Today’s contact center has truly become the center of business operations for many companies. In fact, most contact centers are the heart and soul of the company and function as the primary means of interaction between the business and the customer. Not only are there a number of business processes that are handled by the contact center, but communication also happens across a multitude of platforms such as phone, live chat, social media and instant messaging. Because of improved technologies, the contact center has transformed the way we do business, however, now there is a growing technology that could possibly transform the contact center.
AI AND THE CONTACT CENTER
AI or Artificial Intelligence is not exactly new technology, but it has been improved upon greatly since it was first introduced and the efficiencies of it have seen a rapid improvement in recent years. In an article published last year in Customer Think, it was noted that many companies are beginning to rely more on AI for basic customer queries that can be quickly and easily answered. Here is one such example:
Facebook, Apple, Microsoft and Google are all building virtual assistants and chatbots that can respond to voice queries and engage in a natural dialog with users. Even Taco Bell has a TacoBot that helps customers place pickup orders for select menu items.
As the responsibilities of the contact center continue to grow, the need for greater efficiency grows with it. This is where AI can really make a difference because one of its strengths is answering very common customer questions. An efficient bot that can successfully field many customer questions frees up the contact center to handle more complex customer issues. Additionally, an AI bot offers the added benefit of cost effectiveness since it can be available 24/7/365 and doesn’t require salary, benefits or vacation time.
Will AI technology eventually replace the live contact center agent? Many believe that it will, however here at Centris, we believe it’s wise to proceed with caution. Here’s why.
THE PITFALLS OF AI
As contact centers become more dependent on AI, the pitfalls will become more apparent, especially if the bot is required to perform more complex tasks. The more complex the tasks then the greater chance of error. For example, perhaps a customer calls and the bot routes them to the wrong help desk or the customer issue is beyond the capability of the bot to understand the request. These are situations that can quickly escalate to a high level of frustration for a customer, who likely already has a problem that needs resolving, thus paving the way toward a very disgruntled customer who may decide to take their business elsewhere.
Leaning heavily on AI in the contact center requires constant monitoring by the staff to ensure these problems are not happening or quickly “nipping them in the bud” before they escalate. When we begin to factor that into the equation it begs the question: “are we really improving efficiencies with AI?”
We appreciate and embrace technology here at Centris and we appreciate the efficiencies that it has brought to our industry. However, we also believe strongly in the human factor and feel there is no substitute for human empathy and compassion. So, while we remain open and optimistic about the future of AI in the contact center, we will continue to strive to keep the customer experience at the heart of everything we do. If that means keeping human agents who require salaries, benefits and time off, then we’ll gladly keep them if it means providing an excellent customer experience 24/7.
If you’re looking for a contact center to help improve the efficiencies of your business, Contact Us. We’d welcome the opportunity to learn more about your business and discuss how Centris can help.
