In our 24/7, always-on world, contact centers are expected to provide immediate assistance, no matter when the requests come in. But how can you ensure that you have the resources to provide the best service possible when everyone is facing unprecedented labor shortages?
By turning to artificial intelligence with an authentic human touch.
Today’s customers have little patience for long waits, multiple handoffs and unresolved issues. It only takes one bad experience to send them headed for the hills–or another brand.
Adequate staffing has long been the go-to method for handling call volumes. But the days of readily available employees are gone as contact centers struggle to attract and retain talent.
The solution: a future-forward strategy that maximizes their teams’ capabilities.
A.K.A. AI, or artificial intelligence.
According to Gartner’s 2021 Technology Roadmap Survey, more than 65% of customer service and support leaders are optimistic about the value that AI can provide, and plan to substantially increase their adoption of AI capabilities over the next two years.
Furthermore, new research conducted by The Harris Poll revealed that improved customer experience is now the most frequently cited driver of AI implementation decisions, above cost reduction and the ability to drive top-line revenue.
Advanced technology solutions are not new to the contact center industry; call-routing and interactive voice response (IVR) systems have been in use for decades. But today’s AI-powered options are taking the customer experience to new heights.
Myth vs. Reality
When people hear the term “artificial intelligence,” scenes from the movie The Terminator often come to mind. But AI reality is very different from AI myth. According to Seth Earley, author, founder and CEO of Earley Information Science, here are five common myths about artificial intelligence followed by AI truths:
- Myth 1: AI algorithms can magically make sense of any and all of your messy data.
- Reality: AI is not “load and go,” and the quality of the data is more important than the algorithm.
Translation: Regardless of any AI interaction, good data in means good data out.
- Myth 2: You need data scientists, machine learning experts and huge budgets to use AI for the business.
- Reality: Many tools are increasingly available to business users and don’t require Google-sized investments.
Translation: There are AI solutions available to fit any business and any budget.
- Myth 3: “Cognitive AI” technologies can understand and solve new problems the way the human brain can.
- Reality: “Cognitive” technologies can’t solve problems they weren’t designed to solve.
Translation: AI technology performs according to design.
- Myth 4: Machine learning using “neural nets” means that computers can learn the way humans learn.
- Reality: Neural nets are powerful, but they are a long way from achieving the complexity of the human brain or mimicking human capabilities.
Translation: You don’t have to worry about computers taking over your contact center.
- Myth 5: AI will displace humans and make contact center jobs obsolete.
- Reality: AI is no different from other technological advances in that it helps humans become more effective and processes become more efficient.
Translation: AI will not impact the need for skilled and talented call center representatives. In fact, AI will enhance their superpowers while improving the performance of the contact center and increasing customer satisfaction.
Taking Your Contact Center to the Next Level
There are many ways that AI can strengthen your team’s performance and improve your processes.
- Personalization – Tailoring the experience based on information that the platform has learned about the caller/user
- AI-Based Customer Routing – The ability to match customers with the best resource or agent
- Chatbots and Conversational Assistants – Interacting with customers, either by text or voice, taking care of simple and/or repetitive issues, and freeing up contact center representatives to focus on more complex assistance needs
- Workforce Management – Data analysis capabilities that help predict when agents and resources are needed
- Post Call Wrap-Up – AI assists representatives in entering call-action summaries and wrap-up codes
By leveraging AI systems and solutions, you are not taking anything away from your human team members. Instead, you are empowering them to raise the bar to meet and exceed customer expectations by streamlining processes and tasks, which allows them to spend more time on providing the best service possible. Talk about a win-win.
Interested in learning what a “human-AI team” might look like in your organization? We have the information (and solutions) you need. Contact us today to schedule a demo.
