New AI integrations and advancements seem to pop up by the day across industries. However, its emergence and growing influence are being met with varying degrees of trust by both organizations and consumers: especially within contact centers.
Gartner predicts that by 2026, Conversational AI chatbots in contact centers will reduce customer service labor costs by $80 billion. This significant reduction is expected as Conversational AI solutions become more prevalent and capable of automating up to 10% of agent interactions: a substantial increase from the current 1.6%.
These tools can bring both time and cost savings, especially when it comes to smaller, routine tasks. The challenge left for contact center managers, however, is how to keep up while AI continues to evolve.
But the present state of AI is far from perfect. Common issues like unreliable intelligent virtual assistant (IVA) performance demonstrate that the technology still needs oversight in ensuring successful customer engagement.
In fact, according to Zendesk, 60% of customers report frequent disappointment with chatbots, indicating that the technology still has room to grow. While strong demand for AI integrations means that these are likely short-term problems, it leaves contact centers struggling to manage the gap in the interim.
...[AI's] emergence and growing influence are being met with varying degrees of trust...
The question, therefore, remains: how can contact centers evolve alongside the AI revolution rather than fight against it?
Agent, Customer Challenges
Gartner research shows that 55% of organizations are running a pilot or live production with Generative AI, and more than half of organizations have increased their Generative AI investment, particularly in customer-facing functions.
However, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to integrating technology solutions into daily operations. Call center managers must acknowledge the internal and external hurdles when incorporating AI into customer experience (CX) strategies and hybrid work.
One of the biggest challenges that call center managers face is that live agents have varying preferences when it comes to using AI-assisted tools. Some of them may be open to embracing AI’s ability to automate or assist with routine tasks, while others prefer to stick to manual operations.
Managers, therefore, have the challenge of accommodating individual needs, while also ensuring the overall efficiency and consistency of agent operations. That includes diminishing the outside noises and distractions that may pop up with remote working, along with the high noise levels and interruptions on call floors that both negatively impact the CX.
In the same vein, customers have different attitudes towards interfacing with IVAs. Especially since AI capabilities are not yet advanced enough to offer specialized solutions to more complex cases.
For example, a customer looking for general purchase information may be more open to interacting with an IVA, compared to someone with an urgent or nuanced payment-related concern. Generative AI and ChatGPT customer support continue to fall behind searches for phone support in most countries, with most people looking for customer service phone numbers to reach a human agent right away.
AI Integration With People Benefits
Despite initial hurdles, AI remains a powerful tool for business and call center managers, especially as the technology’s capabilities continue to advance.
Some 77% of customers expect to interact with someone immediately when they contact a company (Zendesk, via Hubspot “80 Customer Service Stats to Know”) but many businesses don’t have staff available around the clock to provide support. Chatbots and IVAs offer on-demand availability and global reach, not only satisfying this expectation but also reducing operational costs.
Automation of menial tasks through AI chatbots has also improved agent efficiency. For example, OpenAI’s integration with Klarna (Payments Dive), did the work of 700 live agents, addressing two-thirds of Klarna’s customer queries.
Decreasing the number of routine tasks for which live agents are responsible allows Klarna to focus on the most pressing matters. This means that customers with advanced queries can receive solutions more quickly.
However, rather than leaving agents to handle intricate cases from start to finish, AI can assist by tackling primary steps to make reaching resolutions easier for employees. Complicated customer service issues can then be raised in their final iterations to human decision-makers, further decreasing the time that each customer spends waiting for solutions.
One of the biggest challenges that call center managers face is that live agents have varying preferences when it comes to using AI-assisted tools.
In today’s hybrid work environment, most contact centers no longer have full-time agent coverage on the floor. This makes it difficult for supervisors to oversee agents.
AI can check multiple agents’ work simultaneously and monitor work more closely in real time to keep the CX consistent across organizations, regardless of where requests are routed. Using this technology to flag issues with agent performance helps ensure satisfaction and keeps negative customer sentiments to a minimum.
Investment From Contact Centers
To take advantage of AI’s contact center benefits, managers must understand the investment areas that best align with organizational needs.
Upskilling
Employees cannot be expected to understand the intricacies of AI tools on day one of adoption, so upskilling efforts are a crucial first investment. Upskilling and reskilling provide a knowledge foundation for agents as emerging technologies continue to be integrated into contact centers.
Upskilling will only become more critical over time, given that AI and big data rank seventh among increasingly important work skills, with 60% growth in demand predicted by 2027.
Investing in upskilling assures employees that their roles in the contact center are advancing their careers in the long term, especially as nebulous questions around the future of human agents swirl.
However, studies show that AI is more likely to enhance human capabilities rather than replace them. For instance, 70% of contact center managers believe that AI will create more demand for competent agents, enabling them to focus on complex issues that require human empathy and critical thinking.
By investing in human skills, companies can show their employees that they will work in conjunction with AI, rather than in opposition to it.
Complementary Technologies
Furthermore, equipping agents with technology that complements new day-to-day AI integrations helps make the adjustment more gradual and seamless.
Quality headsets and video, for example, ensure that agents have the right audiovisual (A/V) quality when working with customers, whether they’re at home or on a call center floor. This is doubly beneficial, ensuring a more pleasant experience for agents as well as a smoother experience for the end customer.
Choosing What’s Right for Your Business
Ultimately, incorporating AI and working through the inherent challenges of updating workflows will look different for businesses and their contact centers.
But doing so will pay long-term dividends for both employees and customers. Especially as younger, more technologically fluent generations join the workforce, thus making hybrid work a necessity and not an option. AI tools can then help agents adapt to their work environments.
Quality headsets and video...ensure that agents have the right audiovisual (A/V) quality when working with customers...
No matter what, agents will need to be offered resources for reskilling. If AI tools provide tangible benefits, agents will want to spend the time and effort not only to reskill, but also to upskill. Contact center leaders should be evaluating their operations and strategies to pinpoint where AI investment is most needed to elevate interactions for all parties.