With over 12 years of experience with a company that’s at the forefront of innovation in omni-channel, I couldn’t think of a more qualified source to speak its future. In total, Brendan Dykes, Director of Solution and Product Marketing at Genesys, has 25 years of experience in communications and during our call, he shared his predictions for the future of omni-channel comms.
Spoiler alert: Dykes doesn’t think Artificial Intelligence will replace humans, which he credits to AI’s lack of empathy. Dykes did say, he sees a future where AI assists in augmenting many of the omni-channel experiences customers of the future have. What else does he see in his crystal ball?
Super Apps will Emerge
For starters, he believes the widespread use of super apps will emerge. While the concept isn’t a new one, the use of apps like Viber and WhatsApp to connect customers in real-time with customer service agents has low market penetration.
A few years ago, Rakuten Viber’s CEO, Djamel Agaoua spoke about making Viber a ‘super app.’ Like WeChat, super apps are many apps under the guise of a single app. With the use of super apps, users gain the ability to communicate with customer service agents. They can also shop and pay for products without leaving their private chat.
“We’re seeing voice disappear, while all the other channels exploding. This happens particularly with messaging apps, which will be a key tool in future enterprise communications with customers.
“Consumers want to move away from company websites that have chat features and connect with businesses from the messaging apps on their smartphones”
Dykes thinks this is one of the many ways in which omni-channel will evolve in the next ten years.
IoT and Connected Devices
Imagine talking to Alexa or even Siri to connect with customer service. Dykes predicts this will occur sooner rather than later, enabling more support options for customers. Not only will this improve CX, but it will bring Artificial Intelligence into the CX mix. What does this process look like? According to Dykes:
“Products like Google Home will move toward being communications devices that assist with customer service issues”
The UK’s National Health Service has already implemented the use of AI to provide basic services via IoT devices like Alexa, so the idea that full-on customer experience could occur through comparable channels is not far-fetched. In the same way that Automatic Call Distribution works, so could connected devices help customers reach the appropriate agent for their request.
Technology will Give Humans a Much-Needed Boost
In the future, Sentiment Analysis will grow stronger, according to Dykes, making humans more effective at their jobs. In turn, the sales process, detecting when there’s a problem on a call, and much more will be a simpler process for all parties involved.
This goes to show futuristic movies aren’t all right. This is true of the films that predict humans will become obsolete. The reality is, human intervention will almost always be necessary, especially when AI is in the equation.
