In this digital age where customer expectations are rapidly on the rise, it’s no surprise that the contact center is undergoing an AI-powered transformation. But how are businesses implementing AI in their contact centers? What do contact centers need to have in place to make the most of AI? Where can AI have the most impact?
Zoom partnered with Frost & Sullivan on their latest visual white paper that dives into the state of AI in the contact center, explores its transformative potential, and stresses the urgency for businesses to adapt—and adapt quickly—to the changing landscape. The report’s useful findings can help companies strategize how to best navigate unchartered territory by examining what’s required to get the most out of AI.
Check out the full visual white paper or read on for highlights.
Investment in contact center AI is set to double in the next two years
Frost & Sullivan provides valuable insight into how customer experience will evolve now that AI has taken center stage. While most companies are in the early stages of AI deployment, investment is expected to increase to over 70% across all AI areas in the next two years. Speech analytics, voice authentication, and process automation will be the biggest focus areas, but AI technologies across the board will see a significant surge in investment.
Having one platform for all communications optimizes AI in customer experience
A sturdy foundation is crucial to answering such demands as leveraging CX information across departments, integrating digital channels, and managing the entire customer journey.
The visual white paper outlines how a simplified, integrated approach using a single communications platform can help lay the groundwork for AI. This approach brings your entire organization together and helps not only create a seamless omnichannel experience but also supports a hybrid workplace, empowers agents and employees, enhances operational efficiency, and reduces costs. When agents feel connected to the organization no matter where they are working and can easily access back-office experts, they can do more efficient and meaningful work.
An AI strategy can be more streamlined and impactful when implemented on one fully consolidated communications platform that combines customer and employee experience.
The value of an omnichannel experience: Meet your customers where they are
Frost & Sullivan also highlights that your customers and clients want to interact with you on their channel of choice at a time that works for them. An omnichannel contact center, enabled through a single platform, allows organizations to view, manage, and respond to interactions in one pane of glass—anytime, anywhere, and on any device.
Virtual agents and AI: The ability to resolve customer pain points
One channel where AI plays a key role is in your virtual agent or chatbot. Frost and Sullivan captures interesting data regarding virtual agents and the contact center. With top customer pain points being slow resolution time (33%) and inadequately trained virtual agents (33%), AI can step in and vastly improve the experience. Features like AI-generated flow builders and advanced intent recognition can enable more human-like responses, leading to faster resolutions and more satisfied customers. Now, businesses can feel confident directing simple queries to virtual agents while their live agents deal with more complex interactions.
Video-enabled contact centers: A new key differentiator
Sometimes, a call or chat just won’t cut it. Frost & Sullivan highlights the emergence of video as a powerful tool for creating immersive and more personalized customer experiences. With 50% of companies using video chat in the contact center today, it’s a channel of choice for many customers. Video-enabled contact centers facilitate more meaningful connections, improve agent morale, and contribute to a customer-first organization.
What’s the best application of AI in the contact center?
It’s a common misconception that AI in contact centers is just about automated bots. With the dramatic entrance of generative AI (GenAI), innovative companies are leveraging AI to optimize performance, empower agents, and increase productivity.
AI’s impact on agent productivity and effectiveness
AI-powered knowledge bases can pull up relevant information for agents in real-time, empowering them to provide more accurate information to customers. Automatically generated call summaries can remove the manual, time-consuming processes for agents, giving them time back to work on more interesting tasks. Integrating AI tools also allows businesses to capture data that helps supervisors provide real-time feedback and skill-building opportunities, reducing churn and increasing morale.
AI boosts operational efficiency
The less-understood, and likely lesser-known, advantage of AI lies in workforce management. Intelligent routing systems, powered by AI, can analyze incoming requests, directing each query to the most suitable agent based on skills and experience. AI can also improve adaptive training programs for agents and managers alike, enhancing performance and providing targeted support.
Future-proof your contact center AI strategy
As the contact center landscape evolves, implementing AI as part of an integrated, omnichannel platform can empower your team to deliver exceptional customer and employee experiences. The revolution is here—are you ready to lead the charge?
Check out the full Frost & Sullivan visual white paper: Artificial Intelligence is Transforming the Contact Center.
