Chris Angus at 8×8 shares how integrating AI into contact centres can elevate both customer experience (CX) and employee experience (EX), offering actionable insights to balance cutting-edge technology with the human touch.
As we navigate through a rapidly evolving digital era, Artificial Intelligence (AI) is transforming the way contact centres operate, promising enhanced efficiency and improved customer satisfaction.
But even though AI has a role to play, human intelligence and the person-to-person element will still be key in delivering a superior customer experience.
Integrating AI with contact centres in a way that benefits both customer experience and employee experience (EX) isn’t as easy as throwing a switch, though. There’s a lot that you need to consider.
The Current Landscape: A Dual Challenge and Vicious Cycle
One of the most significant challenges facing contact centres today is balancing technological advancement with maintaining a more authentic and personal connection with customers.
Due to modern trends, customers now expect swift and efficient service across multiple communication channels, from voice calls to chatbots.
This demand for instant gratification has led to a noticeable increase in customer dissatisfaction when service falls short. In turn, this dissatisfaction trickles down to the employees – the agents – who bear the brunt of frustrated customers.
Unhappy agents lead to poor customer service. This creates a vicious cycle that ultimately harms the overall experience. Agent dissatisfaction, often stemming from repetitive tasks and inadequate support tools, results in high turnover rates, operational inefficiencies, and increased costs.
Thus, contact centres must not only prioritize customer satisfaction but also focus on improving the experience for their agents.
AI as a Tool for Empowerment, Not Replacement
AI offers an opportunity to break this cycle by empowering agents, not replacing them. Contact centre AI solutions can automate routine and mundane tasks, allowing agents to focus on the more complex and engaging responsibilities that require empathy, critical thinking, and multitasking.
By reducing the burden of repetitive inquiries, AI enhances both operational efficiency and job satisfaction for agents.
For instance, AI-powered systems can take on tasks like intelligent routing, which ensures customer inquiries are swiftly directed to the right agent or department.
Data shows that Voicebots and chatbots can handle up to 79% of basic customer inquiries, allowing human agents to dedicate their time to more meaningful interactions.
This shift not only improves agent productivity but also reduces operational costs by minimizing the need for excessive staffing without compromising service quality.
Addressing Organisational Gaps and Empowering Employees
One of the key insights from industry leaders is that improving CX and EX requires a holistic organizational approach.
Customer experience is not solely the responsibility of the contact centre – it’s an organization-wide initiative that requires alignment between various departments, including sales, marketing, and back-office operations.
However, research shows that only 6% of companies feel their entire organization is aligned in this way. That indicates a significant gap.
AI can help bridge this by facilitating communication and collaboration across departments. AI-driven tools can centralize data from different teams, ensuring that everyone – from customer service to finance – has access to the same insights and information.
This cross-functional approach enables organizations to deliver a consistent and cohesive customer experience.
Cost Considerations: The Price of Doing Nothing
When discussing AI implementation, cost is often a key concern. The price of AI technology, including the infrastructure needed to support it (such as data storage and processing power), is undoubtedly a factor. However, the cost of doing nothing can be far greater.
A typical contact centre with 200 agents could lose up to $1.5 million/£1.2 million in labor costs annually due to inefficiencies, agent attrition, and poor communication.
Furthermore, the cost of customer churn – where dissatisfied customers take their business elsewhere – continues to rise. With the growing ease of switching service providers, retaining customers has never been more critical.
AI can play a pivotal role in improving customer retention by offering personalized experiences, faster response times, and self-service options that meet modern customer expectations.
Self-Service and the Changing Customer Landscape
One of the most significant shifts AI is driving in contact centres is the rise of self-service. Customers increasingly prefer to solve their issues independently, whether it’s through a mobile app, an online portal, or automated chat systems.
AI empowers this by providing intelligent self-service options that cater to customer preferences while reducing the need for human intervention.
The self-service model allows customers to interact with businesses at their convenience, often outside of traditional business hours. This flexibility is especially valuable in sectors like financial services, where transactions need to be secure and timely.
With 81% of consumers expressing a desire for more self-service options, AI-driven solutions are no longer a luxury – they are a necessity for meeting modern customer demands.
Conclusion: The Future of AI in Contact Centres
As contact centres evolve, the integration of AI offers a pathway to enhanced customer satisfaction and improved employee engagement.
AI can reduce costs, streamline operations, and empower agents to deliver better service by automating routine tasks and providing real-time assistance.
However, it is essential to strike the right balance between technology and human interaction. AI should be seen as a tool to augment human capabilities, not replace them.
For organizations willing to embrace this technological evolution, the rewards are immense.
By addressing both the customer and employee experience through AI, contact centres can create a more efficient, effective, and empathetic service environment – one that meets the expectations of today’s digital consumer while fostering a more engaged and empowered workforce.
This blog post has been re-published by kind permission of 8x8 – View the Original Article
For more information about 8x8 - visit the 8x8 Website
About 8x8
8x8 is transforming the future of business communications as a leading Software-as-a-Service provider of voice, video, chat, contact centre, and enterprise-class API solutions, powered by one global cloud communications platform. Find out more about 8x8
Call Centre Helper is not responsible for the content of these guest blog posts. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of Call Centre Helper.
Author: 8x8
Reviewed by: Rachael Trickey
Published On: 10th Dec 2024
Read more about - Guest Blogs, 8x8, Chris Angus
