Orchestrate contact centre automation and AI for superior customer journeys

Many processes and tasks can be automated by software or AI: customer-facing experiences like self-service, qualification and routing, analytics and reporting, workflows, outbound campaigns and elements of quality assessment. To maximise ROI and user satisfaction appropriate deployment, monitoring and continuous improvement are highly beneficial.

Automation can affect CX either directly through the provision of convenient 24/7 automated self-service touchpoints like IVR payments and chatbots or indirectly by improving service quality, consistency and efficiency. Routing, customer identification, provision of relevant information and even next-step suggestions are just a few examples of automated processes which help agents provide a higher standard of service.

Yes, any medium to large enterprise contact centre will use automation to a greater or lesser extent. This may be limited to automated replies to inbound emails and a traditional DTMF IVR menu or at the other end of the spectrum, provide fully automated customer journeys, optimise agent workflows and complete multiple supervision and workforce management tasks. In a highly competitive industry contact centres can’t afford to overlook the operational and user experience benefits of automation.

Automation is a powerful efficiency tool and will be used extensively in contact centres to improve accuracy and automate repetitive tasks, but it is not intended to replace agents. Customers still turn to traditional voice channels with complex high-urgency requests. In fact, average handling time is getting longer. Agent communication skills and flexibility in the face of multiple complex requests are invaluable. Automation instils operational efficiency and resolves predictable low complexity, low urgency requests. This preserves agent focus for more satisfying tasks which really add value for customers.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is largely used in contact centres to analyse data and enhance standard automation with more accuracy and flexibility, sometimes called intelligent automation. Examples of this are speech and text analytics like natural language processing (NLP), sentiment analysis, chatbots, next-step suggestions for agents, predictive analytics like call volume and intelligent routing which uses speech analytics during qualification to better match a customer query to a detailed set of possible contact intents.

Yes and no. Contact centre AI can take over many repetitive tasks which agents don’t typically enjoy, provide out-of-hours touchpoints or automate back-office tasks for accuracy and speed. Crucially though this changes rather than removes the need for human involvement. For example, agents become customer care experts, valued for their soft skills and complex contextual problem-solving abilities and tasks like AI supervision and QA are created. This division of labour using a blended or augmented working model maximises on the professionalism of agents and the benefits of AI to improve customer experiences rather than compromise them, as would be the case with 100% AI-led services.

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a diverse field of scientific study. Typically, however when talking about contact centre AI, we’re referring to software or algorithms designed to perform specific tasks which would previously have required human thought. Intelligent automation, on the other hand, is the application of AI to an automated process. The goal here is to make it more adaptive, increasing efficiency, reducing errors and creating a more dynamic or responsive process.

Using contact centre AI can mean anything from enhancing current automated processes to completely new self-service touchpoints or introducing AI in multiple processes during total CX transformation. Whether working synergistically, alongside agents, or independently to perform tasks, appropriate application and ongoing monitoring is important. Without due care and attention during deployment and beyond, AI-enhanced processes won’t offer high performance or extended benefits. Partnerships from build to deployment and beyond, between solution providers and contact centres help get the best results.

Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is a cutting-edge technology designed to automate routine and repetitive tasks, streamlining operations and enhancing efficiency. RPA employs software robots, or “bots,” to perform tasks that humans typically do, such as data entry, appointment scheduling, and handling straightforward customer inquiries. This automation enables contact centres to free human agents to work on more complex and high-value interactions that require human empathy and decision-making skills.