Orange deploys AI agents for billing support queries

Orange Group has started deploying AI agents to handle billing and account support queries, with the system already live in several countries.

The telecoms operator is using Algolia's Agent Studio across its business-to-business and consumer operations in more than 26 countries. Each agent has controls over which subjects it can address and how much it can cost to run. Rather than relying on a model's general knowledge, the agents draw answers from billing records, tariffs, company policies and other internal data.

The move extends Orange's existing use of Algolia technology, already deployed across 24 markets in online shops, support websites and TV apps. According to Orange, those search deployments have delivered a 63% increase in order rates, a 14% rise in click-through rates with neural search, a 53% reduction in no-results rates, a seven-point increase in net promoter score in customer support and a 7% increase in add-to-cart rates.

Orange is introducing the agents into regulated support conversations that can move across mobile, web and TV services. This requires the system to reflect customer context, business rules and knowledge content while staying within defined operational and financial limits.

Governance focus

Under the setup, each AI agent is configured separately, allowing Orange to define the boundaries of sensitive customer interactions. That means every response can be traced back to a specific bill record, tariff or policy.

The rollout comes as telecoms groups and other large consumer-facing businesses test whether generative AI can be used in customer service without creating compliance or cost problems. In Orange's case, the technology is being applied in account and billing support, where errors or unsupported responses can carry regulatory and reputational risks.

Nicolas Coudert, Digital Factory Director, Orange Group, said: "An effective search engine should do more than return a list of pages; it should also provide a direct and relevant answer. In a complex digital environment, responding instantly improves the customer experience, which drives higher satisfaction and stronger engagement. Algolia pairs reliable, high-performance services with a steady cadence of innovation, such as Agent Studio, that we can integrate quickly and put in front of customers immediately."

The agent rollout builds on Orange's earlier work with Algolia's search products. It began with InstantSearch and later added filters and facets, AI-driven synonyms, Dynamic Re-Ranking, Collections, Query Categorization, AI Recommendations and personalisation tools.

Because Orange has indexed its content on the same platform, it can test new functions in one market before extending them more widely. The same structure now underpins conversational support, recommendations and search, giving the company a single layer to control and measure customer interactions across channels.

Wider rollout

The system is already operating in several Orange countries, and the company plans to expand it further based on results. Orange is also considering broader uses for the technology, including deeper integration across its digital services and use in TV environments.

It is also experimenting with more personalised support and shopping journeys, including recommendation tools and shopping assistants linked to customer service interactions. Among the areas being explored is whether an agent can add items to a basket and eventually place an order during a support or sales exchange.

"Orange shows what enterprise AI looks like past the demo stage: specialized agents working one conversation together, so a customer never has to know whether they've asked a sales question or a billing question. What makes that safe in a regulated industry is governance with every agent grounded in Orange's own data, bounded by explicit rules, capped on cost. Accountable agents are the ones that get deployed," Stephen Lynch, Chief Executive Officer, Algolia, said.