Getting there
Automated support isn’t exactly a new concept, but we’ve certainly come a long way from, “Please listen closely, for your menu options have changed.” While in some cases convenient, I think most people understand the frustrations of automated voice systems enough to have had at one point one-sided yelling matches with them.
Hint: Sometimes you’ll unlock a human depending on your tone or if you cry “representative!” enough times.
It’s not the best system in place, but when you’re a large company that receives thousands of similar requests a day, a bit of deflection is needed, and that’s what we have to work with, at least until recently.
The awkward subject: job automation
We’ve previously discussed at length regarding what AI (Artificial Intelligence) is and whether or not it should be anything for us to fear. For some, there is a palpable fear of job replacement due to automation.
Fair enough.
Considering we’ve seen many factory jobs replaced due to automation, there is a justifiable reason for concern. As the world continues to change, so does innovative technology but along with that, our ability to adapt to these evolving technologies. More and more businesses are looking toward AI in order to enhance their current support experience.
A 2011 Gartner report states that by 2020, 85% of customer interactions will be via AI services.
One of the chief benefits of using AI self-service is that it’s adaptable. It can be utilized as a great deflection tool or a provider of support assistance without the end user having to worry about hold times or business hours. This frees up times for more senior agents to handle the more complex issues rather than being tied up with a barrage of simple questions the AI could address in a fraction of the time.
Not to mention, the AI isn’t going to call in sick or request PTO.
Meet your new support agent
One particular AI self-service AI support tool is Ult.ai. Ult.ai is a “conversational support self-service that requires no coding” or operational burdens.
The company touts higher satisfaction and NPS as it’s a service that allows for 24/7 support with the ability to deflect up to 33% of tickets, “cutting down on repetitive support inquiries.”
This is a much better alternative for customers who are seeking out help, but either don’t’ know a knowledge base exists or do not have the time or patience to search out the answer they’re looking for.
The AI adapts to the conversation in order to quickly address the customer’s needs. In order for the system to “learn,” you will need to have on hand an FAQ or some sort of knowledge base along with a history of chat/support logs; so keep in mind this may not be ideal for a new business or a business that does not have a record of support inquiries. The AI assistant collects detailed information based on context delivering a 95% accuracy rate in helpfulness, allowing you to resolve complicated issues for end users much more easily. The application integrates seamlessly with other ticketing platforms such as Zendesk and Salesforce allowing you ease of viewing key insights for your day-to-day.
You can enable the self-service on your website by copy pasting a single line of code.
The site is fairly simplistic as there’s not much to see or to navigate to look more into the product. To request a demo you’ll need to provide your email, name, company name, size of your support team, and the customer service platform you’re using. Unfortunately you don’t get the demo right away. It looks like someone will reach out to you directly regarding your request.
I am still waiting on my email, but maybe they can smell BS in a fake business name. I just wanted to see what the fuss was all about.
And so we can only really speculate how well this particular service works, but this is just one of many up and coming AI customer support tools being developed. As someone who’s worked many years doing support-type jobs, I for one welcome our new overlords. With the replacement of old jobs comes the creation of new ones.
“Encyclopedia Britannica didn’t see Wikipedia coming,” and look where we’re at now.
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