Customer Service
AI and automation reshaping the future of call centre operations
Have you ever wondered how your customer service experience has changed over the last few years? You can often find answers to your queries on your own with self-service options. You have multiple ways to connect with the customer support agents around the clock, the wait times are low, and the whole process feels surprisingly smooth.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) have played a pivotal role in this change, as customer support automation has taken over to help enhance customer experience. The days of customer support agents manually juggling multiple calls are long gone. AI and ML’s abilities to automate repetitive tasks and process vast amounts of data have resulted in more efficient operations, enhanced agent productivity, and improved customer satisfaction.
Leveraging AI in customer experience management is reshaping the future of call centres and customer support operations, ushering in the era of enhanced customer experience, streamlined operations, and improved efficiency.
AI-powered customer service solutions
AI-powered customer service solutions have transformed the landscape of the contact centre industry dramatically. From AI-powered personalisation and 24/7 support for customers to real-time support and personalised training to support agents, AI and ML are reshaping industry norms and setting new benchmarks in call centre operations.
As AI implementation in call centres continues to increase productivity, the call centre AI market is expected to grow at a CAGR of 19.8%, from $1.8 billion in 2023 to $8.6 billion in 2032. Here are the most popular customer support automation technologies reshaping the customer service experience today:
Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs)
Starting with Interactive Voice Response (IVR) menus for automatic call routing, customer support automation has evolved to Intelligent Virtual Assistants (IVAs). IVAs go beyond smart call routing; they learn from customer interactions and evolve to respond to customer queries and make decisions. Operating in real-time alongside human agents, IVAs augment their capabilities for a more engaged and empathetic customer experience.
Predictive analytics tools
Predictive analytics tools look at various data points from customer interactions, financial transactions, demographics, and preferences to offer unique insights into future customer behaviours. From forecasting call volumes to identifying proactive retention strategies and sales opportunities, they make sure customer support agents are well-equipped to effectively handle every customer interaction.
Speech analytics solutions
AI-powered speech analytics solutions have transformed call analysis and performance review. They have taken manual elements out of the call analysis processes to make quality assessment equitable and efficient, leveraging natural language processing tools to help identify training needs for individual agents.
Sentiment analysis tools
Sentiment analysis is leveraging AI in customer experience management to automate customer feedback analysis and offer companies deeper insights into customer opinions and perceptions. These can be the key to identifying opportunities for service refinement and, ultimately, improved customer experience.
Personalised customer interactions
AI makes hyper-personalisation possible, sifting through customer data, preferences, and past interactions to offer support agents real-time support during calls. This can also help companies customise their services or personalise retention strategies to create an exceptional customer experience.
Challenges and considerations in customer support automation
Despite the tremendous benefits of incorporating AI and customer support automation, there are many implementation challenges to navigate, such as:
- High initial investment and ongoing maintenance costs are often the biggest deterrent when integrating AI solutions in customer support operations.
- AI-powered customer support automation solutions raise data privacy and security compliance concerns as call centres often deal with sensitive customer information.
- Merging AI and automation solutions with existing systems can be a challenge when it comes to system compatibility and communication.
- Customer support automation can shift workforce dynamics, requiring meticulous planning and training initiatives to help employees adapt to the transitioning roles.
- Striking a balance between AI autonomy and human oversight for enhanced efficiency while maintaining the nuanced understanding and empathy of human agents can be a challenge.
- Addressing ethical considerations and public perceptions, not only around responsible use of AI and customer data but around job displacement as well, becomes necessary.
- With technologies evolving at a breakneck speed, staying current, adapting to changing trends, and upgrading AI capabilities become crucial to remain agile and competitive.
Understanding these challenges and strategising to overcome them becomes crucial for contemporary call centres to fully leverage automation and AI capabilities in managing customer experience.
How can Infosys BPM help leverage automation in customer support?
With customers at the heart of any business, customer support automation has become a key source of strategic advantage for businesses by helping them enhance customer experience. Infosys BPM contact centre consulting bring together domain expertise, industry best practices, and next-gen tools to help companies align their customer care processes with strategic objectives.
