8 Bots That Can Automate Customer Service

Nicolette Beard of Jacada discusses how we can automate certain parts of our customer service through the use of different types of bots.

Every action a business takes is now seen through the lens of the coronavirus pandemic. Business processes and workforce management considerations that were unthinkable a few short months ago, contact centre leaders are revisiting.

Call centers have become frontline workers in the wake of COVID-19. They are considered to be one of the most vulnerable places for the spread of this contagious virus.

To that end, public health officials and business leaders are sharing knowledge and resources like never before.

In a remarkable turn, artificial intelligence and robotic process automation have emerged as saviors in uncertain times. The dramatic change from in-person shopping to online-only has created a seismic shift in consumer behavior.

While consumers have concerns (34%) about AI software replacing their jobs, a healthy percentage (29%) of consumers don’t mind if the call center agent is human or a machine as long as they receive the answer to their question.

The SAS / Futurum Experience 2030 report advises companies to empower “customer service agents to work alongside automation, adding a human element and empathy to customer communications and problem resolution.”

According to Prosper Insights & Analytics, shopping online is the new normal and 30% plan to shop more online in the future, even those 65+ (not exactly digital natives!) A full 52% see their changed buying behaviors to continue.

What’s crucial in today’s environment and what will drive sustainable growth as we recover and reimagine our collective future is to focus on assisting and managing your call center workforce in new ways.

Companies are now embracing higher levels of automation, intelligent assistance, and guidance to help agents cope with crushing call volume, increasing complexity, and heightened anxiety.

Attended RPA Bots can genuinely unburden and empower your frontline workforce whether they’re at home or on-site in a reconfigured space.

With this in mind, let’s explore how 8 Attended RPA Bots To Assist Your Stressed-Out Workforce

No. 1 – Health Check Bot

As agents work from home, many aspects can affect employee productivity and the quality of customer interactions they can deliver. An RPA Bot can check internet quality and other elements of the work environment.

It can then log interactions that informs the need for support personnel from time to time. This background “coach” ensures that your frontline staff, your brand ambassadors, have the right tools to deliver a quality customer experience.

No 2 – Password Manager Bot

It’s not uncommon to see agents logging into multiple applications several times during the day. Along with multiple login requirements are the inevitable “lost password” situations and session timeouts causing further delay and frustration, usually resulting in a large number of password reset requests to a company’s IT helpdesk.

Last but not the least, sticky notes and spreadsheets used to keep track of passwords have kept many call center leaders up at night.

An RPA-powered Secure Password Manager stores credentials in an encrypted format compliant with data security requirements and also automates sign-on to multiple applications putting an end to AHT, helpdesk tickets, and security concerns otherwise considered the norm in call centers today.

No. 3 – Launch in Context Bot

If you get annoyed as a caller when the operator asks you for the same information multiple times, you’re not alone. Imagine the plight of the agent who on average works with 19 systems on their desktop and copies and pastes the same information constantly.

Their effort to make the conversation appear seamless creates enormous stress on the agent. You can put an end to copy-paste. Reduce employee and customer effort with a smart notepad powered by robotic desktop automation.

The smart notepad tracks key account and customer-specific info, carries it forward to new systems automatically, so that your agents don’t need to rely on Post-it notes or copy-paste, enabling them to deliver a seamless customer experience.

No. 4 – Agent Workflow Bot

We operate in a time of heavy cognitive overload. Cut the stress of your employees by automating decisions they would otherwise have to keep in their head. Agents are resourceful and come up with all kinds of shortcuts, like using calculators, spreadsheets, and macros, to automate decisions based on company guidelines.

Replace them with proven RPA Bots that automate decision trees and provide simple workflows agents can follow without excessive training and onboarding.

No. 5 – Knowledge Bot

Many organizations have large volumes of content. Agents don’t have the time to hunt for what they need at every customer touchpoint. Use Attended RPA bots that track what’s going on during an interaction and jump in with the right job aid. There are several ways in which real-time agent assistance can be delivered effectively.

No. 6 –  Real-time Bot

Every customer uniquely explains their problem. Every agent has a way of solving a problem. While guided workflows can help, what can you do when an agent gets it wrong? Use Attended RPA Bots to respond to trigger-based events.

Monitor agent activity in real time and have bots alert them when they veer away from best practices. Intervention is seamless when adding a speech analytics component in real-time.

That type of effortless guidance is invaluable to the agent. Attended RPA bots can also be used to track process compliance and to maximize sales conversion.

No. 7 – After-Work Call Bot

During a call, many things happen. Call and Chat transcription isn’t enough to prioritize levels of importance. You need a tool that can summarize key events and minimize the need for manual summaries after the interaction ends.

You need a tool that can create follow-up tasks automatically where appropriate. There are use cases for RPA Bots designed specifically to accomplish tasks with little guidance and setup.

No. 8 – Autonomous Bot

There’s a way to build a bot that goes beyond typical process mining tools. While there’s value in understanding how your agents use different tools, i.e. screens, click stream, speech stream, what they don’t offer is the why behind the what.

Why is the agent interacting with the customer in that way?

You want to build bots with the intelligence built-in. Machine learning can leverage current documentation, manuals, and job tools. The Bot will then surface the intelligence needed to personalize the experience.

This also helps get things done in your backend systems. You can use natural language to layer understanding on top of the customer experience, and let cognitive RPA bring it all together.

The New Wave of Workforce Management

Modern workforce management is all about helping call center agents overcome the obstacles they face day-to-day. Think of attended RPA as your agent’s digital personal assistant.

Wouldn’t we all like one? The prospect of an uncritical detached observer guiding you every step of the way sounds like my kind of coach.

When you streamline the employee experience you eliminate the challenges that come with recruiting, onboarding, time management, evaluations, and process improvement. The list goes on and on.

The right tools do make a difference. An upgraded desktop powered by world-class AI and RPA are must-haves to your existing WFO and WEM platforms.

Take the edge off your stressed workforce by assisting them. Give them bots that will help them complete tasks and delight customers during challenging times. RPA tools, intelligent assistance, and agent guidance are the new waves of workforce management.

Author: Jacada