By Andy Arnold, Head of Solutions, Collaboration at ARO 

Over the last 18 months, one topic has featured in almost every conversation I’ve had with ARO customers: how do we improve service, increase productivity, and meet growing expectations without continually increasing costs?

What’s interesting is that the conversation around AI has matured significantly.

A few years ago, organisations were asking whether AI had a place in their business. Today, the question is far more practical. Leaders want to know where AI can make the biggest impact, what problems it can solve, and how quickly it can deliver measurable value.

At ARO, we see this across housing, healthcare, education and commercial organisations. Whether the priority is reducing pressure on contact centres, improving patient or tenant communications, supporting hybrid teams or making customer engagement more consistent, the starting point is the same: AI has to solve a real operational challenge..

Where AI Is Delivering the Most Value

The businesses deriving the greatest value from AI are not necessarily the ones investing the most. 

They are the ones applying it strategically. 

Consider the challenges many organisations face today:

  • A housing provider may be handling increasing volumes of tenant enquiries while operating with limited resources. 
  • An NHS organisation may be looking to improve patient communications without adding pressure to already stretched teams. 
  • A university may need to support students across multiple channels while maintaining a consistent experience. 
  • A customer service team may be dealing with repetitive enquiries that prevent employees from focusing on more complex interactions. 

In each of these scenarios, the objective is not to implement AI for the sake of it.  

The objective is to improve service delivery.  

AI simply becomes an enabler.  

AI in Communications: UCaaS, CCaaS, Employee Experience and Customer Engagement 

For many organisations, the biggest opportunity sits within their communications environment. UCaaS and CCaaS platforms are already central to how teams collaborate, how customers get support, and how service experiences are delivered across channels. AI can make those interactions more intelligent by helping route enquiries, summarise conversations, surface knowledge, automate routine tasks and give employees faster access to the information they need.

That is where ARO’s collaboration and customer experience expertise becomes important. The value is not simply in switching on an AI feature. It is in understanding how voice, contact centre, messaging, Microsoft Teams, knowledge management and workflow tools connect, then shaping them around the experience an organisation wants to create for its customers and employees.

Looking Ahead: Turning AI Potential into Practical Impact

The communications landscape is entering its next phase. The organisations that gain the greatest advantage from AI will be those that identify where friction exists, understand where their people are under the greatest pressure, and apply AI to improve real customer and employee experiences.

At ARO, our role is to help organisations make that connection between technology and outcome. Through our work across collaboration, UCaaS, CCaaS, Microsoft Teams, contact centre platforms and managed services, we help customers understand where AI can reduce manual effort, improve responsiveness, strengthen engagement and support more productive teams.

Exploring where AI could create the biggest impact in your organisation? Speak to the ARO team about how AI could support your communications strategy, from improving contact centre performance and customer engagement to helping employees work more effectively across the tools they already use.