The contact centre industry faces a significant challenge: how to train new agents quickly and effectively so that they can deliver quality service from day one. 

Typically, the training period is very short, and agents begin handling customer interactions without fully understanding all the concepts, often relying heavily on the constant supervision of a colleague or supervisor. 

The cost of a key team member taking time out of their day to help a new colleague is quite high. However, Artificial Intelligence for contact centres can take on this role and even tailor the process to each individual. 

Here are three use cases for automating the training and support of new agents: 

1. CREATE A BOT TO TRACK PROGRESS

By breaking down all the documentation that agents need to learn into different sections, we can create a bot that scores them once they’ve completed each module. By shortening the training time, agents are less likely to forget what they’ve learned. 

At this stage, the AI doesn’t just act as an examiner; it can also identify the format in which the agent learns best and personalise the learning process, for example by providing more video rather than text. 

2. CREATE A BOT FOR INTERACTIVE SIMULATIONS

Once new agents have read all the documentation, we can develop a bot with a simulator to allow them to practice real cases in a controlled environment. 

By feeding the bot historical call data from the contact centre, it can mimic a real customer and challenge the agent. 

After each simulation, the AI can also provide real-time feedback and even generate a report for the supervisor, ensuring they are kept informed of the agent’s progress.

3. CREATE A BOT FOR REAL-TIME GUIDANCE

When the agent starts handling real customer interactions, we can implement a bot to monitor their responses during calls. If they make a mistake, the bot can immediately suggest the correct response. 

In this scenario, AI acts as a support tool for all agents, but for newcomers it provides an extra layer of confidence, taking the pressure off them to deliver a great customer experience. 

AI IN THE CONTACT CENTRE IS NOT HERE TO REPLACE AGENTS

The foundation of customer service is people, and that should never be lost. In an ideal world, we would have the resources for the best agents to personally mentor new recruits, but this isn’t always possible. 

At first glance, having a bot accompany new team members may seem impersonal, but it’s actually quite the opposite. By involving agents and supervisors in the creation of the bot, we can give the AI a human touch, using the same tone that a colleague would. 

READY TO TRANSFORM YOUR AGENT TRAINING PROCESS?

La entrada 3 AI automations for agent training se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

Speech Analytics, or assessing the customer service we are providing at any given moment, can be automatedthanks to artificial intelligence for the contact centre.

This technology is capable of analysing millions of pieces of data, classifying them and presenting an assessment in a matter of seconds, which means we can evaluate every single conversation that has taken place with just one query.

The four steps we need to follow to get the best results are:

1. DEFINING GOALS AND METRICS

First, we need to decide which elements of the conversation we want the bot to consider; for example, politeness, problem-solving skills, protocol adherence, etc.

Once we know what we want to measure, we need to establish metrics for each aspect, such as using a 0-10 rating or qualitative analysis.

2. ACQUIRING A BOT

To achieve high Speech Analytics, the bot must be able to generate summaries. This means we need generative AI with an NLP (Natural Language Processing) model to process the language and evaluate the content.

Important! If we want to monitor the calls in our contact centre, we also need to ensure that the bot is able to transcribe speech to text, which means it should include an ASR (automatic speech recognition) model.

3. ACQUIRING POWER BI

This tool, developed by Microsoft, allows us to have customised charts with the information that the AI extracts from all conversations, as well as tables that record the analysis and summary of each call.

4. DEVELOPING THE WORKFLOW

Once we’ve got the bot and Power BI in place, we need to create the workflow that the AI will follow to collect, analyse and send the information so that it’s synchronised within Power BI.

For example, if we want the bot to provide an assessment of a call that includes a summary, the agent’s courtesy rating, and the original audio of the call, we need to create the following workflow:

Step 1 – User request

The process begins when we ask: “Which agent and which call?

Step 2 – Call identification

The bot searches the database for the specific call using the information we have provided (agent name, date and time of the call, or any other unique identifier).

Step 3 – Audio transcription

Once it has found the audio file, it will transcribe the file and convert it to text.

Step 4 – Conversation analysis and summary

The bot will analyse the conversation to assess the aspects we defined in the first step.

If one of the aspects is ‘agent courtesy’, the model will look for indicators of courtesy in the conversation, such as the use of polite language, respectful tone, etc.

It will then assign ratings or tags to the specific aspects according to the metrics we have defined (for example, a score from 1 to 10).

To create a summary of the conversation, it will look for key points such as the reason for the call, the solution provided by the agent and any relevant issues.

Step 5 – Generating the full report IN POWER BI

The bot will compile the transcript, summary and scores and send them to Power BI, and the tool will sync the information every hour.

4. CONFIGURING THE APIs

Once the process is defined, there are two things to consider. Firstly, if we are using a third party tool for transcription and analysis, we need to ensure that the API works with the bot.

We also need to configure the API to ensure that the bot and Power BI are integrated and can automate report generation.

FINAL THOUGHTS

After following these steps, our bot will be ready to provide us with scores for every agent and every call in our contact centre.

All we need to do now is test and tune the model, deploy the system and, as always, monitor its performance.

Of course, we’ll also need to ensure internally that staff know how to use the bot, and technically that the AI meets privacy and security regulations to comply with GDPR.

If this process is too complex for your team or you don’t have someone with the skills to set up a bot, don’t hesitate to contact our technical team to help.

WANT TO OPTIMISE YOUR CONTACT CENTRE MONITORING?

La entrada How to use AI to monitor conversations in the contact centre se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

After evaluating all the available entries, we decided to submit our applications for “Best Automation and Robotisation Project” with EVA and “Best Cloud Computing Project”, showcasing our Omnichannel Contact Centre.

The good news filled us with joy! So we travelled to Madrid, our second home, to enjoy an evening surrounded by colleagues, friends and outstanding professionals in the industry.

After the presentation by Lourdes Álvarez, CEO of Peldaño, Alfred Nesweda, our CEO, and Carlos Jiménez, our CCO, took to the stage to receive the two awards, which undoubtedly recognise our hard work and dedication to the customer experience.

We recently launched a portfolio that covers all the solutions businesses need to communicate internally and externally. These awards confirm our leading position as a provider of all-in-one solutions that combine contact centre software, collaboration platform, fixed and mobile telephony, business numbering and artificial intelligence.

EVA: THE AI FOR CUSTOMER SERVICE

Our artificial intelligence speaks all languages and handles calls, chats, WhatsApps, SMS, emails and social media.

It excels at increasing service levels, reducing waiting times, improving the customer and agent experience, better allocating resources and increasing efficiency.

To date, EVA has successfully resolved more than 50% of requests for one of Europe’s leading airlines, or 150,000 requests out of a total of 300,000, without human intervention.

In addition to doubling agent productivity, the company has reduced costs by 50% and increased customer satisfaction by 60%.

And this is just one of many examples. Explore other automations designed for all customer service teams.

OMNICHANNEL CONTACT CENTRE

Our advanced customer service software allows agents to manage all communication channels from a single platform: calls, chat, WhatsApp, email, Click&Talk and SMS.

Supervisors, meanwhile, have full control over lines, queues and agents, and can monitor service levels from a wallboard and real-time statistics panel.

Its intuitive interface, integration with CRMs, ERPs and ticketing systems, automated call distribution and artificial intelligence capabilities take customer service to new heights.

In addition, the use of agile methodology allows us to deliver bi-monthly updates based on customer feedback, with our innovation and development team customising the tool to meet customer requirements.

THANKS AND ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, we would like to congratulate our team of 1,000 people who work tirelessly and passionately, and thank our customers and partners for the trust they have placed in us, some for over twenty-five years.

We would also like to thank the members of the Platinum Customer Experience Awards Jury and the entire Peldaño team, especially María Muñoz, Contact Centre Hub Director, and Mario Martelo, Communications Consultant .

WANT TO BE OUR NEXT SUCCESS STORY?

La entrada We won two awards at the Platinum Customer Experience Awards se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

THE IMPACT OF AI

The day began with a welcome from our CEO, Alfred Nesweda, who highlighted the importance of artificial intelligence in the sector, noting that there are more and more AI solutions for the contact centre.

“Every week I discover a new company offering AI solutions for the contact centre.”

Alfred Nesweda

Alfred Nesweda, CEO of Enreach ES, welcomes attendees to the CX Brunch by Enreach.

This technology, which is now gaining significant momentum, could become a new business model and “new economy” in the future, as it is expected to contribute $15.7 trillion to the US economy by 2023, according to PwC.

SPANISH LEGAL FRAMEWORK FOR AI

Our CEO then handed over to Daniel Vidal, a lawyer and legal director of Webpilots España, who began his presentation by explaining the nature of AI and its rapid development.

“The train is leaving, and those who don’t catch it now may not be able to get on at the next station.”

Daniel Vidal

After this metaphor, he moved on to the topic of AI regulation, making it clear that Spain is a global leader in the regulatory field, highlighting that a Royal Decree was issued as early as 2023 to oversee artificial intelligence on Spanish territory, long before the AI Act was approved at the European level last month.

Daniel Vidal, Legal Director of Webpilots España, during his presentation at Enreach’s CX Brunch.

Another piece of Spanish legislation that will regulate the use of AI in customer service is popularly known as the ‘3-Minute Law’, which, once passed, will, among other things, limit phone hold times to three minutes and prohibit the exclusive use of auto-attendants or conversational bots to assist consumers, among others.

As a result of users’ bad experiences when calling customer service and wanting to speak to an agent, or at least a more advanced bot that understands their queries, this bill is the perfect opportunity to adopt technological solutions that enable quality self-service while reducing waiting times to zero.

THE ROLE OF AI IN THE CONTACT CENTRE

The third and final presentation of the CX Brunch was a live demonstration of our virtual agent: EVA (Enreach Virtual Assistant).

Led by Marc Brunés, an AI specialist, and Jorge García, Product Director, they were able to demonstrate how our virtual assistant works and is configured through a user case.

Our AI solution for customer service was able to engage in a chat conversation with a fictional customer, recognise their problem, check the customer’s record in Salesforce, log the issue raised by the user and return the tracking number in a matter of seconds.

On the other side of the spectrum, Enreach’s virtual assistant is programmed to leave a note for the agent with the incident alert, the ticket and the history of the conversation it had with the customer.

On the left, Jorge García, Product Director, and on the right, Marc Brunés, AI Specialist, during the demonstration of Enreach AI.

EVA has been programmed to follow the steps that any other agent would take, but in a fully autonomous manner, freeing operators from tasks where they do not add value, and allowing them to focus on providing a more personalised and humanised service.

We have no doubt that consumers who still prefer human contact will appreciate being assisted by a person who takes the time to listen to them, while those looking for a quick solution will marvel at the efficiency and immediacy of the bot.

EAGER TO KNOW MORE?

Together with Webpilots España, we are preparing a whitepaper with the aim of sharing, free of charge, the main contents discussed during the two sessions of the CX Brunch.

Subscribe to the blog and you will be the first to receive our report on the latest trends in AI in the contact centre.

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La entrada Challenges of AI in customer service: Summary of the second CX Brunch se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

Are you aware of the differences between CRM and contact centre software? In this article, we explain what they are and how they complement each other.

WHAT IS CONTACT CENTRE SOFTWARE?

Contact centre software is used by customer service departments to communicate with customers.

These tools allow you to send and receive calls, emails, chats, WhatsApp messages and video calls.

WHAT IS A CRM?

CRMs (Customer Relationship Management) are tools used to manage customer data.

They contain personal details of leads, prospects and existing customers, as well as their contract information: what services/products they have, payment history, contract terms and more.

This information is typically managed by marketing, sales and customer service teams.

WHEN SHOULD CONTACT CENTRE SOFTWARE BE INTEGRATED WITH A CRM?

Customer service teams need both solutions: one to send and receive calls, messages or video calls, and the other to provide them with customer data.

That’s why both programmes are integrated to optimise and streamline the tasks agents perform before, during and after a call.

Once both systems are integrated, you’ll be able to:

• Synchronise customer data and interaction history with customer service.
• Answer, record, route, and classify calls without leaving the CRM.
• Automate CRM profile lookups to identify the caller.
• Call a customer directly from their CRM profile.
• Store call records in the customer’s profile.
• Generate much more comprehensive reports by cross-referencing information from both solutions.

HOW ARE THE TWO PROGRAMMES UNIFIED?

Integrations between contact centre software and CRM can be achieved through APIs or plug-ins.

APIs allow for more scalable and customisable integration but require advanced technical skills to install and update.

Plug-ins, on the other hand, are easy to install but less scalable and customisable as they are designed for specific purposes and rarely adapt to the needs of the business.

WHICH COMPANIES CAN BENEFIT FROM INTEGRATION?

Any company that serves customers or prospects and already uses a CRM, regardless of size or sector: from small government offices or law firms to banks, contact centres or BPOs.

DO YOU NEED CONTACT CENTRE SOFTWARE THAT INTEGRATES WITH YOUR CRM?

Our customer service software integrates with major CRM software, and we have a dedicated development team that is constantly improving our integrations.

Would you like a free demo or custom development? Call us now on +34 900 670 750 or chat with us on our website.

La entrada CRM vs. contact centre software: Where does one end and the other begin? se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

When a company is faced with a high volume of customer enquiries, the need for software to manage them becomes obvious. 

There are two main solutions on the market: call centre software and contact centre software. By answering these four questions, you’ll have a clear understanding of which is better for you.

1. WHAT CHANNELS DO YOUR CUSTOMERS USE?

If your only customer contact channel is a helpline, call centre software will enable you to handle calls quickly and efficiently.

However, if you have alternative contact channels or are planning to add them in the future, we recommend that you choose a contact centre programme that allows you to manage calls, emails, online website chats or WhatsApp messages simultaneously.

2. DO YOU WANT TO AUTOMATE ENQUIRIES?

Call centre software is designed for agents to comfortably manage calls, but it usually lacks self-service functionality.

Meaning, that it doesn’t allow to add virtual agents in charge of answering customers queries without human agent supervision.

This functionality is typically used to automate simple questions such as telephone line balance, meter readings, the location of a parcel, etc.

Neither is ready to integrate with third-party tools such as CRMs to synchronise customer data or automate certain After Call Work tasks.

This is where contact centres have an advantage – it makes perfect sense – because when they were first introduced, call centre programmes were not updated with this type of functionality.

3. WHAT METRICS DO YOU NEED TO MEASURE?

While most call centre call management tools allow you to measure basic KPIs such as call volumes and hold times, they usually don’t go much further. 

Contact centre programmes not only allow you to view quantitative KPIs across all integrated channels, they also provide – on a daily basis – qualitative metrics such as Net Promoter Score (NPS), Customer Satisfaction Survey (CSAT) results and, if integrated with Artificial Intelligence, general query insights.

FINAL THOUGHTS

Choosing customer service software is like buying a new car. You’ll need to consider your budget and weigh up the pros and cons before making a decision. 

It’s important to ask yourself what you need now, but also what you’ll need in the future. Like cars, customer service programmes are a long-term investment.

If you need guidance or want to see the features of a contact centre programme first-hand, our team of experts is always available to provide personalised demos. Schedule yours by calling +34 900 670 750 or using the chat below.

La entrada Differences between call centre software and contact centre software se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

Leveraging certain strategies to optimize a healthcare call center’s service and meet patient needs can improve their experience (PX) and maintain their loyalty. Contact centers rely on automation, Artificial Intelligence (AI), and self-service solutions to improve the customer journey.

What Are The Best Practices For Optimizing Healthcare Call Center Operations?

Optimizing the operations of a contact center in the health sector implies making improvements in both processes and technology. Here are six best practices to increase the efficiency and performance of a healthcare call center.

1) Leverage a Robust Customer Relationship Management Platform

Customer relationship management (CRM) solutions help unifies all the processes involved in keeping up with customers. In this sense, there are a large number of options for healthcare organizations of all kinds that make available to call center agents all the necessary information, medical history and patient data to effectively address their queries.

2) Adopt Cloud-Based Service Strategies

Moving contact center operations to the cloud brings tremendous business value, including reduced operating costs and access to a more accurate and scalable data evaluation infrastructure.

Having at your disposal all the necessary tools to conduct strategic analysis of data related to calls at scale could make it possible for a company to identify better ways to serve patients and thus protect their interests.

3) Pay Attention To Compliance Concerns

Compliance in the healthcare sector is not a minor concern: fines for non-compliance can be very high and negatively affect the reputation of a healthcare organization. Making sure all team members, especially healthcare call center agents, are well versed in HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act) procedures and other legal needs prevents issues that could jeopardize relationships with patients.

4) Calculate And Track The Right KPIs

The call center KPIs you choose to track do more than describe your team’s performance in a way that’s easily assessed from a central dashboard. Each and every KPI you use predefines your team’s focus and priorities. Some sources suggest that you track metrics like patient satisfaction rate, a perfect option for improving patient satisfaction over time. Others mention the importance of measuring average drive time and more. One thing is for sure; you will need to track the appropriate KPIs to understand your current successes as well as areas where you can improve.

5) Implement Self-Service Solutions

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) are an often overlooked option for building a patient support system, but they are much more useful than you might imagine. A FAQ portal can improve patient satisfaction and experience (PX), while reducing the number of calls contact center agents receive and handle on a day-to-day basis. In fact, according to Forrester, frequently asked questions are widely used by patients to answer their questions.

6) Prioritize EHR Integrations

A CRM without access to patients’ electronic health records (EHRs) cannot truly empower call center agents to deliver prompt and accurate assistance to callers within a reasonable amount of time. This link forms the basis for additional functions, such as scheduling appointments with family doctors and resolving health history concerns that would otherwise be beyond the agent’s knowledge.

In conclusion, to improve a health care call center, it is convenient to be open to innovate and adopt new strategies. For example, through the implementation of an omnichannel contact center, which offers multiple functionalities to medical care call centers and allows users to communicate through their preferred digital channel.

As patient needs and expectations change and evolve, the importance of basing agent actions on empathy, active listening, legal consideration and accuracy can make a world of difference.

La entrada The 6 Best Practices Of a Healthcare Call Center se publicó primero en Enreach ES.

For this reason, customer service has become a differentiator, whether it is to increase business, retain customers or increase sales. The main companies join this trend because it is already a reality that consumers give more importance to the service they receive than to the price of the product or service, according to the study carried out by Forbes con Shep Hyken.

In this scenario where the figure of contact center agents has become a bridge between the company for which they operate and new opportunities, it is essential that they understand the importance of their figure in the relationship with the client and know how to offer quality that they expect, being more communicative, proactive and using the technical mechanisms at their disposal to predict good customer loyalty.

To achieve this loyalty, Enreach, a leading European provider of converged communications solutions for companies, has identified three advanced technology procedures that every agent must have in order to create an ideal atmosphere with the client and achieve an excellent result in dealing with them:

1) Have a Unified Agent Desktop

Betting on a tool that facilitates omnichannel can be key when it comes to impacting the customer, since if the agents have a single interface with all the optimal day-to-day applications, it will be easier for them to have all the information of customers and dealing with procedures with greater agility and success. In this way, the agent will have more time to focus on the client, will have their data in advance and will provide a differentiating degree of personalization in the service, adapting to the client’s real needs.

2) Bet On an Interaction Guide

The symbiosis between the use of technology and human empathy raises the potential of companies, and this is so present that in 2021 one in three introduced Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools. That is why any agent who wants to strengthen their relationship with their customers must have the Interaction Guide, an AI-based tool that, thanks to its ability to analyze the sentiment of conversations, allows agents to know in a way deeper expectations and needs to respond more quickly and build customer loyalty.

3) Have Robotic Processes (RPA)

To really focus on delivering a great customer experience (CX), agents need to spend some of their time building relationships. But even so, the different daily tasks of a contact center also fall under their responsibility. Therefore, the help of robotic processes (RPA) is a differentiating element that will allow the agent to focus on the client and leave behind those more repetitive tasks. Companies have realized this competitive advantage and 90% of senior managers interviewed by IBM say they have started to integrate intelligent automation, with process automation (RPA) being the most popular solution.

“In an environment as competitive as the one we live in, companies must align all aspects of the business with the customer experience. To do this, contact centers must involve agents by making them understand the importance of the customer, their role as the first link with the user and provide them with the necessary technology for success,” says Jorge García, Enreach Product Director.

La entrada 3 Key Technologies That Help Call Center Agents Boost the Customer Experience se publicó primero en Enreach ES.