The rapid rise in AI in customer care is impossible to ignore. From customer-friendly tools such as chatbots to new AI agents offering without instructing them to provide proven features such as booking and booking scheduling, businesses are rapidly embracing AI technology to reduce costs while improving self-service and agent productivity. Arly AI bots have often been limited and cumbersome, but today's advanced solutions combine conversational and generated AI to change customer experiences (CX).
According to the newly released one Five9 Business Leaders CX ReportOver 80% of the business leaders surveyed deploy AI in their contact centers. One of the most widely used solutions is an agent assist tool that provides the following best action recommendations and coaching, and an AI-powered workforce optimization (WFO) tool that is designed to improve customer experience and agent performance while reducing costs.
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Source: Five9 Business Leaders CX Report
AI unwilling
Despite many benefits, a significant portion of the contact center has yet to take the AI plunge. Research shows that costs are the main factor that hinders AI deployment. Many AI solutions are difficult to predict costs, particularly for generation AI, using usage-based pricing (by resolution, per interaction, per token, etc.). AI may be cost-effective in small amounts, but these costs can escalate quickly with high interaction amounts.
Another gating factor is the lack of internal staff resources. Many organizations do not have enough employees with the expertise needed to deploy and manage AI technology. Without this internal expertise, businesses may struggle to identify the best AI solution for their specific needs, understand the potential impact of AI, and ensure data privacy and security compliance. (I wrote it The importance of training in the AI adoption program Early this year. )
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AI-helps both agents and customers
AI is used to enhance both customer self-service and agent support through customer journeys. Survey respondents overwhelmingly agree that AI plays a valuable role in improving contact center performance, particularly by enabling self-service, providing real-time agent assistance, and supporting quality control.
Of the current respondents using AI in their contact centres, 94% use AI to assist agents, interact directly with customers, and 96% use them for customer self-service.
Customer-oriented AI includes chatbots, intelligent virtual agents (IVAs), and AI agents that provide faster, more natural self-service interactions.
Includes agent support and augmentation.
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Agent Assist will provide real-time guidance and proposed solutions or the next best action, leading agents to provide the right answers and information to their customers.
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Automate after-call tasks, including summarizing and summarizing interactions
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AI-enabled coaching and training: AI can identify and identify situations where agents need help during rewarding interactions, provide real-time coaching when needed, or assist with agent training to improve agent performance.
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AI-enabled workforce optimization (WFO): AI streamlines operations and improves agent performance while increasing scheduling flexibility. AI also improves the QM process by listening and scoring 100% of the conversation, highlighting areas for review and improvement.
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Real-time translation and interaction transcription help businesses support their global customer base and provide support to non-native speaking customers. This is especially useful for hospitals and medical institutions.
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Intelligently route customers to the best agents to address their problems
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Prove the value of AI
AI has already proven its value. Over three-quarters of business leaders surveyed said they are expected or exceeded expectations of AI deployment. As adoption expands, support agents, supervisors, analysts and customers continue to deliver value as well. Companies that have not yet deployed AI risks are lagging behind their more innovative competitors.
When implemented in the right use cases, and guidance from vendors or integration partners, AI can provide rapid ROI and measurable business benefits. Furthermore, the more AI is used throughout the operation and customer journey, the more value will be provided, especially over time.
Note: I will be joining Five9 to discuss important findings from the Business Leader CX Survey. Webinar “How Business Leaders Make a Mistake About CX and Fix It” on 1pm PDT on Thursday, July 10th. This highlights the disconnect between what business leaders think their customers want and what they actually value.
