AI (Artificial Intelligence) has emerged as a mainstream component of the modern business technology stack. Virtually every company is beginning to embrace AI in some format. In fact, McKinsey found AI adoption has doubled in the last few years.
AI can improve team productivity, efficiency, and performance by addressing many use cases. AI is paving the way for more empowered employees, happier customers, and more significant profit margins in the contact center.
One study found that 80% of CX professionals now believe AI will drive better contact center experiences. So, which trends are paving the way to an AI revolution in 2024?
1. The Rise of Intuitive Self-Service
AI solutions for self-service are nothing new. However, chatbots and virtual agents have grown much more advanced in recent years. Alongside simple FAQ bots designed to reduce call volumes quickly, companies can now experiment with real-time transactional bots, predictive bots, and even tools powered by Natural Language Processing and Conversational AI.
The latest innovative AI solutions can understand the intent and sentiment of customers, personalize experiences on the fly with data-driven insights, and provide more humanized experiences. We’re even seeing the rise of Generative AI solutions in the contact center, helping companies to build more creative, intuitive, and productive bots.
2. AI-Driven Call Routing
Problematic call routing processes have long been the bane of many contact centers. To ensure consumers get the best possible experiences, business leaders must ensure they’re directed to the agent with the skills and abilities required to serve them. AI-driven technologies can help, leveraging intelligent algorithms to facilitate the perfect match.
These tools can use self-learning algorithms, insights from CRMs, and even behavioral data to determine the best method of handling calls and contact requests. Some solutions can send simple, routine requests to chatbots to help minimize agent work volumes.
3. Enhanced Business Insights
If there’s one area where AI always seems to excel, it’s in data analytics. Contact centers collect vast amounts of valuable data from every interaction. However, correctly storing, processing, and leveraging that data can be complex without proper assistance.
AI systems can help to improve compliance by automatically redacting data from recordings. They can pinpoint trends in customer behaviors and allow companies to map buyer journeys more accurately. Some solutions can even deliver real-time insights into customer sentiment and satisfaction scores to dashboards and agent wallboards. This helps companies make the right decisions for their reputation and growth.
4. Agent Assistance Tools
Contact center agents handle more complex queries across more channels than ever before. They’re also working from various environments, making it harder for team members to access dedicated human support and guidance when needed. Fortunately, AI-driven agent assistant tools can help.
These innovative bots can instantly surface knowledgebase and CRM information to agents when they detect a keyword spoken in a conversation. They can offer live feedback about the flow of a conversation and deliver guidance based on customer sentiment. Some solutions can even help agents rapidly troubleshoot issues and overcome technical problems remotely.
5. AI for Hyper-Personalization
Finally, AI solutions don’t just help companies to track trends and patterns in their business for performance-boosting purposes. These tools can also make it easier for companies to personalize each experience for every customer. This is crucial when 71% of customers expect companies to deliver more “personalized” interactions.
Bots can track real-time conversations with customers and feed agents prompts based on the customer’s emotional needs or unique experiences. They can collect valuable insights from conversations to help automate after call work such as populating CRM records and following up with customers after a conversation.
The Rise of Artificial Intelligence in the Contact Center
AI is no longer a futuristic technology reserved only for companies with the biggest budgets and technical teams. As various aspects of the artificial intelligence landscape evolve, contact centers are discovering endless ways to improve team productivity, delight customers, and boost profits with intelligent tools.
Thanks to companies like Geomant, implementing these innovative solutions, such as conversational AI assistants and AI-driven analytics tools, is easier than ever.
Are you ready to embrace the latest AI trends? Contact Geomant today to find out how you can use AI to optimize your contact center.