The first thing that attracted companies towards VoIP phone systems was their low cost. Nowadays, those that make the move towards these systems, usually do so for strategic reasons. It offers a much better customer service, thanks in great part to the introduction of AI into the IVR system (interactive voice response). Here is why linking AI and a VoIP phone system can bring contact centers to a much higher level of quality.
AI and IVR: A Perfect Match
When you call into a contact center these days, chances are you will be welcomed by an interactive voice response system. It has gained popularity for a few years, as it handles the customers as soon as the call is picked-up, or when the message comes in, withstanding of the channel it used to arrive to the company’s central. No matter how many of them are coming in at once, they will all be handled simultaneously. Coordinated with a VoIP phone system like the one provided by Aircall, the IVR will try to handle the request by itself, before passing it on to a human operator, if it can’t do so.
It this the addition of AI that makes it possible for the IVR system to handle requests by itself. When the call comes in, it automatically identifies the caller and brings up its file. It searches for key information inside it, in order to better response to whatever will be asked. To be able to come up with an answer, the AI benefits from all the data accumulated on the customer, but also all the information that resides in the system. It is the analysis of it all, that renders it able to respond to many demands. And if it can’t, it will find the right person in the company to take on the call and see the query through.
A More Performant and Economical Communication System
What the AI does, is to raise the autonomous capacity of the communication system. If it can find answers to problems by itself, it makes the process that much faster, which is to the benefit of customers. Having their issue being dealt with right away, instead of waiting on the line for long minutes, is certainly something that makes customers appreciate the company and their products and services, even more.
But it is also beneficial to the company, as it reduces cost greatly. If the AI enables the system to find more and more solutions as it learns, it also reduces the needs for a great number of operators to be standing by. The cost of employees being an important part of the spending of a business, its reduction in number becomes a major advantage that it can use in developing the business even more. It can invest the money saved into new marketing strategies or other departments that could use it.
Just how much will AI increase the efficiency of the VoIP phone system in the future is hard to estimate. It could literally eliminate the need for human interventions. We will just have to wait and see how far it can go.
