Forbes recently published an article titled AI And Chatbots Are Transforming The Customer Experience, which details how Artificial Intelligence is changing the way that customer service is offered and improved through complete automation.
What this means to the end-user or customer is that, while they may be receiving some level of service and support, they are never talking with a human representative. For call centers, the results are cost-effective and time-saving, but never a 100% complete solution for automating customer service.
“Typically, customer service chatbots answer questions based on key words. The most basic systems are actually document retrieval systems. Sometimes this is frustrating. Think of the times you may have asked Siri or Alexa a question and received the wrong answer. The computer recognizes key words but may not recognize the context in which they are being used. In other words, the computer doesn’t recognize the way people naturally speak. This causes the customer great frustration. However, these systems (including Siri and Alexa) have come a long way and continue to improve.”
The article goes on to mention that “for at least the foreseeable future, chatbots won’t be replacing humans in contact center jobs.”
AI-Lite: Automation Without Machine Learning
The machine learning put into place can gather piles of raw data on customers at the drop of a hat, as well as attempt to build relationships through key phrases and automated messages, but they can be expensive to create, maintain and fix over time – all costly and important factors. A decision process that’s been compiled from raw data using a neural network like this is almost impossible to tweak and change.
Rather than using machine learning to magically divine relationships in this way, interactive decision trees are human built, and make it much easier to tweak and debug processes. Still an automated, time-saving process, we like to think of it as “AI-lite” for call centers and businesses.
Automated & Interactive Solutions for Call Centers
Interactive agent scripts and decision tree troubleshooters guide support reps and customers to the right solutions and answers — whether it be related to a technical issue, routing to the correct department, or managing important customer data. They can help assist call centers in a multitude of ways:
- Self-Help & Troubleshooting: Build custom, branded decision trees that allow customers to find answers themselves.
- Measuring Effectiveness: Access reports that actively check how effective troubleshooters and support decision trees are, and identifies other key metrics through extensive analytics.
- Tracking Agent Performance: Monitor the overall performance of customer service agents to track interactions.
- Analyzing Trends: Export key data to import into any AI software being used for full analysis of key customer and internal call center data.
While AI and automated tools will never replace human interaction or the need for call center agents, the technology can aid call center managers in routing calls, managing experiences, and understanding customers and agents. The end result is a more productive and effective call center, as well as improved customer satisfaction.
Lrarn more about tools for agent scripts:https://zingtree.com/application/call-center.php
Learn more about tools for end-user support:https://zingtree.com/application/support.php