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There was a time when people saw the industrial revolution with an air of scorn and fear.
The world perceived the age of machines as something that would take away their jobs and render people without any means to afford their expenses.
The scenario had changed completely by the end of the industrial revolution. More jobs were created and manufacturing got streamlined.
Just like how the industrial revolution changed manufacturing, there is a rise in contact center automation trends claiming to increase efficiency and elevate the customer service experience.
Let's look at how bringing an automated system to call centers can change things. But first, we'll define what constitutes contact center automation.
What is Contact Center Automation?
Contact center automation refers to using automation tools to streamline call center operations.
There are many time-consuming and repetitive chores like updating the CRM that call center agents have to do. When these are automated, agents can focus on core activities like resolving customer queries.
Having these mundane tasks automated can improve agent productivity and enhance agent performance.
Just like how the end result of the industrial revolution made manufacturing extremely efficient, scheduling automation in a call center helps agents to improve customer service while mundane tasks are taken care of.
Automation can help call centers in various methods. Let's have a look at some of them.
How Does Automation Help a Contact Center?
Any kind of contact center automation is aimed at eliminating time consuming tasks. These tasks can range from evaluating customer calls to creating a smooth agent onboarding process for new agents.
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Streamlining these processes can have a lot of benefits in workforce management. Here are some of them.
1. Reducing Operational Costs
The idea of using automation tools is to reduce time spent on repetitive tasks which don't require a lot of attention. Automation allows agents to focus on much more complex tasks.
When tasks that don’t require a lot of an agent’s attention are automated, this increases agent efficiency. Agents can automatically extract information from PDFs into Google Sheets, saving time on data entry.
Such focused deployment of automation tools can help contact centers to reduce their operational tasks. Automation paves the way for agents and allows them to create an efficient workflow.
2. Increasing First Contact Resolution Rate
First contact resolution (FCR) refers to the amount of conversations that a call center resolves during the first time a customer interacts with an agent.
Implementing workflow automation with tools like chatbots, and intelligent call routing through IVR can help customers resolve their queries faster. Leveraging automation tools in the right manner can help agents to solve complex customer issues while simpler ones can be handled without human intervention.
3. Improve Customer Satisfaction Levels
Call center automation software allows agents to focus on serving customers better while simpler tasks are automated. This allows customers to receive dedicated support from a customer service agent.
This kind of customer engagement helps agents to solve queries faster, hence increasing customer satisfaction.
4. Reduce Agent Attrition
"47% of call center managers feel that high agent attrition is one of the biggest challenges for efficient operations" - SQM Group
Leveraging the power of automation can help a call center to deploy automated agent coaching. This can help reduce the stress of burnout, which is a risk factor for 59% of call center agents.
When agents are given the support they need, it becomes easier for them to cope with the stressful contact center environment. This can also help in reducing the increasing attrition rates.
With contact center automation having so many direct impacts on agent performance and delivering exceptional customer experience, it is evident that automation is a valuable investment.
But what are the different avenues to use call center automation software? Let's find out.
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What are the Different Types of Call Center Automation?
Contact center automation can be deployed in various scenarios. Automation tools make the life of agents, auditors as well as managers easy. Here's how:
1. Interactive Voice Response
Interactive voice response is one of the oldest usage of automation in changing the way customer experience was viewed. IVR directed calls to respective human agents based on the customer's requirement.
With advancements in natural language processing (NLP), IVR is now able to handle common customer queries without human intervention. Agents are involved only when these queries get complex.
2. Self-Service Channels
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The widespread use of internet and social media has led to customer interactions being replaced by customers seeking their own answers to simple problems.
Channels like websites and online libraries have become part of the customer journey. While customers come here, they aren't met with a simple and easy-to-use interface.
Using artificial intelligence and machine learning to streamline such channels can see an increase in customer satisfaction.
3. Automated Agent Coaching
Implementing a generic coaching program for all contact center agents doesn't work as each agent requires training on different aspects.
"Managers spend 50% of their time preparing for coaching" - McKinsey
Instead of managers trying to create a personalized coaching plan for each agent, there's an easier and effective agent coaching method. Using automation tools that are trained with machine learning allows contact centers to give each agent a training schedule that is tailored to their strengths and weaknesses.
Using scheduling automation, coaching sessions are assigned after evaluating agent performance.
When agents receive such coaching and all necessary support, it leads to increased employee satisfaction.
4. Robotic Process Automation (RPA)
There are many repetitive and time-consuming tasks that a call center agent has to do. An example is updating the CRM after each customer interaction is over.
RPA uses bots for workflow automation.
In the given example, RPA bots access the recordings of both outgoing and incoming calls. Using the transcripts provided by speech analysis, these bots update the CRM with the latest customer information without the help of human agents.
5. 100% Call Monitoring
Manual contact center processes are inefficient, especially when it comes to quality assurance (QA). Using call center automation for QA can cover all the customer interactions that happen in the call center.
With the help of artificial intelligence, these tools evaluate the interaction and identify all human error by comparison with a set of pre-programmed parameters.
Start your call center automation journey here.
What is an Example of an Automated Call Center?
An automated call center uses call center software to automate repetitive tasks like agent onboarding, agent coaching, and updating the CRM.
Using the right contact center software can automate and increase the efficiency of contact center operations. These tools can streamline tasks from agent coaching to improving all aspects of the customer journey.
Tools like Convin automate workflows for both agents and auditors. This increases both customer and employee satisfaction.
A free demo can show you how automation can speed up your call center.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. How Do You Automate a Call Center?
Finding the right call center automation software for your organization can feel daunting. The best way to do this is by identifying avenues for automation in your call center and deploying tools that can automate them.
2. What is Robotic Process Automation (RPA) in a Call Center?
RPA refers to using bots to perform repetitive tasks. These bots perform such automated tasks without involving any agents.
3. Can RPA Replace Call Center Agents?
RPA might be able to help with simple customer queries, but nothing can replace human agents. The digital transformation of every space into a workspace has allowed for the presence of virtual agents, but nothing can replace agents completely.
4. What is the Difference Between RPA and BPO?
RPA refers to using automated bots to automate task that are repetitive and time-consuming. Business process outsourcing (BPO) refers to utilizing external workforce to deliver customer service and other tasks.
5. What Kind of Software do Call Center Agents Use?
Call center agents use software that can help them streamline their workflow and increase efficiency. https://convin.ai/blog/call-center-automation-trends
6. What are the Automation Solutions in a Contact Center?
Contact centers use various automation solutions for tasks like agent onboarding, solving simple customer queries, and so on. Some examples of those solutions include chatbots, IVR and RPA.
