Creating Customer engagement magic - with AI

Creating Customer engagement magic - with AI 

By Bertrand POURCELOT, CEO Enreach for Service Providers

It is early days for AI, and while there is still so much hype, plus necessary concerns around the need for greater security, regulation, data controls and governance, there are some exciting opportunities for service providers. This is especially true when looking at customer engagement.   

The magic of AI happens when it transforms existing processes and tools, such as CRMs and vertical market applications. Features such as automated transcripts, sentiment analysis, search, and data analysis represent a powerful combination that can be achieved relatively easily and quickly, delivering significant impact. 

For instance, recorded transcripts or sentiment analysis are not new, but once they can be used to enrich the CRM, they can open up enormous potential, such as having a supervisor alerted in real-time to a conversation that is becoming negative so that they can intervene. 

Also, consider how AI can be applied at different stages of the customer engagement lifecycle. Before live contact takes place, pre-screening saves time for both employees and the customer. During live contact, real-time information delivered to the employee means a more informed conversation that benefits the customer. Post-conversationally, AI can provide insight to help support future improvements.  

Transforming voice’s value 

One of the most exciting applications for AI is how it can take voice out of its silo and used to add value. Far from being a dying form of communication, voice is now having a resurgence, thanks to AI and digital transformation opening the way towards modern voice.  

For instance, once transcribed, voice can become an integral part of digital transformation, providing highly valuable data and insight that can be used in multiple ways. Another example of how AI can enrich voice is verbal, hands-free commands during a customer conversation, allowing employees to focus on that interaction without unnecessary distractions.  

It is essential to prioritise customer satisfaction rather than just focusing on the efficiency gains that AI can drive. Time-saving does not necessarily mean a happier customer, and AI should also be used to support choice: we need to keep it human-centric. For example, the customer should decide how they engage with a business. Do they want to text-chat or speak to a live person? Does that decision change if they are told there is a ten-minute wait time to talk to a human but that the AI-enabled chatbot can provide an answer in 30 seconds? 

Careful use of AI 

While we are firm believers in AI’s potential, especially around the CX, it is not the answer to everything and needs careful planning. We all need to have the right processes, information, and best practices in place before we start using AI at scale. AI should only be applied to environments that have already been mastered.  

Also, we need to look at the bigger picture and not rely just on AI. Backup processes need to be in place should the technology fail. A case in point is the experience (shared on social media) of an automated voice-activated door entry system user unable to re-enter his home because his voice was not recognised after a dental appointment. 

The use of real-world data has to be understood and managed. If data is being shared to train a cloud-based AI engine, we all need to be very precise about the implications. So, clear data access and processing control are necessary best practices, as well as evaluating and studying the possibility of having specific or dedicated AI engine instances when required. 

Business models also need to be considered. There are quite a few free or freemium AI options available today, but down the line, vendors may not be able to sustain those, so we will see more premium solutions introduced. That impacts both the channel and their customers, so channel partners need to ask about guarantees around a model, how long it is available on that basis, how that fits into the duration of customer contracts, and how the situation might change. Transparency from vendors offering AI is essential.  

Helping us grow together 

Even so, the potential of AI for our service provider community is very encouraging, and AI is moving at a rapid pace. For instance, as AI evolves, sentiment analysis will go beyond just insight into the words used to provide robust metadata about the interaction between two people, whether just voice or video. These advancements are already happening, and we can expect them to become more widely available in the next year or so.  

In addition, some of the AI-enabled CX functionality already available in larger customer interaction solutions will trickle down and become much more accessible to businesses of all sizes this year. While the industry continues to face many changes and challenges and AI needs careful consideration, it is set to play an essential part in our collective future and our ability to survive and thrive together.