Innovation without disruption: virtual agents for hyper-personalized customer experience (CX)
Chatbots
and
IVRs
are
contact
center
staples,
but
most
still
provide
automated
service
for
basic,
repeatable
tasks.
What
about
when
a
customer
needs
to
be
intelligently
routed
to
a
better
resource
or
has
a
question
that’s
not
so
cut-and-dry
cut.
Chatbots
and
IVRs
are
contact
center
staples,
but
most
still
provide
automated
service
for
basic,
repeatable
tasks.
What
about
when
a
customer
needs
to
be
intelligently
routed
to
a
better
resource
or
has
a
question
that’s
not
so
cut-and-dry
cut.
Virtual
Agent,
or
VA,
is
the
next
natural
step
for
significantly
better
customer
and
business
outcomes.
What
is
a
VA?
VAs
make
use
of
automation
and
a
host
of
AI
technologies
like
machine
learning
(ML),
natural
language
processing
(NLP),
sentiment
analysis,
language
translation,
speech-to-text,
intent
recognition,
and
robotic
process
automation
(RPA).
Together,
these
technologies
provide
much-needed
speed
and
efficiency
–
cutting
down
on
the
time
needed
for
customers
to
interact
to
solve
problems
and
have
questions
answered
–
while
improving
Customer
Experience
(CX)
with
data-driven
hyper-personalization.
VAs
can
take
the
form
of
a
chatbot
as
well
as
integrated
IVR
systems
that
use
AI
to
power
conversational
experiences
(unlike
standard
IVRs,
which
limit
users
to
saying
a
set
of
specific
keywords).
How
do
VAs
achieve
hyper-personalization?
VAs
help
“hold
the
fort”
on
routine
calls
so
live
agents
can
focus
more
on
complicated
interactions,
but
they’re
smart
enough
to
handle
certain
complexities
on
their
own.
They
can
effortlessly
navigate
topics,
handle
a
wide
range
of
questions,
and
seamlessly
operate
across
multiple
channels.
The
technology
also
grows
in
intelligence
with
use,
allowing
VAs
to
act
with
greater
–
comparably
humanlike
–
awareness.
For
example,
you
might
present
a
customer
with
a
choice
of
channels
for
engagement
such
as
chat,
phone,
and
social
media.
After
communicating
with
the
customer,
your
VA
can
default
to
that
person’s
preferred
channel
for
future
conversations.
Another
great
example
is
intent
recognition.
A
customer
may
say,
“I
want
to
know
when
my
order
will
arrive”
when
their
intent
is
“I
want
to
track
my
order.”
If
the
VA
is
programmed
skillfully
to
ask
good
clarifying
questions,
it
will
come
to
learn
the
customer’s
intent,
store
this
knowledge,
and
apply
it
to
better
navigate
future
conversations.
For
situations
in
which
VAs
directly
interact
with
external
customers, IBM
reports the
average
intent
recognition
is
70%.
VAs
can
hyper-personalize
even
routine
interactions.
Let’s
say
a
customer
initiates
a
chat
session
with
a
VA
for
resetting
a
forgotten
password.
The
VA
can
ask
the
customer
if
they
would
like
to
switch
to
text
messaging
for
a
more
effective
multimedia
experience.
If
the
customer
accepts,
the
chat
session
will
end
and
the
VA
will
seamlessly
switch
to
SMS.
In
this
case,
the
VA
may
send
links
to
related
resources
or
a
“how-to”
video
that’s
directly
embedded
in
the
message,
so
all
the
customer
has
to
do
is
click
“play.”
This
simple
enhancement
is
a
major
service
differentiator,
and
large
enterprises
especially
benefit
from
the
ability
to
digitally
deflect
high
incoming
call
volume
with
a
promising
containment
rate
(64%
on
average,
according
to
IBM).
Let’s
look
a
bit
closer
at
the
metrics
surrounding
VA
technology.
VAs
by
the
Numbers
VA
technology
isn’t
an
end-all
solution
but,
when
done
right,
has
a
positive
aspect
on
nearly
every
measure
including
customer
satisfaction,
agent
satisfaction,
and
revenue.
The
aforementioned
IBM
report
leaves
no
stone
left
unturned:
Proven
cost
savings: 99%
of
organizations
polled
by
IBM
reported
a
reduction
in
cost
per
contact
as
a
result
of
using
VA
technology.
For
a
large
organization,
it’s
estimated
VAs
can
save
$5.50
per
contained
conversation.
Respondents
also
reported
a
9%
increase
in
revenue
directly
attributed
to
their
use
of
VAs.
Faster
handle
time: Respondents,
on
average,
reported
a
12%
decrease
in
human
agent
handle
time
and
a
20
percentage
point
increase
in
first
contact
resolution
as
a
result
of
using
VAs.
For
VA
leaders
(organizations
that
implemented
early,
integrated
VA
tech
with
backend
systems,
and
trained
the
tech
on
high
volumes
of
contacts),
handle
time
dropped
by
15%.
Greater
customer
and
agent
satisfaction: Some
organizations
fear
that
VAs
will
adversely
affect
customer
and
employee
satisfaction;
however,
IBM
found
average
improvements
of
8
and
7
percentage
points
in
customer
and
agent
satisfaction,
respectively
(VA
leaders
saw
12
and
9
percentage
point
increases).
Overall,
94%
of
VA
leaders
have
already
achieved
or
exceeded
their
business
case
and
96%
of
all
respondents
have
exceeded,
achieved,
or
expect
to
achieve
their
anticipated
return
on
investment
for
VA
technology.
Can
on-premises
enterprises
with
highly
complex
environments
deploy
VAs?
Absolutely.
As
contact
center
transformation
explodes
all
around,
hybrid
cloud
charts
a
clear
path
toward
innovation
without
the
disruption
of
throwing
away
what
works.
Well-established
enterprises
can overlay
innovation
by
tapping
into
cloud-powered
tech
like
AI,
automation,
and
ML
(required
for
virtual
agents
and
endless
other
competitive
solutions)
while
safeguarding
the
stability
of
existing
operations.
Enterprises
can achieve
innovation
without
disruption
even
faster with
a
ready-to-deploy,
turnkey,
configurable
VA
service.
These
AI-powered
VAs
do
it
all
–
recognize
intent,
communicate
in
dozens
of
languages,
and
handle
a
range
of
complex
inquiries
via
both
chat
and
voice
calls
–
and
can
be
launched
and
scaled
within
minutes.
Many
organizations
start
immediately
leveraging
their
VAs
to
help
manage
incoming
call
volume
and
then
incrementally
introduce
new
value
in
line
with
hyper-personalization.
If
you’re
thinking
of
using
VAs
externally
for
interaction
with
customers,
there’s
no
better
time
and
no
easier
way
to
currently
do
so. Speak
with
one
of
our
experts
about
Avaya’s
no-code,
ready-to-deploy
VA
solution.
If
you
want
to
learn
more
about
hybrid
cloud
for
innovation
without
disruption,
Avaya
just
published
its
latest
report
in
partnership
with
Ventana
Research
on
hybrid
cloud
migration
for
contact
center
innovation.
It’s
a
crucial
asset
for
enterprises
at
every
stage
of
the
hybrid
cloud
journey,
from
consideration
to
execution.
You
can
check
out
the
free
report here.
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