AI-Based Contact Centers for Modern Businesses

Picture this. It’s been a few days since you ordered the much-loved designer handbag online and there’s no sign of the product. You decide to check the status of the order and dial the toll-free number. There’s an endless wait, and obviously, your
excitement soon turns into exasperation in just a fraction of a few minutes.

Here’s where strong and engaging customer service or CX comes into play. It’s true, digital CX has enormous scope. A website is not enough; every brand has to back it up with an online presence that is user-friendly, pleasant, and engaging.

What is Digital CX?

The whole experience your clients enjoy while connecting with your business via your web page or mobile apps is referred to as digital CX. It explains how a customer’s digital engagement affects their experience and impression of your brand.

The majority of interactions occur on your app or website. Yet, platforms such as social networking sites, email, and live chat play a part in how clients interact with your product online.

The Role of AI in Contact Centers  

For the longest time, customer service has been majorly dependent on contact centers, and in the last few years, have dramatically evolved and it is safe to say artificial intelligence had a lot to do with it. The success of contact centers is a combination of key aspects like customer experience, and the role of artificial intelligence and machine intelligence in the customer journey. AI assists with the creation, implementation, consultation, support, training, and other processes in contact centers.

Even though AI is still in its infancy stage and is still a work in progress, it has the potential to revolutionize the way customer service organizations operate right now for several reasons, including its capacity to lower operational costs, personalize the customer experience, deliver actionable analytics, and boost customer agent productivity. Leaders are cognizant of the fact that scaled AI implementation can strengthen corporate culture and increase team productivity.

Recommended: Squashing Long Wait Time & Call Friction – AI’s Role in Transforming Contact Centers

Cost reduction and contact avoidance have been given top priority in customer service for a long time. The atmosphere of today’s contact centers must be more strategic, responsive, and capable of fostering brand identification and client loyalty. This is because of the increased expectations of consumers.

New research conducted by The Harris Poll revealed that improved CX is now the most frequently cited primary driver of AI implementation decisions (53 percent), above cost reduction (cited by 48 percent), and the ability to drive top-line revenue (cited by 39 percent).

Another report by Gartner revealed that AI technologies are expected to boost company productivity by up to 40% by 2035.

The Fragility of CX

In the current situation, when one negative interaction can cause a client to stop doing business with a firm, businesses need to uncover efficiencies that can assist in modernizing their contact centers.

• Companies must change from being sales- or product-centric organizations to supporting organizations that prioritize the customer experience. The hard truth is that clients are impatient, inquisitive, and in need of fast assistance.
• Customers are ready to give up a company after just three subpar support contacts, even when everything is functioning perfectly.
• Approximately 22% of clients reported feeling overburdened and frustrated as a result of lengthy call center wait times, a report by Freshworks predicted.
• Another study by Social Stamina found that roughly 64% of customers anticipate a response on Twitter within an hour of posting.

10 AI-Based Contact Centers to Transform Businesses

The global market for AI technology (AI) in call centers, which was valued at US$1.1 billion in 2020, is anticipated to increase at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 21.5% between 2020 and 2026 to reach a revised size of US$3.5 billion.

AWS Amazon Connect

A wide range of cloud-based AI and machine learning (ML) offerings are accessible from Amazon Web Services (AWS). They enable IT businesses to create their own AI apps because they are made for developers and IT teams.

A collection of pre-configured computer algorithms for CX use cases like self-service, real-time analytics, post-call analytics, and agent assistance are also available through AWS Contact Center Intelligence. They might then easily fit into the current CX technology stack.

Recommended: How is AI Helping Marketers to Conquer Account-Based Marketing

Amazon Connect is a user-friendly, omnichannel cloud contact center that enables businesses to offer excellent customer support at a cheaper cost as an end-to-end solution. A contact center that can assist millions of consumers in seconds can be set up in a matter of minutes.

Google Contact Center AI

Google provides cloud-based AI services for IT teams and programmers, similar to AWS. They are accessible through its Dialogflow CX-based Contact Center AI solution, which delivers conversational AI.

Google Contact Center AI offers to call analysis tools in addition to Dialogflow for customer support in order to gather feedback.

• Exclusive Agents: By giving them access to real-time information, procedures, and turn-by-turn directions, automated systems enable human agents to concentrate on more complex and specialized calls.
• Smooth Interactions with Bots: Create believable user experiences powered by Google Assistant-enabled deep learning technologies that enable precise multi-turn dialogues.
• Actionable insights: Using analytics and reporting that reveals important call drivers, consumer sentiment, and other information, you can turn your interactions into insights.

Engagely.ai 

A chatbot to automate client queries is available from Engagely.ai, an AI solution for global customer interactions. In order to provide superior customer service, its bots assist agents through proactive real-time information feeding.

While aiding agents, each chatbot solution supports more than 120 languages and provides language translation.

Be accessible to your customers whenever and wherever they need you with voice-first CX orchestration. The extensive collection of next-generation intelligent virtual assistants (IVAs) enables you to seamlessly communicate with your consumers across channels like voice, email, and chat.

The most cutting-edge natural language processing (NLP) model is included in the intuitive and intelligent customer interaction system and produces “Gold Dust” in each and every discussion you have with a consumer.

Avaamo  

Avaamo is a conversational AI technology that optimizes incoming calls, enhances outgoing communications, and monitors the impact on customer experience (CX) using a variety of KPIs.

Additionally, users can use Avaamo’s analytics tools for sentiment analysis, compliance monitoring, and process defect detection.

Businesses can construct vocal avatars based on their existing voice talent, such as a dependable company spokesman, using Avaamo AI voice.

Customers can change the pitch, volume, pace, and intonation of Avaamo AI speech, which affects whether a voice is considered kind, interesting, or reliable.

Recommended: UJET Teams with Google Cloud to Deliver Complete AI-Powered Contact Center Platform

Level AI

With the help of a conversation monitoring engine that compares performance to scorecard criteria, Level AI gives contact center QA teams the capability to automate quality scoring.

Appropriate coverage and high-quality feedback: Provide your agents with the appropriate level of insurance, ranging from 1% to 100%.

Real-time Knowledge Support: Provide your agents with the appropriate responses from throughout your organization.

Real-time Conversation Monitoring and Assist: Access strong enterprise integrations and sophisticated conversation comprehension

Customizable Scorecards: Evaluate, assess, and evaluate agent performance using a QA pipeline that is AI-driven and integrated.

Enghouse Interactive 

Among the AI-powered bots offered by Enghouse Interactive is TaskBot, which streamlines consumer duties like appointment scheduling and renewing subscriptions.

The business also provides an InfoBot, which makes it simpler for clients to browse a corporate knowledge library and discover responses to their questions.

Agents working in contact centers can get assistance and contextualized information from HelperBot. The CoachBot reviews encounters in the background and provides feedback to agents on how to enhance CX.

Enghouse provides a selection of Contact Center platforms, each offering the greatest agent flexibility when managing voice, voicemail, SMS, email, web chat, social media, and video collaboration channels. These platforms are all feature-rich (Teams Certified) and fully secure (ISO27001 Certified) cloud data handling practices and processes.

To help you provide the kind of customer experience you desire, Enghouse Contact Centers integrate and work with partners who are leaders in their fields.

Bright Pattern AI 

Bright Pattern offers bots so that businesses may scale the delivery of omnichannel experiences. The technology may reduce processing times and expedite contact center security procedures by using speech and voice recognition to validate customers.

Voicebot adoption across the voice channel is a great illustration, modernizing IVR operations, automating call-related tasks like data collection, and improving agent experience. These bots may also be able to provide self-service and agent-agent assistance.

Get the advantages of automation, increased agent empowerment, and higher responsiveness and assurance by combining the strength of the personal touch with modern cognitive technologies, such as AI, bots, and Natural Language Understanding.

Artificial intelligence from Bright Pattern can shorten wait times, enhance client service, and boost satisfaction. Improve the efficiency of your contact center with AI to automate tasks and improve customer service.

Helping agents throughout client contacts will ease tension throughout the entire experience. Moreover, AI sentiment analysis can assist managers in coaching and identifying agents. The omnichannel contact center platform uses AI to provide complete self-service and completely automate regular inquiries.

Webex Contact Center AI Solutions

If consumers want to create a unique AI app for their company, Webex Contact Center AI provides open APIs. These applications give agents “context, insights, and intelligence” so they may provide better customer support.

With Ai-powered solutions, you can use automatic note-taking, action item follow-up, closed captioning, real-time translations, meeting transcriptions, and other features.

Simple self-service: Provide clients with access to conversational and intuitive self-service choices around-the-clock.

Live content delivery: Get genuine, AI-powered real-time data and support sent to agents so they can give knowledgeable answers to client inquiries.

Smart chat support: Provide users access to highly competent chatbots that can smoothly switch to human operators as necessary.

Actionable customer insights: Increase awareness by providing your agents with complete visibility of client contact data and feedback.

Improved call wrap-up: Enables brief talks with more precise notes with the help of automated speech-to-text transcription.

NICE CXone 

NICE CXone incorporates artificial intelligence into many of its contact center applications. It does, however, provide independent products, such as Enlighten AI for CX, which provides customer journey data, simplifies journey orchestration, and isolates possible pain points.

Enlighten AI can also help with compliance management. For example, it guarantees that financial firms follow the Financial Conduct Authority’s UK requirements for client fairness (FCA).

Entry Points: With expertise and engagement across any type of digital and voice, provide your customers with a smart start to every journey—everywhere and anywhere.

Journey Orchestration: AI-powered interactions can seamlessly guide clients through their customized journey.

Agent Automation: NICE Robotic Process Automation and AI contact center solutions streamline service delivery, resulting in faster resolution of client concerns and lower expenses.

Open Cloud Foundation: Promote CXi innovation with a flexible, enterprise-grade platform that expands safely, deploys quickly, and serves customers worldwide.

Observe.AI

By analyzing conversational transcripts, AI provides a speech analytics system that automates the measurement of customer happiness, sentiment, and intent. As a result, contact centers can eliminate time-consuming surveys and manual processes while collecting more reliable data.

With total access to customer dialogues across all channels, you can identify trends, possibilities, and threats and gain a comprehensive picture of your organization.

Real-time advice, personalized coaching, and automated processes powered by industry-leading AI will propel performance to new heights.

Make educated business choices to resolve product issues, optimize marketing campaigns, shorten process times, and more.

With the only end-to-end contact center conversation intelligence platform, you can improve performance before, during, and after contacts.

Let’s take a look at the best practices for contact centers.

Recommended: How Artificial Intelligence is Transforming Customer Service – 7 Use Cases

Best Practices for Contact Centers

A Perfect Balance of Self-Service and Agents

In recent years, self-service has grown significantly as firms strive to run more effective businesses and consumers demand simple solutions. Yet, self-service only solves half the problem; human agents are still needed. A key role is played by the contact center.

85% of customers want conversations with customer support representatives to flow naturally and instantly between channels.

Customers should be automatically switched from a machine to a human agent when they require assistance with complicated problems or personalized advice. If the technology is appropriate, the agent will be prepared and aware of the situation and the necessary steps required to address the problem.

Internal Collaboration and Workforce Management

The contact center is the hub of the customer experience and should not be considered a separate entity from the rest of the business. Every single employee in the organization should be aware of what goes on at the contact center and why it matters. Many top businesses often assign their leaders to work in the contact center to observe CX in action.

Discussing customer service in general in a Teams meeting is one thing, but experiencing it firsthand at a contact center and engaging with clients is quite another.

Did you know that Jeff Bezos ensures that every manager and senior at Amazon, including himself, undergo two days a year in contact center training?

Several businesses, both big and small, encourage executives to make calls to the contact center to learn more about customers.

A Smooth Internal System for Agents

For a contact center to function smoothly, it’s equally important for the agents handling the calls to have streamlined systems. It’s not unusual for agents to use ten or more screens to address consumer issues. Agents are frequently too preoccupied with switching between tabs to listen to consumers or establish relationships.

By giving agents access to client information in a single system, it is simpler for them to have context regarding the customer’s problem, which enhances everyone’s experience and increases the likelihood that the issue will be resolved promptly. It’s simple maths – a faster resolution is only possible if systems are streamlined and enhanced using AI and real-time client data.

Agents’ Well-being, Above All

One of the most challenging aspects of contact centers is pulling off the role of an agent. According to recent data, 96% of contact center employees experience stress on a weekly basis while handling more calls than before.

In the last couple of years, customer care representatives have reported a 100% increase in “difficult” calls. Contact center employees struggle with stress, overwhelm, as well as a feelings of being disconnected at the same time. Outstanding customer service is difficult to deliver when the staff members are struggling to stay afloat.

Employees are given top priority in a successful contact center, which also equips them with the knowledge, skills, and resources they need to perform their duties effectively. Above everything else, it’s very important that agents must feel appreciated and have a great working environment.

Continuous Innovation and Development

Every part of customer support, specifically the contact center, should be developing all the time. Formerly, customers could only communicate with businesses over the phone after navigating a convoluted phone tree, but modern technology has increased the number of channels and ways to engage with customers.

After the epidemic, which altered consumers’ priorities and the manner in which they want to interact with companies, there is a greater need than ever for evolution.

Businesses cannot disregard their contact centers and continue operating in the same manner as in the past. The finest contact centers monitor their development and continuously look for new, improved ways to service clients.

Final Thoughts

The contact center, which serves as the focal point of the customer journey, merits consideration and funding. Your contact center and brand visibility can be greatly enhanced with the help of Ai-empowered tools and technology. Reduce expenses, delight consumers with human-like AI-powered contact center interactions, and free up the time of your human employees. You can do it thanks to the power of AI-based contact centers. Expandable and effective contact center operations are essential for delivering individualized digital client interactions and better customer service.