In an age of digital transformation, where technology has become so advanced that it’s able to replace humans on numerous levels, there is much speculation over what the future holds for the contact center agent.
The rise of artificial intelligence (AI) has demonstrated countless times that computers are not only able to replace humans, but can do the job much more efficiently and with far fewer errors -- making them the obvious choice for any contact center looking to save money and improve performance.
However, before we get ahead of ourselves and start living in fear of an AI uprising akin to the one from the Terminator movie franchise (Watch out! Skynet is coming!), there are still many uses for the human agent within the contact center.
In fact, rather than threatening their livelihoods, technology -- specifically AI -- has proven itself to be a huge benefit to human agents. It automates many of their menial tasks and enables them to focus on providing high quality, specialized service to their customers.
The Demand for Specialized Service
In a recent study, customer experience strategy firm Walker Information predicted that customer experience will overtake price and product as the key brand differentiator by 2020. Considering this finding, it’s clear how important it is for businesses to meet their clients’ expectations.
The demands of the modern customer are much higher than in years past, and meeting these expectations requires a much greater investment of time and concentration from the contact center agent.
Today, it’s not enough to simply solve the customer’s problem. Agents must now be able to provide highly personalized service that makes the customer feel valued by the company.
The Benefit of Technology
Prior to digital transformation -- when agents were responsible for carrying out various administrative tasks and repeatedly asking the same front-line questions to every customer -- working life within the contact center quickly became boring and the lack of enthusiasm directly impacted customer experience.
However, with intelligent computer telephony integration (CTI) solutions that can automate these front-line processes, technology drastically changed the way agents operate. They can focus on using their expertise and specialized knowledge to resolve more complex issues for the customer.
As a result, agents are happier, as each customer offers them a new challenge and opportunity to utilize their skills. Plus, customers are happier because they have their issues resolved by a professional who is not only eager to help them but qualified to deal with their problem from the first point of contact.
The Future of Customer Service
Technology has already had a huge impact on the way contact centers operate, and as we progress into the future we can expect these changes to continue improving agent performance rates and customer satisfaction. Though technology has, in a sense, replaced humans in many areas of the contact center, it has also created many new opportunities for agents to deliver better customer service and engage in tasks that deliver greater job satisfaction.
Learn more about the productivity and ROI that CTI can deliver.