In the first feature of this two part series looking at how the dynamics of the contact centre are changing and why this is important for field service organisations we explored the evolution of the contact centre and why omni-channel technologies are set to become central to the contact centres of the near future.
Now as we conclude the series we discuss why Self Service and Artificial Intelligence should be at the heart of this discussion moving forward.
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You can’t escape the hype around AI: almost every business has a chatbot project whether in-house or with a vendor.
In fact, by 2022, 20% of all customer service interactions will be completely handled by AI, an increase of 400% from 2018. Source: Gartner, ‘Critical Capabilities for the CRM Customer Engagement Center’, November 2018
But 74% of customers want more human interaction in support with 59% believing companies are losing the human touch (Source: Price Waterhouse Survey 2017)
The reality is the majority of customer service chatbot and online self-service projects today are failing because they are not connected to the contact center and humans, meaning the empathy and complex support often needed at appropriate points in the customer journey is missing. Technology for both voice and text based chatbots is now mature and implementations do not fail due to technology but rather due to the fact that they are being deployed for inappropriate customer support scenarios.
Even the consumer mobile virtual assistants Alexa and Siri sometimes respond with “sorry I’m having trouble understanding you right now”. In a customer service environment bots must comprehend, answer and resolve hundreds of different customer service scenarios every day—to achieve this without error is virtually impossible. The key is to use bots to ascertain the customer intent and determine how best to deal with the interaction—i.e. use
AI at the front end to determine what the request is, and based on the result, either use AI to resolve or if it is detected that human interaction is required, seamless transition is made.
The next challenge is in processing a customer service request: how do you set up the complex workflow processes to manage hundreds of complex scenarios thrown at your typical customer service agent in a day?
The answer is to use automation intelligently and seamlessly alongside human agents as part of the same platform.
Agents burdened with logging into multiple systems and searching for data to resolve simple requests don’t have the time to go above and beyond and deliver a more personal service to each customer.
System overload is restricting support agents but new contact center technology will not necessarily resolve this issue because the key problem is connecting existing systems and data sources whether CRM, ERP, finance, stock control or other enterprise systems.
Empowering agents requires a single interface which includes all contact center channels alongside all sources of customer data, so staff are provided with the exact information they need at the right point in the customer journey.
The unique IFS Customer Engagement (CE) approach uses an agent desktop that pulls data from many systems and presents them in a single ‘mash-up’ view, adding case management and other CRM functionality as required. Removing the need for agents to log-in to multiple applications, and making sure that customer data is gathered from the correct places and updated consistently.
Instead of replacing existing enterprise systems, this approach allows you to present customer service agents with data in a simple, intelligent ‘fit for purpose’ customer service application.
The solution also presents all customer channels—be it email, voice, social or chat. Slashing the time an agent spends searching for data and processing requests, while empowering front-office staff to deliver a truly transformed customer experience.
Freed from managing multiple systems, agents are empowered to provide emotional support, offer further assistance and discuss relevant products to the customer, with prompts from the desktop tool.
By 2022, 60% of large organizations will extend their customer experience (CX) technology and process goals by tying together disparate systems in a holistic approach focused on the needs of customers. (Source: Gartner Hype Cycle for Contact Center Infrastructure, 2018 08 August 2018)
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Features Software & Apps Future Technology contact centres omni channel field service IFS omnichannel Customer Satisfaction and Expectations
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