6 ways to increase contact center productivity with AI and automation

Like a smart security system that automatically locks the door at a certain hour of the day, an energy monitoring system that reduces energy consumption based on your previous usage history, or even smart plugs that allow you to control the microwave and the oven with the sound of your voice—what sounded like science fiction just a few years ago is now part of our lives. Artificial intelligence (AI) and automation are changing the way we live and simplifying our routine tasks, enabling us to pay attention to what really matters.

What does this mean for the contact center? Automating contact center tasks is about saving agents’ time and effort and allowing them to focus on the customer. With agents spending less time on routine tasks, they can provide customers with better service and create deep relationships that foster retention and loyalty.

Six tips to improve contact center productivity.

Below, you can find examples of how contact center automation increases agent productivity and enhances both the agent and the customer experience.

1. Provide contextual, relevant information to agents.

There is no bigger productivity-zapper than constantly having to search through multiple systems, calling in a manager, or asking a colleague to find an answer to a common question. To avoid this, companies can use an AI-powered knowledge base, combined with virtual agent assistants, to give agents contextual and relevant information that helps them solve customer queries quicker and easier.

For example, if a customer calls with a troubleshooting question, the agent can type the problem description in the knowledge base and instantly be directed to the product documentation. Also, if the knowledge base is on the company’s website and accessible to customers, agents can try to direct them during the call, so they’re able to search there first the next time they have a question, decreasing the number of calls.

Agent assist technology helps agents handle customers in real time by giving recommendations on what they should say during conversations with customers. It can analyze the context of the conversation, predict customer needs, and suggest appropriate responses, improving the quality of customer service.

Talkdesk Agent Assist can guide agents through complex processes and provide instant access to relevant information, reducing the time agents spend searching for answers. It automatically captures important interaction details and updates customer records. This allows agents to focus more on the customer and less on administrative tasks, resulting in more efficient and personalized customer service.

2. Automate repetitive, manual tasks.

Automating repetitive tasks frees agents to handle complex customer issues, significantly reduces errors,  and ensures that the information in your business tools is always up-to-date. Streamline contact center operations and enhance agent productivity and team performance with contact center software that offers automated tasks such as:

• Call logging and recording after a call ends.
• Updating customer information on CRM.
• Proactively sending customer order update messages.

Automatic summary offers an accurate summary of each customer interaction, capturing the key points and outcomes. These summaries can then be quickly reviewed by agents, managers, or other team members, significantly reducing the time spent manually documenting interactions.

3. Leverage self-service channels.

One of the best ways to improve contact center productivity is to divert callers to other channels. While some customers will still want to talk with a human agent, a majority of customers (especially younger generations) prefer to solve simple queries on their own. Calling customer support is often associated with long waiting times and call queues, and customers feel it will be easier and faster if they look for the answer themselves. Implementing self-service options (email, chat, SMS, or virtual agents) will decrease the call volume and increase agent productivity. Agents can interact with more than one customer simultaneously and respond to chats and emails during idle time, maximizing productivity.

4. Increase first contact resolution rate.

First contact resolution (FCR) means adequately addressing customer issues the first time they get in touch with customer service. FCR has a large impact on agent and team productivity as customers won’t call back about the same issue.

FCR is negatively influenced by the lack of access to customer information and systems data. This occurs when software isn’t integrated when agents don’t have access to the customer’s history (i.e., support tickets, items purchased, cases, and call logs), and when agents don’t have access to accurate information about the product/service). If this happens, agents are less likely to resolve the customer’s issue on the first contact and more likely to have to transfer the call or call back the customer.

5. Optimize workforce management and planning.

Call volume fluctuations impact contact center productivity. You can’t know with 100% accuracy how many calls the contact centers will receive at a given time of day, week, or month. But you can predict, based on historical data, market insights, and other available information, how many agents you will need to handle the expected volume of interactions.

Having the right number of agents for incoming queries is not only essential to meet customer expectations, but also to ensure agents remain engaged and happy. 

Workforce management tools help optimize staff scheduling, reducing the time spent assigning agents to shifts and making it easier for supervisors, managers, and team leaders to manage the daily workload on the contact center by ensuring that the right agents, with the right skills and training, are on available when you need them.

Talkdesk QM Assist is one tool that significantly contributes to improving contact center productivity. It uses machine learning algorithms to evaluate agent interactions helping supervisors identify areas for improvement and training needs. This can optimize operations and enhance agent performance.