Intelligent automation turns data insights into call center action
Call centers generate massive amounts of data, which could be harnessed to drive productivity. But most centers are not equipped to process all that data in real time—when it’s most useful. Intelligent automation can help by empowering companies to convert those raw insights into profitable actions.
Manual solutions no longer match up
Processing the reams of information generated each day by a call center is a massive challenge for management teams. That challenge is made even greater by the fact that center conditions change constantly, driven by a variety of unpredictable internal and external circumstances.
Customer service teams struggle to keep up, and regardless of the team’s size or expertise level, turning all that real-time data into higher productivity, more engaged agents and more satisfied customers using manual processes is virtually impossible.
Sure, team leaders can analyze the data later and take action after the fact; but what was wise an hour or a day ago may be too late to make a difference now. For example, a manager could send agents to training sessions but, without intelligent automation woven into the system, it’s much more difficult to get agents back to the phones quickly if call volume suddenly surges. To take another example, if it takes an hour to decide which agents to give voluntary time off, the potential labor-cost savings of that hour vanish.
Let supervisors focus on agent development
Call center supervisors typically manage teams of 15-18 agents. To ensure maximum productivity, supervisors would need to monitor each aspect of every agent’s performance—including tracking historical data, call queues, off-phone assignments, and schedules—while at the same time trying to coach, assist and develop those agents to deliver ever-improving customer service.
With so much to manage, when are supervisors supposed to find time to make lasting improvements to handle time, adherence, or other critical processes? If they were freed from the responsibility to monitor every detail of the call center, supervisors could lead with a people-first mindset, focusing their energy on developing agents and ensuring a better customer experience for every caller.
Customers spend approximately 43 days of their lives on hold. Call center agent attrition averages 30-50%. Frustrated customers and rapid turnover are not a recipe for success. So, what can call centers do?
Intelligent automation + human agents = satisfied customers
The answer lies in the power of intelligent automation, used as a force multiplier of the call center’s human workforce. Intradiems’ solutions process as well as react to call center data in real time, accelerating effective supervisor actions like aligning agents’ schedules to real-time call volumes, sending training sessions during times of low call-volume, or granting VTO or VOT based on real-time circumstances.
Intelligent automation allows managers to concentrate on their core function, which is to support and coach their agents. With support from Intradiem’s intelligent automation solutions, companies will take back control of their call centers by letting people do what they do best and leveraging technology to do what it does best. The result will be more engaged agents, higher productivity, significant cost savings and better customer experiences.
About the author
Matt McConnell
Matt McConnell is Chairman and CEO of Intradiem. He founded the company in 1995 with a vision of reinventing customer service through automation and artificial intelligence. Today, Intradiem is the leading provider of Intelligent Automation solutions for customer service teams. Matt graduated from The Georgia Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Systems Engineering.
