By Mr. Levis Wilson
The global call center outsourcing market is poised to reach a staggering USD 429.8 billion by 2028, driven by an insatiable demand for exceptional customer service, the widespread adoption of cloud-based call center solutions, and an increasing inclination toward outsourcing call center operations. According to a 2022 Statista report, the industry employs over 17 million people globally, with Asia Pacific leading call center employment, accounting for 44% of the global workforce.
As automation and artificial intelligence (AI) continue to evolve, the future employment landscape in the call center sector is uncertain. While certain call center jobs may become automated, the industry might also witness the emergence of new positions demanding advanced skills and knowledge.
The Pivotal Role of Customer Service
Customer service plays a pivotal role in brand loyalty, with 95% of organizations, according to Microsoft’s 2018 research, acknowledging its significance. A study by American Express further emphasizes the impact of customer-centric services, indicating a 33% shift in brand preferences due to poor service. Personalized customer engagement strategies, maintaining an average of 89% customer retention, highlight the value of tailored approaches.
Sustaining customer satisfaction is paramount for businesses, and artificial intelligence plays a crucial role in achieving this by providing an interactive platform and swift responses. Conversational AI tools are projected to significantly reduce labor costs in contact centers by $80 billion by 2026, offering a cost-effective alternative to traditional human-centric solutions.
AI Chatbots: A Cost-Effective Alternative
In contrast to the ongoing costs associated with maintaining a team of human agents, the deployment of an AI chatbot incurs primarily upfront costs in development, implementation, and maintenance. Although the initial investment may be higher, the long-term operational expenses of an AI chatbot are generally lower. This cost advantage is a driving factor behind the increasing adoption of AI-based solutions in customer service, enabling businesses to enhance efficiency and reduce expenses.
For instance, let’s consider the average monthly cost of a call center agent, encompassing salary and additional expenses, which stands at approximately Rs. 30,000. Assuming an agent dedicates around 15 minutes for resolving each query and can manage 4 to 5 interactions per hour, each treated as a separate query, they could effectively resolve 36–40 queries in a day, totaling 720 queries per month. Based on this, an agent-centric query solution would incur a cost of approximately Rs. 41.67 per query. However, the introduction of AI offers a substantially more economical alternative, allowing organizations to achieve a significant cost reduction and scale their customer experience (CX) without being reliant on human resources.
Personalized Service Through AI
In the realm of call centers, the frequently heard phrases “Please hold” or “Can I place you on a brief hold?” echo the need for rapid, precise, and helpful responses grounded in contextually relevant information. Effective customer service goes beyond promptness—it thrives when responses are personalized, taking into account the emotional state of the customer. This dual approach of cost-effectiveness and personalized service is pivotal in reshaping the landscape of call center operations.
The Rise of Agentless Contact Centers
Natural Language Processing (NLP) serves a dual role, not only benefiting customers but also offering indispensable support to agents during their work hours. The urgency for swift assistance is underscored by customer expectations, as revealed in a study by Haloocom, where 53% of respondents expressed willingness to wait only 2–5 minutes on hold before abandoning a call. This emphasizes the critical need for efficient solutions.
Agent assist technology leverages the power of AI and machine learning, providing real-time suggestions and delivering relevant information to human agents across various industries, including telecom and retail. Its integration with existing contact center applications ensures seamless operation, facilitating faster onboarding for agents. The impact is far-reaching, enhancing the accuracy and efficiency of responses while ultimately elevating customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Looking ahead, contact centers worldwide are prioritizing key objectives such as reducing staffing costs, improving overall efficiencies, ensuring rapid access to information, and having business intelligence readily available. Moreover, the demand for faster delivery and payout underscores the evolving landscape of customer service priorities.
In response to these evolving requirements and the dynamic digital era, innovations in AI and ML-based NLP technologies are reshaping the industry. This transformation signals a departure from conventional platforms like Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS) and Unified Communication as a Service (UCaaS). Instead, it paves the way for the emergence of Experience Communications as a Service (XCaas) platforms, reflecting a paradigm shift in how customer interactions are facilitated and optimized.
The call center landscape is undergoing a transformative shift towards agentless contact centers, exemplified by innovations like Haloocom’s HEXA—an advanced search engine streamlining tasks related to call quality, audit, dispute, and conflict management. Auto attendants, exemplified by AI-ROBO, have proven capable of saving companies up to 30% in customer support costs by providing round-the-clock service.
Tech-Forward Call Centers
Companies relied on focus groups and post-call surveys for customer service assessments. However, the incorporation of NLP allows for a more comprehensive analysis of customer feedback from various channels through sentiment analysis. Notably, Haloocom’s CTI integrations with platforms like Hubspot, Leadsquared, and Zoho have led to a threefold improvement in contact center productivity and a remarkable 75% cost optimization.
The advent of agentless contact centers, marked by transformative technologies like HEXA and AI-ROBO, signifies an inevitable shift in the industry. This evolution presents a cost-effective and time-saving solution that aligns with the strategic goals of contact center operations. As automation and AI continue to advance, the role of human agents will likely evolve towards more specialized and analytical tasks, while AI handles routine customer interactions. This transformation is inevitable and will fundamentally reshape the future of call center operations.
(The author is Mr. Levis Wilson, CEO Haloocom Technologies, and the views expressed in this article are his own)