What AI can bring to call centers

Virtual assistants (chatbot), transcription and analysis of calls, automatic transmission of customer information to the consultant…. AI is taking an increasing place in the world of call centers to analyze the feelings of the interlocutors to guide the speech to be held.

This increase in power does not come without threatening employment. According to a recent report by Goldman Sachs, customer relations professions are likely to be among the ten professions most affected by AI, potentially leading to significant job cuts. The movement is already the work. Across the channel, BT (formerly British Telecom) estimates that the introduction of AI could lead to the destruction of the equivalent of 10,000 jobs, especially in the processing of telephone calls from its customer service.

An anti-offshore weapon

In France, Wisecom is bucking this trend. At its creation in 2005, this French call center operator made the choice to settle, not in Madagascar or North Africa, but in the heart of Paris. He is also working to break the stereotypes that harm the attractiveness of the job of teleconsultant” By focusing on well-being at work, continuous training and promotion – 85% of managers come from plateaus – the turnover has been reduced to less than 7% against 22 to 25% on average on the market”, explains Paola Fabiani, its co-founder (photo).

Another strong choice: integrating AI into its processes. « Of two things one. Either, we underwent AI, or we integrated it into our model as a lever for competitiveness and attractiveness, continues Paola Fabiani. By reducing the number of interactions by more than 30%, AI contributes to the enhancement of the profession. Operators can focus on value-added messages and calls. »

Created 7 years ago, the innovation lab sources technologies and ensures a permanent monitoring. « A technology deemed relevant is the subject of a POC at a beta tester client. If the result is positive, it is generalized ». Of the more than 250 solutions tested, about fifty are now used on a daily basis.

Increased telephone consultant

At Wisecom, AI operates throughout the value chain. The analysis of the data makes it possible to know on which channel – physical network, telephone, web, mobile -, at what moment and in what format a prospect wishes to be contacted. « This is a key issue of lead management, especially in the BtoB world. »

AI also ensures the detection of weak signals in a commercial relationship and makes it possible to anticipate future actions to retain a customer or increase the average basket. More conventionally, bots then improve the customer journey by automating a certain number of interactions 24/7.

It is also a question of “increasing” the teleconsultant by enriching the information at his disposal. “Nwe only, the customer card goes up automatically but, depending on the keywords exchanged during the conversation, his argument will gain in precision by having before his eyes the characteristics of the product evoked by the customer “, explains Paola Fabiani.

The generative AI can then generate the relevant content from the customer. Thanks to speech to text technologies, contextual analysis of conversations makes it possible to identify market trends and changes in consumer behavior. Finally, the AI can itself evaluate the quality of customer service (quality monitoring).

The best of the human and the automaton

For Paola Fabiani, the whole challenge is to place the cursor in the right place. « A vending machine can indicate the opening hours of a store or the number of points on a loyalty card. On the other hand, during a water damage or car accident, the responsiveness, the understanding of the need and the empathy of an operator are essential. The human relationship is irreplaceable in this type of situation.»

This consideration of AI in everyday work implies, according to the manager, a logic of continuous learning. The employees are trained in 2 to 5 applications. However, this technophilia does not condition the profile of the selected candidates. “We recruit juniors as well as seniors, based on a set of skills. “A training course has even been created for laypeople to these technologies.