Call Center Management Ready to Embrace AI

The perfect balance to achieve between technology and human skillsets is difficult to accomplish in any customer service arena. It’s no longer acceptable to ignore the potential of artificial intelligence in support of solving customer needs, but it can also be dangerous to invest in solutions that are less than perfect. As an individual in call center management, how do you settle on the right approach?

This is a common question for those in the customer service space and was the recent focus in a Telegraph piece. It’s clear that the best customer service agent is one who is knowledgeable, always available and understands exactly what the customer needs. We also know that these agents are not human, but also fallible if they can’t live up to stated expectations. Call center management can certainly deliver better performance numbers with the use of artificial intelligence, but not if the interactions leave the customer feeling frustrated.

Chatbots, for instance, could be the saving grace that call center management needs to help agents offer a more comprehensive and personalized customer service without bringing on new staff. With this technology, chatbots allow customers to type queries through such mediums as WhatsApp or Facebook (News - Alert) in order to receive an automated response without needing to intervene. It’s a great way to ensure customers get what they need, as long as it’s robust enough to handle requests.

The chatbot that can converse with customers at little cost, along with personalized marketing, can carry out a variety of activities for that client. For organizations that don’t have the people power to handle the number of calls coming in, it’s a great way to manage volume and maintain efficiency. For customers, it’s nice to give them access to the information they need, when they need it. It really is all about low effort to produce the optimal experience for the customer.

The key to success, however, is to leverage the capabilities of a proven platform to ensure it has the right level of intelligence to handle the customer demand, and the customization necessary to produce the best outcomes. A self-service channel that doesn’t really satisfy the customer’s needs isn’t adding any value to the interaction. In order to make the job of the individual in call center management a little easier, the technology has to meet the higher expectations on both sides of the interaction. 

Edited by Alicia Young