
5. Branch loses connectivity during weekend update; bot confirms regional event, opens ticket, gives offline checklist, provides 30‑minute updates, restores service, shares summary.
Morning, our Manchester Deansgate store just lost internet. Tills can’t connect. Is there an outage?
Hi Sarah — Indigo Business Support here. I’ve pulled up NorthStar Retail, Deansgate, from your number.
I’m checking live status… Yes: our status dashboard shows a regional maintenance event in the North West. You’re included.
Expected impact: brief loss of service while updates apply. Current ETA: 60–90 minutes.
Would you like me to open a ticket and share a simple offline trading checklist?
Yes please. Open a ticket and send the checklist—we need to keep trading.
All set. Ticket INC-48273 opened; carrier case CR-2198. I’ll update you every 30 minutes.
Offline trading checklist:
- If you have a 4G router, ensure it’s powered and signal lights are solid.
- Reboot the main router once: power off 30s, then on.
- Use phone authorisations for cards; accept cash where possible.
- Note manual receipts; batch when back online.
- Keep one till on a mobile hotspot if needed.
We have a 4G backup but it hasn’t kicked in. Should I reboot?
Yes—one controlled reboot is safe.
- Power off the main router for 30 seconds, then back on.
- Check the 4G unit: look for solid signal bars.
- Plug a till or laptop into LAN 1 and try a website.
- If still offline, put one till on a phone hotspot.
I’m watching the line while you try this.
Update: Carrier confirms the regional change is still in progress. Engineers are rolling back part of today’s update.
Plain English: they’re undoing a change that briefly knocked some sites offline. Your branch is affected.
Estimated time to restore: about 45 minutes. No action needed your side right now. I’ll keep checking.
Thanks. We’ll use cash and phone auth for now.
Progress update: half the region is back. I’m seeing brief responses from your line—good sign.
Expect stable service in roughly 20 minutes. Please keep your backup approach running until I confirm.
Good news: your circuit has been stable for the last 3 minutes.
Could you try loading a webpage on a till and confirm it works?
We’re back online—tills connected and payments going through. Thank you.
Brilliant. I’ll keep monitoring for 10 minutes, then close the ticket.
Post‑incident summary:
- Cause: regional carrier update during weekend window; partial rollback required.
- Impact: Deansgate offline 1h 15m.
- Actions: Ticket INC-48273, carrier CR-2198; single safe reboot; offline trading used.
- Fix: rollback completed; line stable.
Full report: INC-48273. If this becomes urgent, our on‑call team is alerted automatically.
