AI Technology Will Improve the Workplace for Customer Service Agents

There has been a lot of discussion this year about how AI is transforming the customer service industry and contact centers at large. Indeed, AI and virtual assistant technologies go a long way toward better meeting customer needs in an immediate way, through whatever channel the customer prefers. But one of the less talked about benefits of AI technology is just how much it helps (not replaces) human customer service agents. Indeed, AI is transforming the entire workplace and has the potential to completely shake up the customer service industry as a profession.

Customer service agents in all spheres complain of boring and repetitive work, lack of motivation and rewards for their efforts, and the absence of a career path that includes more challenging and meaningful work. Indeed, U.S. call center agents have one of the highest turnover rates at more than double the average of other professions. AI technology, despite some common misconceptions, directly addresses those complaints and can offer huge benefits to human customer service professionals.

That has certainly been the case for Delta Air Lines, which has been trialing an AI-fueled virtual assistant solution with Apple (News - Alert) in its global contact centers. While one of the main goals of the technology has been to better serve Delta’s customers, the company also wanted to help its 7,000 customer service agents. The technology has offset some of the massive workload for human agents, freeing them up to better interact with customers and address more complex and intricate issues that the AI can’t handle. The result is faster service for customers and happier agents who are given more responsibilities and more challenging work.

AI also benefits customer service agents by collecting giant amounts of data about customers and making it readily available as an interaction occurs. Agents can view customer history and past issues and resolutions immediately using AI tools, without the need to place customers on hold while they pour through databases searching for answers. This enables human agents to perform their jobs more quickly and efficiently, leading to happier customers and agents alike.

Perhaps one of the biggest complaints among customer service agents is having to deal with angry customers who already have a question or problem, which has perhaps been compounded by being placed on hold for a lengthy time. AI can play a major role in this scenario, better routing customers to the correct type of agent right out of the gate, and providing that agent with the appropriate background information and tools to better help the customer.

AI has the potential to completely transform the customer service agent experience, as well as improve customer service overall. The technology represents a massive shift in the way customer service has traditionally operated, and opens the door to a complete workplace transformation for agents and managers.

To learn more about how AI is revolutionizing customer service and the workplace for agents, 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