There’s no escaping it – Artificial Intelligence (AI) is everywhere nowadays
So, it stands to reason that leveraging this cutting-edge technology to enhance customer experience (CX) has become a critical priority for businesses of all shapes and sizes. The integration of advanced tools, particularly those powered by AI, can significantly transform how contact centres operate, making interactions more efficient and satisfying for both customers and agents. We thought we’d ask some Gamma experts what they think of this exciting topic.
Revolutionising Contact Centres with AI
Generative AI, such as ChatGPT, offers immense potential to revolutionise contact centres. These AI tools can streamline workflows, automate routine tasks, and provide agents with instant access to vital information. Martin Korner, Director of SmartAgent at Gamma, is clear on this: “Generative AI, especially, is going to absolutely revolutionise the contact centre industry.”
One of the most interesting ways AI enhances CX is through the automation of long-form content handling, such as emails. Emails often contain multiple queries and various pieces of information, making them challenging to manage efficiently. AI can summarise and categorise these emails, extracting key elements like order numbers and customer details, thus providing agents with the necessary information instantly. Martin explained, “We can pull out other bits of information from the emails, such as order numbers and postcodes for identification and verification of that customer.”
Enhancing Real-Time Communication
Beyond email, AI can significantly improve real-time communication channels, such as phone calls and messaging apps like WhatsApp. By analysing sentiment throughout customer interactions, AI can help supervisors monitor and intervene in calls more effectively. If a conversation takes a negative turn, AI can alert supervisors in real-time, allowing them to step in before the situation escalates. “AI can track the progress of that sentiment across the customer journey,” notes Martin. “We can flag negative sentiment to the supervisor in real-time, who can then choose to listen in.”
Not only that, AI can assist agents during calls by providing relevant information from the knowledge base. This ensures that agents have the latest and most pertinent details at their fingertips, improving the efficiency and effectiveness of their responses. “When a contact first comes through, we should already know the reason for contact. We can collect that from the customer using voice,” Martin highlighted.
AI, Omnichannel Solutions and Unified Experiences
For a truly seamless customer experience, it’s crucial to adopt an omnichannel contact centre solution. Such a solution supports various communication platforms, including voice, chat, and social media, and ensures that AI and automation tools are applied consistently across all channels. This unified approach not only enhances the customer experience but also makes the agent’s job easier by providing a cohesive and integrated system. Martin sums it up: “The important thing is choosing a contact centre solution that is truly omnichannel, supporting all these different channels.”
Optimising Workforce with AI
AI’s influence also extends to workforce optimisation and management. By leveraging AI, companies can reduce the training time for new agents, enabling them to perform at levels comparable to experienced staff more quickly. This has an impact, notes Martin: “Reducing the difference in performance between new and experienced agents leads to a better customer experience.”
AI can also assist in managing workloads and schedules, ensuring that agents are available when needed and that their skills are utilised most effectively. This optimisation contributes to higher efficiency and better resource management within the contact centre.
Future Trends in Contact Centre Technology
It’s not just AI – the lines between different communication tools are blurring. Future solutions are likely to offer more integrated features, combining CRM, UCaaS, and CCaaS functionalities into unified communication suites. This trend is driven by the need for seamless data integration and efficient information sharing across various platforms.
The shift towards cloud-based solutions further supports this trend, offering organisations more flexibility and scalability. Cloud platforms can handle vast amounts of data and integrate diverse applications, making it easier to create a cohesive communication environment. AI will be able to shine with this convergence of tech, pulling information from a unified source.
The criticality of AI
Martin is clear on the importance of AI: “Any company not looking at AI for their products will struggle in the long run. The efficiency that generative AI brings is huge.”
Sure, the newest and shiniest thing isn’t always the best fit. But with the way the tech is developing, and the importance of customer experience, AI is becoming an absolute must for future tech stacks. And it’s not just the future we know – it’s the future we don’t know. Businesses should ensure that their chosen tools can scale and adapt to future needs. As business requirements evolve, the communication tools in use must be able to accommodate new features and integrations. This flexibility is crucial for maintaining a seamless customer experience over time.
Customer-Centric Approach
At the core of integrating advanced technologies in contact centres should be the goal of enhancing the customer experience. This requires a customer-centric approach – something we’ve discussed in other articles – where the chosen tools and strategies align with the needs and expectations of the customers. Ensuring that all systems work together to provide a seamless experience for both employees and customers is key to achieving this goal. “These tools [including AI] are there to solve customer experience problems and really drive up that customer experience,” Martin emphasised.
AI, AI, and more
The integration of advanced tech, particularly AI, is crucial for modern businesses aiming to improve their customer experience. By understanding the distinct roles of these tools, prioritising seamless integration, and focusing on a customer-centric strategy, organisations can ensure they provide the best possible experience for their customers. As technology continues to evolve, staying adaptable and strategic in tool selection will be essential for sustained success.
The customer must be the focus, though: by keeping the customer at the centre of their communication strategy and leveraging the strengths of AI and other advanced tools, businesses can achieve higher efficiency, satisfaction, and loyalty from their customers.