AI and Automation Increase Customer Satisfaction and Call Center Performance

Immediate response times are the leading factor in customer service success according to a new research report. Conversational AI specialists Avaamo have released their State of Contact Center AI Market 2021 report, examining customer expectations as well as how agent interactions compare to automated customer interactions that take advantage of artificial intelligence (AI).

The report looks at customer interaction data and pinpoints how expectations have changed since the COVID-19 pandemic. Researchers examined real customer interactions including customer behavioral data and real-time interaction preferences to come up with their findings. The report is designed to provide insight about how the customer experience is being transformed as well as how customers are reacting to both human and agent interactions. It also examines how both types of interactions are transforming traditional contact center key performance indicators (KPIs).

Avaamo found that 90 percent of customers rate immediate response times as important, and that customer wait times and zero call waiting (ZCW) have become defining factors in the call center. Researchers found that a wait time of just four minutes results in abandonment rates increasing by 25 percent.

The study also concluded that customers have widely embraced self service and automation, and are open to an omni-channel customer experience. But customers are also frustrated by inconsistencies across channels. AI and automation within a multi-channel environment are viewed as positives, driving a 20-percent increase in customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores for call centers.

Customers are also largely supportive of AI-in-the-Loop, particularly if it reduces wait times. In fact, 67 percent of customers would prefer to use self-service facilitated by AI instead of dealing with a human agent. Contact center AI automation also results in a 25-percent increase in net promoter scores (NPS).

Researchers also found that when contact center AI technology includes domain-ready AI models and workflows it accelerates time-to-value. No matter what the use case, domain-based contact center AI technology results in a 60-percent reduction in go-live time for automation projects as well as a 23-percent reduction in live agent transfers.

Finally, the report analyzed successful contact center AI deployments. It examined rollouts from pre-implementation to the go live stage and looked at key factors for accelerating time to value. Researchers found that deploying pre-built AI models can reduce implementation time by six to eight weeks. And pre-built integration with existing contact center infrastructure reduces implementation costs by 20 percent.

Edited by Luke Bellos