Are robots replacing humans? The proposed question sounds cliché, but it’s a relevant one for many enterprises today. It’s particularly relevant for the individuals responsible for vetting and choosing contact center technology solutions. Because they have a deep understanding of the technology stack, and thus for the people using it, they are more aware than most of those who may be replaced by robots.
As we move into the era that is attempting to leverage artificial intelligence and machine learning more and more, one emerging technology gaining momentum is RPA - robotic process automation. While most businesses are already familiar with RPA in a generic sense, as an automation solution for backend processes, a new form of RPA is arising on the front end, one who is delivering effective, cost-saving solutions to customer service technological and operational challenges. This “customer-facing” RPA is thus helping call centers achieve more, and as a result, profoundly improving the customer experience.
Today, in almost every major industry worldwide, there is a growing focus on developing a front end digital business strategy to automate operations, lower costs and improve customer service, and hence, the overall customer experience. Especially as emerging technologies have begun threatening long-established companies in verticals such as retail, insurance, banking, government and more, the push for automation is now more critical than ever when it comes to optimizing front-end business processes to meet growing consumer expectations. At the same time, business leaders must decide which digital transformation solution will have the necessary immediate impact on its core business operations today, not a few years from now, and as well as open new business opportunities moving forward.
As the changes brought about by ever-evolving digital technology become progressively meshed into our daily lives, consumer demand has also advanced to now expect from all businesses the same level of speed, convenience, and efficiency. At banks, and similar financial institutions there is growing pressure to satisfy the demands of Millennials and tech-savvy customers who have come to expect nothing less than unspoiled optimization from their customer experiences. The lack of a good experience has put banks at risk of losing customers to other financial institutions as simple as applications or any other non-bank players in real-time payments, P2P payments and other growing sectors aiming to take advantage of business opportunities in areas traditionally dominated by banks. This is especially true in the call centers, the front lines of customer service, where automation is a critical step towards greater operational efficiency, and thus, a seamless customer experience.
It seems automation is everywhere these days, allowing people to accomplish a variety of tasks faster, and the customer service industry is no exception, where technological advancements continue to transform the customer experience, and businesses continue to discover the benefits of real-time automation. Here are the top 5 customer service automation trends in 2018:
Annoying notifications, complex registration and freezing are the top three reasons for uninstalling mobile apps, according to an Appiterate survey, so it's no wonder that most people use only about five of the apps on their mobile, and ignore the other thirty or so. I personally couldn't live without 7-8 apps, but I rarely touch the rest.
Today, there’s a growing consensus that the age of robotic process automation (RPA) has arrived, capable of significantly increasing operational efficiency, thus offering clear-cut cost, performance and scalability benefits. It seems it’s only a matter of time before RPA will eventually be leveraged in just about every industry, automating business processes with cognitive systems. In fact, while estimates for the RPA market are currently around $500 million, in the next years, the market is expected to exceed $1 billion! In fact, one estimate pegs just the North American RPA market at over $3.5 billion by 2024 (per Grand View Research). These numbers not only point to the increasing usage by companies that are finding value in virtual robots but to growing number of capable providers as well.
Robotic Process Automation (RPA) has been one of the most revolutionary products of enterprise technology in the last few years, stirring the winds of change in the business world by enabling increased productivity at reduced costs, and one which will likely eventually be leveraged in just about every industry. In fact, according to a recent report by McKinsey and Company, it’s predicted that automation technologies, such as Robotic Process Automation, (RPA) will have a potential economic impact of nearly $6.7 trillion by 2025! For now, however, there are three particular industries that are most reaping the benefits of RPA, blazing the automation trail. Lets take a look:
The verdict came by email. Martha Mitchell learned that her request for 10 customer service agents was denied. All managers were expected to “Do more with less”. As director of the customer experience, Martha was responsible for the contact center of 300 agents and a product support team of 20. She understood that there were only two ways to do “more with less.”
Today, companies are increasingly adopting new strategies to improve the customer experience and profitability while lowering operational costs. Desktop automation is one such strategy, as it removes the barrier that the myriad of existing applications can present to a call center agent trying to deliver exceptional customer service, and thus empowers agents to provide faster, more personalized service to every customer, all while increasing operational efficiency. Let’s take a look:
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