AI To Replace Call Center Agents? Think Again!

Despite the rapid acceleration of digital transformation and its promise of AI-driven customer experience, many companies still have problems with customer service, engagement, and retention.

Call center agents are among the most commonly-used customer service representatives. They are skilled at handling customers one-on-one and performing important tasks, such as answering questions, verifying personal information, and providing information about products or services. 

As you can imagine, AI isn’t anywhere near the point where it could handle such complexities for customers on a full-scale, ongoing basis. Moreover, the ability to build rapport with consumers and develop trust is lost on AI. 

Artificial intelligence has unquestionably made leaps and bounds in recent years. But to entrust it to something as delicate and in-depth as customer service would be too risky for any corporation. Businesses still need the human touch when it comes to customer service and support—something AI is incapable of reproducing.

In today’s world, it is more important than ever for companies to have customer service agents who can provide the right information and answer questions in an accessible and timely manner. That said, not everyone is equipped to provide this type of customer service. Indeed, it takes a well-trained, articulate, and patient person to adequately perform the tasks demanded of a call center agent.

And at ASPEN, those are the type of professionals our teams consist of. We carefully vet every agent and ensure that they receive ongoing training in order to provide the high level of customer service businesses expect. 

So if you need to outsource our call center solutions for your business, we invite you to contact us today. When your customers call you for support, we assure you that they will speak to live agents who know your business inside-out—no artificial intelligence here!

If you’re worried that AI will soon replace call center agents, we encourage you to keep reading to learn why that’s not going to happen.

AI will not replace call center agents in the near future for a few reasons. First, AI is not trained like humans. It is trained using algorithms and programmed scripts to give certain responses. In contrast, call center agents are trained from a behavioral perspective to understand the customer’s voice, mood, problem, and context to give the best response.

Moreover, call center agents are skilled in a lot of different areas, including customer service, product knowledge, communicating in person, over the phone, and through text. Such demands are vastly different than anything AI can handle.

Another reason AI won’t replace call center agents is that AI is not as skilled as call center agents. While AI can be trained and built to help with certain tasks, it lacks the contextual knowledge of an actual human being.

Remember, AI can’t understand the nuances of the customer’s voice, including what kind of mood they are in. Human call center agents can adjust their style accordingly to ensure the customer has the best experience possible. AI is only programmed to follow a series of limited patterns.

AI is too risky for businesses right now. It’s difficult—and expensive—to train AI, and businesses take a lot of risks when they try to replace agents with AI. It’s not just replacing the call center agent but replacing their skills, as well. 

If a company replaces all agents with AI and then the AI fails, a business could lose customers and revenue as a result. Businesses must also be careful about liability and security. Not every AI application is secure, and it’s not realistic to expect all AI applications to be such.

Another reason AI will not replace call center agents is that AI is difficult to train. What’s more, there is a lack of supervision. When businesses want to implement AI, they must build a robust and scalable infrastructure to house the AI models, along with the people and processes to manage them. This means that every department in a business must be on the same page and aligned with the goal of replacing agents with AI. A challenging endeavor, to say the least.

The bottom line is that AI will not replace call center agents in the near future. AI is simply too difficult, costly, and risky to implement and train. Most businesses aren’t in a position where they can risk such a radical shift in something as important as customer service.

More importantly, however, call center agents are skilled at handling customers in ways that AI can’t. This alone makes human call center agents indispensable in the customer service field. So if you’re worried about AI encroaching on customer service, you have plenty of reasons to quell your concerns.

Human-led customer service is here to stay, which is why it’s more important than ever too ready your business with a call center. At ASPEN, we’ve helped countless businesses of all sizes find a solution that works for their needs. If you’re ready to take the next step toward superior customer service in your business, get in touch with us today at 303-786-9500.

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