If you type “Will AI Replace call center jobs” on any search engine page and click on the news section, you will find several reports and columns of industry experts who are worried about AI replacing call center jobs. Though, this is not the first time the call center industry is facing an existential crisis. In the past, the industry was written off many times by several noted professionals.
However, every time it faced a crisis, it grew a lot stronger. It generated more jobs and employed more people than ever before. As per a study by job portal Indeed, the call and contact center sector witnessed a 498 percent surge in job postings between 2020 and 2022.
As per a report released by Future Market Insights, the demand for call centers is projected to grow at a compounded annual growth rate of 11 percent between 2023 and 2033.
If we look at the strengths and weaknesses of AI objectively, we can understand what the rapidly-evolving technology can do and cannot do all by itself. As Kai-Fu Lee, the renowned Taiwanese businessman and computer scientist famously said, “AI will not replace jobs, but it will change the nature of work.”
Or, as award-winning AI entrepreneur Amir Husain rightly remarked, “AI is not a replacement for humans. It is about amplifying human potential.”
We could not agree more.
In this blog post, we will discuss what advantages AI has over call and contact center agents, what its limitations are, as well as how call and contact centers can create a synergy between AI and human agents. So, without further ado let’s dive straight into the blog post.
Advantage of AI in Call and Contact Centers
The advent of generative AI and other tools has come as a boon for the call and contact center industry. If we start counting the advantages, the list would be long indeed. To keep it brief and succinct, here are some key advantages:
1. 24/7 Availability
AI never sleeps. Be it the dead of the night or the wee hours of the morning, whenever a customer contacts, an AI-powered call center will always respond. It is beneficial for call centers that serve customers across different time zones. The ability to provide round-the-clock customer service makes AI a valuable technology for the call and contact center industry.
2. Streamlined Processes and Tasks
No human (or machine, for that matter) can match the way AI technology can streamline a call center’s processes and tasks. As Senior Communications Strategist Bill Detwiler rightly said, “When AI speaks the language of business, processes don’t just run, they work.” AI-powered call and contact centers can benefit from efficient distribution of calls, selection of the most cost-effective path to handle calls, and routing of calls to the right departments and agents with relevant skills, expertise, and knowledge to resolve issues.
3. Automation of Manual Tasks
Would you be surprised to know that in some call centers, agents spend more time on repetitive and manual tasks than the work they are supposed to do, which is addressing customers’ queries and resolving their issues? This is where AI can help. To paraphrase internet law and policy expert Robert Cannon, everything that can be automated will be automated by AI.
4. Substantial Cost Savings
AI does not demand salary, bonuses, perquisites, and increments. Many generative AI tools are free to use anyway. The ones that are not free require a one-time charge and yield a high return on investment after a point of time. AI is akin to a genie that fulfills most of your commands, in considerably less time, free of cost.
5. High Efficiency and Productivity
Would you be surprised to know AI can enhance a call or contact center’s productivity by leaps and bounds? That should not come as a surprise as AI is all about high efficiency and productivity. But if you want proof, the findings of some credible studies can remove your doubts. As per a study by Nielsen Norman Group, AI-enhanced employees’ productivity by 67 percent.
6. Wide Range of Cutting-Edge Channels
Some years back, the call and contact center industry had to rely on traditional communication channels such as audio calls, video calls, text messages, emails, and social media. However, after the evolution of AI, many advanced channels have emerged, such as chatbots and voice bots, which include survey bots, collection bots, service bots, and inquiry bots. Also, AI-powered Interactive Voice Response (IVR) and text-to-speech systems are highly useful channels for call and contact centers.
7. Self-Service
There are times when customers would wait to speak with a live agent to resolve complex issues. And there are situations when customers would prefer getting the answers to their queries and solutions to their problems by themselves. AI-powered tools are suitable for the latter scenarios.
Limitations of AI in Call and Contact Centers
No matter how fast and efficient AI is, no matter how beneficial it is for call and contact centers, it has its share of limitations. Here are some of those:
1. Lack of Empathy and Emotional Intelligence
At the end of the day, AI is a technology created by humans. No matter how exponentially it learns and develops, it will remain a machine that is devoid of human emotions and feelings. As a wise person once said, without emotional intelligence, all kinds of intelligence remain incomplete.
2. Over-Reliance on Previous Data and Patterns
The algorithms of AI tools rely heavily on previous data sets and patterns. AI tools are as good as the data they learn from. If the data fed into them is biased, inaccurate, or malicious then the actions and outcomes would be dangerous.
3. Inability to Handle Complex Problems and Queries
AI depends heavily on specific data sets and patterns. It cannot understand, let alone handle new and complex problems and queries as a live agent can. If a call or contact center has highly trained agents who are specialists in their respective areas, then AI does not have much to do.
4. Lack of Human Element
No matter how much we humans may evolve, we will always crave a human element, a human touch, in most aspects of our lives. Many studies have found that customers still prefer to interact with a human when they have a problem. Can AI provide the human touch? No.
How Can Call Centers Optimize the Synergy between AI and Human Agents?
AI has many advantages. It also has some limitations. The same is the case with human agents. But when both work together, a beautiful synergy is formed. Call and contact centers need to find out ways to optimize the synergy. Here are some ways to do that:
1. Handpick the Right Tools
First thing first, call and contact centers need to choose the right AI-powered tools and systems for their agents. Today, many solutions, such as call center software, contact center software, and omnichannel CX suite software, are powered by AI. The main aim for using the tools must be to automate all manual and monotonous tasks and streamline inefficient processes. Replacing employees with machines must never be the aim.
2. Provide the Right Training
In today’s age, human agents need two types of training. One is to learn how to leverage relevant AI tools most efficiently and effectively. The other is to become specialists in their core areas. AI may replace a generalist but it cannot replace a specialist. As legendary writer Elbert Hubbard once said, “One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man.”
3. Efficient Delegation of Tasks
After a call and contact center sets up AI-powered systems, they must be extremely particular about delegating duties. AI-enabled systems must handle routine and frequently-occurring issues and frequently asked questions. Agents must focus on answering and solving complex queries and issues.
4. Monitor and Optimize Performance
Last but not least, contemporary call and contact centers must constantly monitor the performance of both AI systems and human agents. If the results fall short of the expectations, then they must find out the causes and take corrective measures to improve outcomes. Organizations also need to facilitate knowledge sharing to optimize the synergy between AI systems and human agents.
All in All,
As AI continues to evolve at an exponential pace, many professionals in the call and contact center industry are concerned if the technology would indeed replace them. This is no time to panic!
Instead call and contact centers need to invest in the right AI-powered tools and systems. At the same time, agents need to learn how to leverage AI effectively. To paraphrase a popular quote, AI won’t take away jobs. However, people who know how to use AI will.
