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Transforming Customer Support with AI in Contact Centers

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The Road to AI

Can AI do to contact centers what it did to Industry 4.0?

All industry use cases and market predictions point in the direction of AI-driven contact centers — as the next strategic step for boosting agent productivity, supercharging customer experience, and increasing operational efficiency. According to the Innovation Center for Artificial Intelligence, AI chatbots helped the banking sector save approximately $8 billion in the preceding year.

On the other side, fintech leader, Sebastian Siemiatkowski, co-founder and CEO of Klarna, predicted that their ChatGPT-powered AI assistant will generate an estimated $40 million in additional profit by 2024.

Notably, the Call Center AI Market was worth USD 1.6 billion in 2023 and is rapidly expanding — having projected to reach USD 9.9 billion by 2032, with a CAGR of 22.7%.

Let’s delve deeper into the benefits of cognitive contact centers, and how enterprises can unpack superior CX with them.

The AI Advantage for Contact Centers

A study on a company with 5,000 customer service agents revealed impressive results with generative AI adoption. Issue resolution rates soared by 14% per hour, while the time spent handling each issue decreased by 9%. Additionally, generative AI contributed to a 25% reduction in both agent turnover and customer requests to speak with a manager.

So how can contact centers leverage AI? Conversational AI, often the first thought for contact centers, utilizes Large Language Models (LLMs), Natural Language Processing (NLP), and Machine Learning (ML) technologies — to enable customers to interact with AI-powered systems through voice and text-based channels, including:

  • Intelligent Interactive Voice Response (IVR) can function intuitively to deliver real-time and human-like exchanges across channels.
  • Chatbots engage in real-time conversations by interpreting customer queries to identify intent and provide satisfactory responses.
  • Virtual Assistants or Assistants , like Siri and Alexa, converse with users to provide personalized support and consistent experiences across devices and platforms.

Conversational AI solutions are gaining popularity because they can streamline customer interactions, reduce wait times for instant resolutions, and deflect simple inquiries, encouraging self-service. In times of labor crunch and high agent attrition, they can free up agents for more complex issues that require critical problem-solving.

The second most popular application of AI in contact centers is data analysis. AI, specifically GenAI’s ability to analyze voluminous data, can scan through various statistics and key performance indicators (KPIs) to produce high-value insights for improving agent performance and customer satisfaction.

This saves enterprises the trouble of manually analyzing data, allowing them to:

  • Gain insights into agent performance, call resolution times, and customer sentiment.
  • Optimize agent schedules, performance, and productivity through targeted, data-backed resource allocation and training programs.
  • Design proactive customer service strategies by anticipating customer needs — based on past interactions across multiple touch points.

Infographic Idea

6 Benefits of AI Implementation in Contact Centers

  • Enhanced self-service capabilities
  • Improved agent productivity
  • Reduced operational costs
  • Actionable customer insights
  • Intuitive customer engagement
  • Lowered agent attrition

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Around the World: Successful Use Cases of AI in Contact Centers

How can enterprises implement AI for contact centers? Let’s find out some popular use cases gaining traction across industries.

  • Use Case #1 – AI systems for emergency response centers

    911 response centers in the US are deploying AI tools to handle non-emergency calls. In a 2023 survey of 9-1–1 centers, 82% of respondents cited understaffing, with 74% reporting burnout.

  • AI-powered triage systems can prioritize calls during high volume or non-emergencies to optimize agent efficiency. AI can also help dispatchers with real-time translations and speech processing in fast-paced scenarios. The latter not only helps with keeping call records but also flags key details such as location and the nature of the emergency — empowering responders to focus on issue resolution and not on documentation.

    Thus, AI deployment in high-impact sectors like healthcare emergency and disaster management can help bridge the gap between critical needs and timely responses, powering better outcomes.

  • Use Case #2 – Self-service in insurance

    Insurance enterprises are leveraging AI-driven contact centers beyond the pleasures of self-service and more toward proactive support. Consider a scenario where a customer reports property damage to their home insurer.

  • The insurance AI assistant authenticates the customer and guides them through the claim process. It also asks questions to help the customer understand the situation, such as the extent of the damage, the potential cause, and any immediate safety concerns.

    Throughout the process, the homeowner receives automated updates on their claim’s progress and simultaneously they can also ask the AI questions about the next steps, coverage details, or temporary accommodation options if needed. If the issue warrants complex problem-solving, like coverage disputes, the AI guides the policyholder to a live agent for better resolution.

  • Use Case #3 – Cognitive assistants for human-like interactions

    Many payment solution enterprises have a global customer base that traditionally requires a massive contact center team — with representatives fluent in various languages. However, modern contact center AI solutions can deploy intelligent assistants with advanced speech-to-text and text-to-speech technologies for handling multilingual inquiries.

  • Moreover, with the advent of generative AI, improved context recognition among AI assistants can make conversations as natural and human-like as possible.

    Additionally, fintech companies can also integrate a customized voice persona for the AI assistant to foster a consistent brand personality for all customers across borders.

  • Use Case #4 – Contact center automation

    In travel contact centers, AI can reduce the burden on agents by automating repetitive tasks like flight rebooking after cancellations. An AI system can analyze the traveler’s preferences based on past records, identify alternative flights based on real-time availability, and eventually guide them through the rebooking process — all without human intervention.

  • This improves their fast contact resolution (FCR) numbers, thus reducing the need for follow-up calls, which is a key performance indicator of customer delight — customer satisfaction rates can decrease by 45% when an issue is not resolved at first contact.

Take the Leap with MAGE

Blurb: MAGE is HTCNXT’s built-to-purpose platform that empowers enterprises to build their AI models while offering a complete ecosystem of tools and services for end-to-end AI exploration.

As AI exploration increases across contact centers, CXOs must strive to be early adopters to stay ahead of competitors. But simply adopting an AI solution is not enough. Enterprises need a specialized platform that allows them to customize AI functionalities to their existing capabilities and platforms.

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Diagram: How HTCNXT can reimagine the future of service desks

With its plug-and-play ability, MAGE can seamlessly integrate with multiple contact center management platforms to supercharge the future of service. Its pre-built connectors and customizable AI models, combined with our deep expertise, deliver improved performances across process orchestration, resource management, servicing experience, and knowledge sharing while collaborating with your agents.

Explore how MAGE can help you future-proof your contact center.

Talk to our expert.

AUTHOR
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Adnan Saulat

Senior Vice President, SME Education

SUBJECT TAGS

#AIinContactCenter

#generativeAI

#ArtificialIntelligence

#MAGE

#CustomerExperience

#ContactCenterAI

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