Technology is helping Verizon ride out one of its biggest strikes ever

Verizon's worker strike is about to enter its second week as tens of thousands of employees, outraged about the telecommunication company's efforts to outsource jobs and redeploy labor from one part of the country to another, remain on the picket line. But a decision Verizon made at least two years ago to cut the human out of many customer interactions is blunting some of the strike's effects, company executives say. The technology-driven shift — from hold music and long wait times toward instant, digital self-service — could give Verizon a greater ability to withstand one of the biggest walk-offs in company history. And that may have implications for continuing negotiations between union leaders and management.

In 2014, about 1 in 5 customer service interactions was resolved by customers themselves using Verizon's website or its interactive phone menus, Senior Vice President Tami Erwin said. The figure covers home network and router troubleshooting, as well as requests ranging from billing inquiries to bundling upgrades. Today, even more customers are clearing up their service issues without the aid of a human agent. Customer self-service now accounts for more than 60 percent of all service transactions, Erwin said.