English
By Ed Finegold, contributing analyst
Robotic process automation (RPA) can deliver great improvements in key contact center performance metrics and customer experiences. When RPA is combined with artificial intelligence (AI), the Intelligent Automation that results can take efficiency, customer experience, and agents’ level of engagement with customers to another level.
Intelligent Automation uses digital workers to automate repetitive processes that typically detract from an agent’s ability to support superior customer experiences. From simplifying logins and customer data entry to reducing truck rolls and enabling chatbots to take on more sophisticated customer support tasks, Intelligent Automation can pay tangible dividends in a range of applications.
Here are 4 ways CSPs can drive measurable improvements today by applying Intelligent Automation in their contact centers.
- Eliminate Duplicate Customer Data Entry
Too many interactions require agents to make multiple, duplicate manual updates to disparate systems that house customer data. Intelligent Automation excels at automating repetitive data entry to multiple back end systems. Digital workers replace the manual logins, menu selections and data entry procedures agents typically would do while fielding a customer call. This can reduce call hold times, increase agent productivity, and improve both the agent and customer experiences. It can also prove to be more secure as fewer agents require login credentials to access to back end systems that house sensitive customer data. - Automate Multiple Logins
Because agents are often required to interact with 5 or more systems in any given scenario, multiple logins can be a timewaster. These logins add steps and hold time to millions of contact center interactions for live phone and chat agents. Intelligent Automation can streamline the agent sign-in process and shield agents from the confusing complexity of multiple, backend logins. CSPs can improve performance metrics like mean time to resolve (MTTR), improve the agent experience, help each agent field more calls per day and remove a manual nuisance that interrupts the flow of any customer interaction. - Improve Webchat and Chatbots
Webchat has proven a useful customer interaction channel, but webchat agents often face many of the same IT hurdles as phone agents. Leaders in digital experience for CSPs are adopting sophisticated chatbots that mimic live agent behavior well. But they can only take on more of the frontline customer support load and deliver an ultra-fast digital experience to customers if they’re supported with Intelligent Automation. Digital workers can provide the connection to the back end that chatbots need to take on more customer support tasks, like plan changes, upgrades, billing adjustments and trouble ticketing. They leverage the same procedures a live agent would, but faster, more accurately and fully automated. - Improve Trouble Ticketing and Reduce Truck Rolls
Some of the costliest customer interactions result in a truck roll, yet many CSPs have not optimized the process by which they determine whether dispatch is necessary. In some cases, 100% of trouble tickets that contact center agents escalate result in a costly truck roll, whether it is needed or not. With Intelligent Automation, trouble ticketing and testing can be automated and integrated using digital workers. These software robots can execute tests across multiple systems supporting different products and route trouble tickets appropriately.
One large-scale CSP using this approach reduced field tech visits by 15%, freeing up nearly 200,000 hours in truck roll time thanks to a large-scale intelligent deployment that took only 6 months.
This blog is part of a 3-part series that focuses on Intelligent Automation for Telcos. The other blogs can be found here:
5 Telco Contact Center Challenges that Undermine Customer Experience