Why Smart Contact Brings Value Back to Voice Communications

Why Smart Contact Brings Value Back to Voice Communications

By Bertrand POURCELOT, CEO Enreach for Service Providers

The world is becoming increasingly demanding for businesses that recognise they need new tools and capabilities to compete and succeed in today’s environment. Organizations no longer have the time and patience to rely on legacy processes and siloed environments, and the desire to become faster, more agile, and cost-efficient has captured the attention of every executive who keeps one eye focused on the future and the other one on the bottom line.

The growing interest in AI technology and workflow automation bears out this shift. According to market research firm IDC, some 40 percent of all European-based businesses have already deployed some form of AI technology in their communications infrastructure. And by all accounts, this is only the beginning.

The interest in AI and automation among service providers is logical. They have the opportunity to deepen their customer relationships by providing compelling AI-augmented capabilities to hungry customers, or they can do nothing, sit on the sidelines, and watch helplessly as competitor after competitor poaches their customer base. The options are indeed that stark.

Not All AI is Created Equal

Most technology vendors offer some form of AI functionality—be they voice-enabled services, chat bots for customer service interactions, automated business processing features, or other capabilities.

But in this world of technical complexity, a perspective of suitability and simplicity is in order. Successful service providers intuitively understand that savvy businesses do not invest in technology for technology’s sake. Instead, they invest in expected outcomes. Regardless of the size of the business, what they do, or the markets they serve, there are three common goals that all organizations look to accomplish: generate better outcomes, such as increasing sales and retaining customers with higher satisfaction; improve efficiencies by getting more done in less time; and reducing costs. For an SMB, AI solutions can help in all three areas. It can be used to project a profile of a company that has the scale and resources to compete head-to-head with larger organizations. For an enterprise, AI can be a vehicle to demonstrate a high degree of agility and efficiency that is better associated with a smaller, more nimble company. It is also vital to always give end users the choice to prefer human interactions over AI/digital interactions or fallback to human interactions if they wish, as nobody can guess the true end user context and what’s important to him and how mature he is in his digital journey. At Enreach for Service Providers, we indeed focus on augmented humans rather than replacing humans.

Conversational AI

One of the most welcome developments we’ve recently seen is the re-emergence of voice as the preferred communications medium for businesses. One reason for this resurgence is the introduction of Conversational AI, where advancements in Natural Language Processing (NLP) has helped vendors build an array of voice-powered communications solutions that deliver profound benefits. Some of these features can include automating the way inbound calls are handled, ensuring that customer requests are addressed accurately and quickly and allowing staff to focus on more complicated tasks. Conversational AI is also widely used for scheduling purposes. Any business that relies on setting customer appointments—such as a physician’s office, an auto repair shop, or a beauty salon—can use Conversational AI to deliver heightened service through the familiarity and comfort of voice communications, without having to dedicate a staff member to perform time-consuming tasks.

Conversational AI is the cornerstone of our Smart Contact initiative, which is designed to give every business—regardless of size—access to compelling Conversational AI capabilities that can provide both immediate and long-term benefits. Not only does Smart Contact empower businesses, it provides a unique opportunity for service providers  to remain relevant to their customers by satisfying the growing interest in voice-enabled AI services and also defend against encroaching competitors.

Let’s face it: Businesses are fully aware of the benefits and efficiencies that automation offers, and they are more than willing to work with a vendor that can seamlessly guide them through this transformation. Service providers that already have existing customer relationships should be top-of-mind for their clients that are looking to integrate AI solutions into their business operations.  The challenge that most providers face is finding the right AI-enabled voice applications that will resonate with customers and deliver the outcomes they expect.

The Marketplace Approach and importance of the ecosystem and verticalization

The broad nature of AI means that service providers can choose from a near-endless buffet of communications capabilities that have the potential to be meaningful to their customers. Tools that can automate customer interactions, handle payments, schedule appointments, or complete time-consuming tasks are well-suited to satisfying business needs. But customers also want flexibility. They require solutions that fit into their workflows, not the other way around. Service providers are then expected to find these technologies and successfully integrate them into existing systems and workflows, adding  flexibility and customization in what has long been an off-the-shelf world.

To accomplish this, service providers would be well-served to leverage an AI marketplace to find the solution that best fits customer needs. Some of the more advanced marketplaces offer providers a no code/low code tool kit to create voice applications that can be sold customised directly for specific clients, or monetised by selling these applications to other providers that are looking to serve their own clients. In either case, an AI marketplace gives providers the flexibility and resources they need to satisfy the growing number of AI-hungry businesses.  Besides the market place approach, it is also crucial to facilitate ecosystem-led integrations with an infinite range of interconnected solutions leveraging powerful low-code/no-code workflow automation tools such as n8n.

Conclusion

We’ve reached the point where businesses are eager to leverage the benefits of Conversational AI. Customers—and SMBs in particular—are eager to utilize these solutions and will work with the provider that can best guide them through this transformation.

For service providers that are looking to compete in this new environment, there are just two options: embrace AI and become that indispensable resource businesses desperately need, or watch their customer base quickly erode. It’s a simple choice, but one that will have long-lasting repercussions.