Organizations love the idea of streamlining processes to handle simple customer interactions requests like updates on account balances or shipping status.But when it comes to implementation, many organizations don't know where to start. With numerous possibilities, deciding where Artificial Intelligence (AI) will have the greatest impact can be challenging, but the rewards are well worth the effort.
Why is AI so important now?
AI has been around for decades, but organizations now have easy and cheap access to cloud computing, big data, and expanding AI algorithms. This combination of technologies make adding cognitive capabilities a near effortless experience, providing important insights.
The problem is, insight without action delivers no value. It's better to look at AI as an element of a comprehensive strategy for Intelligent Automation that not only uncovers insights, but also orchestrates actions based on those insights.
Some actions will be carried out by people in real-time customer interactions. Others may require no human intervention at all. Some may even be executed via Robotic Process Automation or straight-through Business Process Management.
What are the greatest challenges to getting started?
Many out-of-the-box AI services, like Optical Character Recognition (OCR), Sentiment Analysis, or Speech to Text are easy to start leveraging. But to use them appropriately, you need to understand how AI fits into your organization's overall business processes, and where to apply it to have the greatest impact. Look at your first AI project as a process improvement and automation exercise.
For example, AI can recommend specific products or upsell opportunities based on customer history and interactions. Providing this information to a customer service agent can not only help them deliver better customer experiences, but also make interactions more profitable. You could also use AI to automate basic tasks like contact information updates, which frees agents spend more time on more complex and important customer inquiries.
Another challenge many organizations face is the lack of understanding of what AI actually is. AI is not the reduction of jobs or the replacement of agents in your contact centers. AI is technology that will enrich the agent experience and help provide customers the service they require faster, and with better resolution.
Don't fear AI. Embrace it, but start small. Look to see what will impact your customers and agents the most and build from there.
Join us at the Customer Engagement Summit Conference in London November 12th and 13th to learn more about leveraging AI, as well as Robotics and IoT, in your customer engagement center.
