The idea of automating functions within the contact centre is not a new one, in fact, robotic voices have long been a bone of contention for many a frustrated customer.
Now that better technology has come along, automated systems can comprehend and deal with calls that come in more efficiently. As a result, customer satisfaction is on the rise, and call centres agents can now be the beneficiaries of solution improvements.
According to Five9 Principal Solution Consultant Jason Griffin, agents can be let down by the current crop of call centre solutions because there is not enough context being passed from the virtual agent to the agent in the call centre.
“AI solutions are great for the customer experience, because they can deal with customers without needing to speak to an agent,” said Griffin. “But there will be times when a call needs to escalate to an agent and they need to continue on from the call before.
“This is where the contextual continuation comes in, because our solution understands the context of that original interaction with the AI and, when a bot can’t complete what is needed, the call is escalated and the information understood within the interaction with the AI is then shared with the agent.
“There are a lot of businesses out there that will ask you for information through an IVR but that same question is the first thing you are asked by the agent when you transfer to them. Why are you calling? What’s your 16 digit card number? These sort of things that you’ve already done, you need to do again. This is highly frustrating for both customer and agent.”
Siloed Approach
When looking for an explanation as to why we customers must repeat themselves, security comes up as a key justification. That’s not to be underestimated, and we all appreciate these measures, but when tensions are high, customers don’t want to repeat themselves.
Griffin says asking for information twice is unnecessary, and can be overcome with a change of mindset when it comes to IVRs from a smart solution for self-serve and automating tasks, but also as a teammate with the agent.
“The problem is there isn’t enough information passing across from the bot to the agent,” said Griffin. “These two phases of the contact centre are seen as siloed.
“Currently, businesses are looking at contact centres elements as a one dimensional solution for completing tasks, therefore if a bot can’t complete a task, someone else will complete it. However, they should be thinking about how the AI and the agent can work together all the time.
“This is a simple thing to do too because all the solution has to do is take the information gained by the IVR, save it as a data variable, and then share it with the agent on arrival. We’re not reinventing the wheel, it’s not something that’s super complex, I just don’t think it’s thought of when it comes to the agent experience.”
Breaking the Mould
Griffin was able to draw on personal experience after breaking his leg and needing to contact his health insurance. Thanks to the way his information was passed off, his interaction with a customer service team was quick and easy.
“If I use the example of myself, when I broke my leg, I was able to interact with my health insurer, and the AI was able to understand the context of why I called, understood who I was, asked me what I wanted, and understood I want to raise a new insurance case.
“From there I was asked certain questions around what have I done here? How did I break it? Was anything protruding? All by the AI and, and my information was gathered all the way down.
“But I also had some questions around what activity I can do afterwards, the AI recognised that’s not something it could give an answer to, and passed me off to a specialist. Then on arrival, the consultant can see why I’m calling and the question I have, which made for a much better interaction.”
