AI Is Transforming Customer Support at Virgin Media O2
Virgin Media O2 has revealed how artificial intelligence is quietly making customer service less painful. By reducing unnecessary call transfers, the company says it saved customers more than 400,000 hours on the phone in 2025 alone.
The improvement comes as part of a wider push to remove long-standing frustrations and make it easier for customers to get help without being passed from team to team.
Over One Million Fewer Call Transfers
During 2025, :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0} reduced the number of calls transferred between agents by 1.3 million compared with the previous year.
That single change added up to a time saving of around 1.45 billion seconds for customers. In real terms, that equals more than 24 million minutes or over 400,000 hours no longer spent listening to hold music.
Why Call Transfers Were Such a Problem
Traditionally, customers calling Virgin Media or O2 were asked to press a number on their phone to explain what they needed help with.
If their issue did not neatly fit one of the options, or if they had more than one problem to discuss, they often ended up being transferred between teams. That experience was frustrating for customers and inefficient for staff.
How AI Is Changing the Call Experience
Now, most customers are invited to explain the reason for their call in their own words right at the start.
AI technology is used to understand the intent behind the request and route the call directly to an agent who can actually help. This makes it far more likely that customers get the right support first time.
Virgin Media O2 plans to roll this AI-led system out across all customer journeys over the coming months.
Smarter Teams and Better Training
The technology changes were backed up by a major internal review.
Using data and call transfer heatmaps, the company identified where customers were most often being passed between teams. Team structures were simplified, and around 5,000 support agents were cross-skilled so they could handle a wider range of queries.
The aim was simple. Fewer handovers and fewer reasons for customers to repeat themselves.
Complaints Drop Sharply
These improvements appear to be paying off.
According to the latest figures from :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}, complaints about Virgin Media O2 have fallen by more than 50 percent over the last 12 months.
Virgin Media O2 Responds
Alan Stott, Director of Customer Contact at Virgin Media O2, said the company wants to make support as simple and efficient as possible.
He explained that nobody enjoys spending time on the phone to their provider, especially when they are transferred between teams, and said AI is helping customers reach the right people much faster.
The company has confirmed it will continue investing in both staff training and technology throughout 2026 and beyond.
Basically…
Virgin Media O2 has used AI and better-trained staff to massively cut down call transfers. That means less time on hold, fewer repeated explanations, and a smoother experience for customers.
It is a good example of AI being used to fix everyday annoyances rather than adding new ones.
