While the phrase “AI for the contact center” has now become very familiar, it can mean many things, and without careful consideration, AI’s business value will be underestimated. We tend to follow the path of least resistance — especially with new technology — where the focus is on short-term results and a fast ROI. This is not surprising, but when it comes to something as transformational as AI, the vision needs to be broader.
Not only that, but being an iterative technology, AI improves as you use it, so there must be some tolerance for risk and continuous improvement. This is very different from how contact centers have invested in technology previously, where the offerings were mature and ready to deploy once integrated with existing systems. Today’s contact centers need more from technology, and this is where understanding the business value of AI becomes so important.
The challenges facing contact centers are not a mystery, and there’s a real urgency to adopt new technologies to modernize operations. Customer expectations are higher now, and contact centers cannot meet them by continuing with legacy, premisesbased systems. Not only does this create business risk by losing customers and hurting brand reputation, but when agents cannot support customers effectively, the effects of morale, retention, and hiring compound one another.
Contact center leaders want to avoid these problems at all costs, and while there’s a rush to adopt new technologies like AI, there’s an inclination to focus on the most immediate issue. In most cases, this means focusing on automation, primarily to reduce costs, and this is where chatbots come into the
picture. There’s nothing wrong with that picture, especially if the contact center is still viewed as a cost center within the organization, in which case, AI applications will be tactical rather than strategic.
This view of contact center operations is still prevalent, and in these cases, that’s the lens through which AI will be evaluated. Cost reduction via automation is absolutely a valid use case for AI, but it’s not the only use case, and nor is it the most impactful — for both the contact center and the business overall. However, if that mindset prevails, it will be difficult to elevate AI to more strategic applications, and this analysis serves to illustrate what a broader vision would entail.
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