Workforce Management Featured Article
AI Already Improving Customer Service and Transforming the Call Center
Of all the industries that stand to benefit from AI, customer service is perhaps the most uniquely suited to the technology. Call center agents in the U.S. have one of the highest turnover rates of all professions, at more than double the average of other jobs. The scope of their jobs changes significantly, however, when AI enters the picture, and the entire contact center benefits from happier agents and increased productivity.
The biggest complaints among contact center agents include repetitive and boring work, lack of career advancement opportunities and rewards for a job well done, and inflexible scheduling and working hours. AI offsets all of those issues, handling the routine and unchallenging part of the job and freeing up agents to take on more advanced tasks.
According to research from Gartner (News - Alert), more than 85 percent of all customer interactions will be handled without a human agent by 2020. That means that the approximately 2.8 million U.S. customer service agents will experience drastic changes in their jobs, with the potential for significant improvements. AI is slated to transform customer service, improving efficiencies and productivity and increasing the transaction volume for all customer interactions.
MIT (News - Alert) Technology Review Insights reports that 90 percent of global companies surveyed are already integrating AI into customer service and interactions, with exceptional results. Of those businesses using AI, 90 percent reported faster complaint resolution, and more than 80 percent experienced enhanced call volume processing. Approximately 25 to 50 percent of all inquiries are now being resolved through automated, AI-driven channels. These advances have enabled human agents to focus on higher-level tasks to ensure customers are appropriately engaged and satisfied.
AI stands to transform customer service but also has far-reaching implications for the entire contact center industry. Instead of being viewed as a replacement for human agents, AI technology and solutions can serve to augment the role of overworked and understimulated call center employees, freeing them up for more important and challenging tasks.
To learn more about how AI is transforming customer service and the call center industry at large, TMC (News - Alert) is hosting a Future of Work Expo in Fort Lauderdale, FL. The event, which will take place from February 12-14, 2020, will explore how AI and machine learning may be used to improve business communications, collaboration, sales and marketing and contact centers and customer service.
Edited by Maurice Nagle