Automation isn’t the future. It’s the new normal
In our last article we’ve taken a look at the trend of proactive customer service and at how it’s becoming a standard in the industry.
This time, while still going through the list made by our friends and partners at Ultimate.ai, we’ll be taking a look at yet another feature that is becoming an industry standard, automation.
What Is Automation?
Automation has many definitions and a whole lot of them can vastly differ, based on the industry that we are referring to. However, at it’s core, automation can be defined as taking a task that used to be done manually by humans and assigning it to some form of software, AI or otherwise, to do it automatically and with minimal outside input needed.
What we’re looking at is a strategy that leverages the latest technology in order to give human employees more time to handle tasks that need their expertise and insight, while the machines do the simpler and more repetitive tasks.
How Does Automation Fit Into The Customer Service Industry?
There are currently quite a few applications for automation and the use of AI in customer service and that’s thanks to the rapid development of this technology in recent years.
Even with a wide array of features to choose from, our favorite functionality are still chat bots. At the moment, some companies are still skeptical about chat bots and prefer to assign all their live customer interactions to human agents. However, the companies that do make full use of this technology have been not only thriving by offering quality self-help solutions for their clients, but have also been heavily cutting down on costs by being able to reassign tasks and to restructure their support systems.
What Do Clients Think About Automations And The Use Of AI?
Several studies and surveys confirm that most clients actually prefer to interact with virtual helpers, rather than humans. The reasons for this vary, but the most common benefits brought to discussion are both the convenience and speed of these solutions. No longer do the clients need to sit in a queue and wait for their turn to talk to a human, because they can instantly get help from a chat bot, without any major losses on response quality.
What Are The Limitations Of Automations?
Currently, the main limitation of automations and, more specifically, AI, is that this technology generally has to be fed large amounts of data and then it has to be trained to make sense of it and use it in order to get tasks done.
Naturally, this process has become smoother and faster as time went on, allowing researchers and engineers to focus more on “the what”, rather than “the how”. We continue to see new innovations and applications for the use of AI every day and we’re excited to see what the next big thing will be.
Conclusion
We’ve gone through what automation is, how it fits into customer service, what clients around the world think about it and also its limitations. So, after all that introspection, you might still be wondering if it’s something worth looking into. Well, our answer is yes, as we believe that even now, in what is considered the mere dawn of AI, the investments to try this technology out as a consumer are small and the potential savings and benefits are substantial.
Are you looking to implement a few automation in your customer support system, but don’t know where to begin? Let’s have a chat and figure it out together!