Jul/Aug 19 - ChannelVision Magazine

Your contact center customers should also know, however, that according to a recent survey com- missioned by Invoca and conducted online by The Harris Poll (among more than 2,000 U.S. adults), consumers don’t seem to have completely bought into interacting with brands through digital-only touchpoints and instead still value human support. The survey found that when a company only has automated communications – with no option for a human interaction – more than half of consumers (52 percent) feel frustrated and nearly one in five (18 percent) get downright angry about it. That’s a bit more than the 16 percent who claim to enjoy the purely digitized customer experience. When it comes to finalizing pur- chases through the purely automated experiences, comfort levels among buyers vary depending on vertical. For transactions that are lower-risk and easier to reverse, acceptance is rela- tively high. Nearly half (49 percent) of consumers would trust AI-generated advice for retail, for instance. For trans- actions that are higher in price as well as in risk if something goes wrong, acceptance is lower: 38 percent would trust AI-generated advice for hospital- ity, such as checking/comparing flight or hotel options or restaurant recom- mendations, while just 20 percent would trust AI-generated advice for at your service: Xaas The Power of HumanVoice I f you currently are selling contact center services, it’s likely you’ve informed your customers about how artificial intelligence and automated communications can enhance their customer experience initiatives and improve internal processes. After all, some CX experts predict that as much as 85 percent of customer interactions will be handled sans human by the end of next year. By Martin Vilaboy healthcare and 19 percent for financial services, showed the survey. Not surprisingly, younger consum- ers are more likely to be trusting of AI generated advice. And the Harris poll suggests women prefer a human-con- trolled, phone-based customer experi- ence at higher rates than the overall population. “While AI and automation can help with simple interactions or requests, the option to connect with a human should always be on the table for consumers,” said Julia Stead, vice president of marketing at Invoca, “especially in industries like healthcare and financial services.” No doubt, chatbots will improve, and IA CX will get smarter, so the need to escalate to human assistance will reduce. Live human chat will continue to displace voice calls, as well. On the other hand, the comfort of a human connection still appears to smooth the path when making tough decisions, sometimes like no other tool in the omni-experience can. Providers of UCaaS and CCaaS would be wise not to cast aside voice capabilities and voice integration when caught in the race to automate the customer experience. o Automation doesn’t always answer the call Consumers Who Prefer to Complete Transaction via Phone Call Healthcare 32% Insurance 26% Home maintenance/improvement 24% Hospitality 15% Retail 5% Source: Harris Poll; Invoca Percent of Consumers Reluctant to Trust AI Advice When Purchasing For retail advice 51% For hospitality advice 62% For healthcare advice 80% For financial advice 81% Source: Harris Poll; Invoca 24 Channel Vision | July - August, 2019