In 2024, approximately 60% of customers report that long holds and wait times are the most frustrating parts of a service experience. So, for every additional minute, businesses risk losing loyal customers and new opportunities for growth.

Worryingly, this risk does not end here. Repetitive inquiries and inefficient workflows can strain even the most experienced agents, leading to burnout and reduced productivity. 

This is where AI call center agents can help transform operations. Trained on specific datasets, AI can manage simple tasks like answering FAQs and handling complex queries with real-time sentiment analysis.

This article will explore the most impactful ways AI agents can help brands optimize customer experience.

What are AI call center agents?

AI call center agents are virtual assistants that manage customer service interactions typically handled by human agents. They are powered by artificial intelligence and use machine learning to interact with customers via phone, chat or messaging apps.

AI agents can understand and respond to a wide range of frequent customer queries, resolve issues and perform transactions with minimal human intervention. In a way, this is a more intuitive way compared to resolving customer queries through voice prompts and keypad inputs.

In 2023, 40% of contact center workers in the U.S. reported that AI has made their work easier, particularly in handling customer information tasks.

10 ways AI can optimize call center operations

A Gartner study indicates that 80% of companies are utilizing AI to enhance customer experience, with many planning further adoption by 2025. This is because, unlike traditional call center operations that struggle with long wait times, repetitive tasks, and an overwhelming number of customer inquiries, AI call center agents can accelerate and optimize call center operations. Here is how:

1.Round-the-clock availability for continuous support

AI call center agents operate 24/7, ensuring customers can access continuous support. Whether it is midnight inquiries or early morning complaints, businesses are always ready to interact and resolve requests.

Continuous support is necessary if your business operates globally and needs to support customers across different time zones. Some common use cases include answering FAQs, processing transactions, and escalating complex cases to human agents when necessary.

AI call center agents are also highly scalable and can simultaneously handle any number of customer interactions. This ensures your call center remains agile and adaptive, regardless of demand volume. 

Additionally, the flexibility allows call centers to maintain superior service levels without hiring additional staff.

2.Automation of repetitive tasks and FAQs

Call center agents often have to spend much time on manual and mundane tasks such as data entry and status updates. AI call center agents can take it away from their plate and automate these routine interactions, reducing processing time and optimizing workflows.

It also allows human agents to focus on more complex issues requiring problem-solving and critical thinking. Moreover, customer service automation resolves customer issues 52% faster, increasing overall productivity.

Some of the other areas where AI call center agents can help include:

• Order tracking and status updates
• Call summarization and transcription
• Ticket creation and management
• Real-time language translation
• Sentiment analysis
• Agent assistance with real-time suggestions
• Knowledge base management and updates
• Personalized customer interactions

3.Personalization of customer interactions

According to a study by McKinsey, 71% of consumers expect personalized interactions from companies, while 66% get frustrated when this doesn’t happen. To this end, call center AI agents can analyze customer data and tailor interactions based on preferences, history, and behavior.

AI agents can also track patterns in past interactions and customize real-time responses to provide a highly personalized experience. For example, if a shipment is delayed due to weather, the AI agent can notify and even offer a coupon code for the inconvenience.

Here are a few areas where personalization works best:

• Customer greetings and onboarding
• Tailored product or service recommendation
• Issue resolution based on history
• Proactive support based on customer behavior
• Loyalty programs and VIP experiences
• Personalized follow-ups and check-ins

4.Call routing and intelligent escalation

If appropriately trained, AI call center agents can handle most complex queries. However, they may face challenges when situations require critical thinking, advanced reasoning or solving multi-step problems. 

At times like this, transferring these complex queries to a human agent is critical to maintaining a consistent customer experience.

AI call center agents use intelligent call routing to direct customers to the appropriate agent or department. Human agents are also presented with relevant information about callers and their intent to make the process quick and easy. This can boost agent productivity while enhancing customer experience.

5.Handling high volumes and reducing wait times

AI call center agents are designed to handle high call volumes effortlessly, eliminating the need to hire extra staff. This allows your business to maintain high performance and responsiveness even during times like seasonal rushes or promotional spikes.

Additionally, customers get access to help without long wait times or hold music. AI agents can guide them through self-service options, providing added assistance so that agents don’t feel overburdened and pressured. 

Moreover, they can determine a customer’s intent and cues, identifying the top reasons for reaching out to offer quick and personalized service.

6.Real-time sentiment analysis for improved interaction

AI call center agents detect customer sentiment and analyze verbal cues, tone and language patterns in real-time or past conversations. They can determine if the interactions are positive, negative or neutral, allowing human agents to judge situations and respond accordingly.

Sentiment analysis can further help in the following:

• Enhancing customer satisfaction by prioritizing issues based on the tone of the customers 
• Driving proactive engagement by tailoring responses to match the customer’s emotional state
• Alerting the manager of the customer’s emotion and allowing them to listen to the interaction and guide the agent
• Improving marketing strategies by analyzing customer reviews, social media comments, and survey data

7.Predictive insights for proactive support

Implementing predictive analytics within call centers can improve efficiency and productivity by up to 60%, allowing for better handling of peak call times and reduced customer wait times.

By analyzing past customer interactions and historical data, AI call center agents can predict future behavior and preferences. This is done by collecting data from various sources, such as past purchases, browsing history, and even social media history. 

The data is subsequently organized and analyzed to identify patterns that people might overlook.

It can help in:

• Providing proactive support by enabling companies to get in touch with customers before they report an issue
• Identifying low and peak times and enabling businesses to allot duties to agents accordingly, avoiding overstaffing or understaffing
• Identifying cross-selling and up-selling opportunities to help companies deliver targeted offers

8.Streamlined onboarding and training

AI call center agents can accelerate onboarding and help newly hired agents gain confidence faster. They can also provide real-time guidance to human agents as they handle interactions by offering replies, suggestions, and relevant information based on the context of the conversation.

When reps cannot handle a difficult conversation, AI call center agents can instantly pull up the necessary information from the integrated knowledge base and CRM systems, eliminating the need to search for information manually. This way, they enable reps to respond faster and more accurately and help new hires navigate customer conversations more confidently. 

9.Perform quality control

Quality control is necessary to maintain a consistent customer experience. AI call center agents help managers conduct thorough quality assessments, gain actionable insights and tailor training programs to boost agent performance and improve customer satisfaction.

Here are a few ways AI call center agents can help perform quality control:

• Analyze call transcription by generating accurate call transcripts. This allows managers to review interactions and identify weak areas that can be improved through targeted training
• Assess call transcripts to reveal trends, common issues, and customer preferences to enable managers to make data-driven decisions for process enhancements
• Evaluate agent performance based on customer service goals and benchmark

10.Reduce call wrap-up times

AI call center agents can analyze real-time interaction or post call recordings to generate accurate call summaries based on the conversation. Based on the insights, AI generates a summary highlighting key information such as customer complaints, resolutions and the need for any follow-up. 

This reduces the average amount of time spent on each call, allowing agents to complete post-call tasks faster.

Experience the power of AI in customer service with Plivo CX

AI call center agents are gradually becoming a must-have for recalibrating call center operations. However, it is important to note that AI's key function is to support human agents and augment their skills, not replace them.

To deliver a truly exceptional customer experience, humans' empathy, understanding and personal connection will need to be combined with AI's accuracy, agility and speed.

As an all-in-one omnichannel customer service platform for MSMEs and enterprises, Plivo CX offers reliable support, accelerating the delivery of efficient and personalized service. 

The platform empowers businesses to run operations smoothly with intuitive AI-powered chatbots, IVR, and a unified agent desktop that brings disparate channels, such as email, voice, SMS, WhatsApp, and live chat, in a single window pane. 

What’s more, you can train the OpenAI-powered chatbots on custom company datasets so that the customer query response contains only the most appropriate and accurate information.

Some of the stand-apart features of Plivo CX include:

• Omnichannel support: View, track, and manage customer conversations across channels on a unified platform
• Available 24/7: Attend to customers around the world with continuous support
• Easy escalations with notes and summaries: Summarize conversations and escalate to human agents when necessary
• Comprehensive customer insights: Analyze real-time or recorded conversations to identify areas of opportunities and improvements
• Agent coaching tools: Guide your human agents with features such as call recording, barge, and whisper to improve performance
• Automated ticketing: Categorize and prioritize incoming tickets, ensuring that urgent issues are addressed promptly
• IVR: Create automated phone menus to guide callers and route them to the right department or agent
• Integration with CRM for better support: Pull customer information effortlessly from your existing CRM and tech stack

Book a demo now to start a free trial.

FAQs

1.Are AI call center agents secure?

Yes, reputed AI systems adhere to strict security and data privacy standards, ensuring customer data is handled securely. Many AI agents integrate directly with CRM systems and follow industry regulations to protect customer information.

2.How can AI call center agents improve customer experience?

AI agents provide quick, 24/7 support, reducing wait times and resolving common issues immediately. They can also route calls to the right departments, personalize interactions, and adjust responses based on customer sentiment, all of which contribute to a more satisfying customer experience.

3.Can AI call center agents help reduce operational costs?

Yes, AI call center agents can significantly reduce operational costs by handling high volumes of inquiries without the need for additional human agents. This helps businesses save on staffing and overtime costs while improving efficiency.