Yes, for the body of the call. The AI reaches the customer who has raised a port-out request, hears the reason in their language, makes the offer your rules allow, and records the decision. A person steps in when the customer escalates, when the reason is a billing dispute the AI cannot resolve, or when the customer asks. On an Airtel port-out programme in Bihar, 23 to 30 June 2026, the save rate was 31.9% among the 22,946 customers who engaged and reached a decision: 539 saves.
The call
A port-out request is a short window. The customer has decided enough to generate the request and not enough to have moved. The AI calls inside that window, in the customer's language, asks why (network, price, a bad experience, a family plan elsewhere), and responds with the offer your rules allow for that reason: a plan change, a data top-up, a credit, a visit from a technician. It records the decision and the reason, which is the data your retention team did not have before, because nobody was reaching most of these customers at all.
The number and its denominator
On the Airtel MNP programme in Bihar, 23 to 30 June 2026, 22,946 customers were in scope and 539 were saved, which is 31.9% of those who engaged with the call and reached a decision. Many did not connect or did not engage, so the share of everyone dialled is lower. We publish it this way because a retention head will ask, and because the connect rate is its own problem with its own fixes.
When a person steps in
The customer escalating is the first moment (the tone turns, or they ask for a manager). The second is a dispute the AI cannot settle from the record, usually billing. The third is the customer asking for a person. The handover is on the same call, with the reason and the offer already made on the agent's screen, so the person does not re-open the whole conversation; they start from the offer that was refused. Retention is one of the places where that continuity shows up in the number, because an escalation that waits for a callback is a port-out that completes.
What to set before the pilot
- The offer ladder by reason, and the ceiling the AI may offer without a person.
- The escalation triggers, in words your team would recognise.
- The baseline: last month's save rate on the same queue, same denominator.
- The connect window: how soon after the port-out request the call goes, and how many attempts.
Questions people ask
Can AI handle telecom retention calls?
Yes for the reason, the offer and the decision, in the customer's language. A person steps in on escalations, unresolved billing disputes, or when the customer asks.
What save rate has AI retention achieved?
On an Airtel port-out programme in Bihar, 23 to 30 June 2026: 31.9% among the 22,946 customers who engaged and reached a decision, 539 saves. Results depend on the offer ladder and the book.
Is the save rate a share of all customers called?
No. It is a share of customers who engaged and reached a decision. The share of everyone dialled is lower, because connect rate is a separate problem.