Artificial Intelligence is evolving at a rapid rate and popping up in every aspect of human life. While certain aspects of AI are still being perfected, like generative AI and its tendency to add and subtract fingers at will, there are AI applications that have been used to innovate successfully for years. The contact center space has been one of the industries that has benefited the most from these advancements. Improving customer experiences (CX) has been happening with the help of AI in ways that you may not have considered before.
In this article, we’ll discuss some of the ways that companies who embrace AI are enhancing CX in contact centers:
Empowering Self-Service
Don’t underestimate your customers and what they’re able to do when you give them the right tools. AI-powered IVR applications and chatbots can handle routine inquiries, freeing up your human agents for more complex issues. They can be trained to offer multiple languages and can use conversational AI to make interactions as natural as possible. Customers can seek out answers to frequently asked questions and solve simple problems themselves without waiting on hold to talk to a customer service representative (CSR).
Agent Assist
While self-service AI options help CSRs by keeping the phone lines clear enough to deliver unrushed service, help for CSRs doesn’t have to stop there. AI can provide real-time guidance to agents during calls. Whether it’s suggestions of knowledge based on company articles, recommending next steps, or even analyzing customer sentiment to help tailor the interactions to encourage positive outcomes. Genesys’ Agent Assist does all of that and more, ensuring customer experiences are consistent and trend positively.
Improved Resolution Rates
We believe that technology could never fully replace a human’s touch from customer experiences, but one aspect that we must do our best to avoid: human error. AI can supplement by analyzing vast amounts of data to identify patterns and trends, helping agents resolve issues faster and helping managers notice problems they might have overlooked before. Machine learning can be used to personalize support at every level, offering relevant solutions based on customer history and the issue at hand. With AI text analytics, transcription, and sentiment analysis, reports can be issued in seconds that would take CSR/managers weeks to produce.
24/7 Availability
The benefit of having 24/7 availability for your customers cannot be understated. Customers expect to be able to interact with your organization at all hours of the day. Depending on what services you offer, it might not make sense to have CSRs available 24/7, but that doesn’t mean you have to shut down all operations after 5pm. With AI at the helm, you can offer customers the flexibility to get help whenever they need it.
These AI-powered solutions aren’t there to replace human interaction entirely, but rather, empower agents and improve customer satisfaction. In an article on Genesys.com, it is said that “sixty-nine percent of companies say they are planning to spend more on AI to improve customer satisfaction; 26% aim to use it to reduce employee attrition.” It’s also worth noting that while AI enhances your customers’ experiences, it also enables your organization to reduce costs. By automating tasks and keeping phone lines free, AI can help contact centers reduce operational costs.
Interested in learning how AI can be tailored to your business? Contact us here.