As artificial intelligence and the internet of things continue to play a key role in the way the world communicates, the call center industry is also experiencing similar change and innovation.
According to the International Customer Management Institute, an increasing number of cloud contact center providers have introduced AI-enabled technologies — or intend to adopt them going forward — making it easier for customer service agents to resolve issues and complete their work more efficiently than ever before.
Here are some of the ways the call center industry is evolving thanks to the IoT.
Seamless Customer Service
Call center communication channels are seeing a makeover thanks to IoT as well. Essentially, this technology allows your customers to contact your company in any manner they see it, from phone and email to live chat and IVR calls.
What makes these IoT-powered interactions different is that they can be interconnected. This way, if a customer starts a conversation with your company via text message or web chat, they can revisit the issue via phone or email with an agent who will already be in the know of what was discussed during any previous interactions. In other words, the customer doesn’t have to painstakingly repeat the same information over and over again to resolve an issue.
Smarter and Streamlined Service
New cloud call centers have the ability to analyze common problems, as well as ask agents which issues they encounter most. Then, they construct systems that streamline the resolution of those matters.
In some cases, this means learning from customer behavior and developing procedures that resolve frequent problems quickly. In other cases, those call centers develop self-service opportunities that increase efficiency even further.
Smart systems monitor and diagnose small but repeated issues the system can identify without human intervention. As a result, customers do not need to contact customer service as much as they would have otherwise. Lower call volume means reduced costs for your cloud contact center.
Proactive Measures
Thanks to the IoT, call centers can also be more proactive in spotting and resolving common support issues by monitoring customers’ devices or accounts. In many cases, this extra due diligence means companies can proactively reach out to customers before they experience a known problem. Ultimately, these customers are left feeling like the company is looking out for their best interests, and that, in turn, builds loyalty.
Then again, according to Forbes, there is a correlation between predictive customer care and, in turn, the dependency customers may wind up developing with your company. Think of it as invisible ways of interacting with your customers that help improve their satisfaction with your goods, services or customer service. Issues are solved before they become problems, reducing the rate of failure your customers experience.
The New Standard
Indeed, the IoT is revolutionizing the call center industry. Newer AI systems are now more efficient — and consumers genuinely seem to like using them, too. In turn, cloud contact center agents have more context when interacting with customers via a variety of communication channels and self-service options.
If your call center hasn’t already started to incorporate IoT into its operations, it’s time to reconsider. These AI-powered solutions are rapidly becoming the new standard — and you don’t want to get left behind the competition.