Workforce Management Featured Article
Automated Coaching is the Next Phase of Workforce Management
One of the most fascinating and effective ways AI technology is already being used in the customer service space is as a workforce coach. AI applications are being integrated with contact center performance software and are used to help agents as they deal with customer issues. By acting as a “coach” to agents, AI can push valuable information to them that will in turn help customers. But it goes further than that, analyzing customers’ reactions and emotions and prompting agents to respond accordingly, all with the intent of better serving customers and improving interactions.
Cogito is one AI solution that is doing just that, according to a recent Time article. The program listens to the tone, pitch and word frequency of customers and is designed to detect issues like customer irritation or a customer service agent who is taking too long to respond or sounds unpleasant. If an issue is detected, the offering displays a notification on the agent’s computer to coach them on how to solve it, for instance, by slowing down or speeding up their pace.
In use by more than three dozen call centers in the U.S., the offering has been lauded by clients and contact center agents alike. Cogito describes its offering as providing agents with a “behavioral nudge” to change their approach to better serve customers. The technology also enables agents to review their recent conversations between calls to get a sense of where they may need to improve.
Monet Software (News - Alert) is another company using AI and analytics to help coach contact center agents and improve the customer experience. The company’s call center speech analytics technology is designed to help businesses transform voice data from customer interactions into business intelligence with the goal of improving agent performance and sales effectiveness.
The solution uses phonetics to track interactions and group calls that fall into specific categories. Calls may be evaluated in near real time, with the ability to search on key phrases and mine actionable data from customer interactions. It also offers an intuitive user interface for displaying information in graphs and reports, as well as filtering and manipulating data.
The next phase of workforce management is automation, and AI-based coaching solutions are the first step in that evolution. To provide more information about how automation and AI are transforming workforce management, 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
