Death of the Traditional Call Centre? Will it Actually Help with Customer Service in the Long Run?
With AI becoming a more prominent part of society, it’s unsurprising to see that many brands are now opting to use it to optimise and enhance customer service, such as in contact centres. But what about AI replacing traditional call centres altogether in favour of ChatBots? That’s what aviation company Fly91’s latest business model does for example. The brand has opted to ditch call centres althoughter and instead deal with customer queries via a mobile app.
However, while it might seem like a more favourable option in terms of speed and cost savings, what will this change actually mean for customer service in the future?
Amid the news, we’ve spoken to Ben Booth, CEO and Co-Founder of MaxContact, a contact centre software specialist, who has weighed in on AI completely replacing traditional call centres and what call centres can do to optimise developing technology:
“As AI technology has developed in the past few years, more businesses than ever are now using it to enhance customer experience, call centres included. While replacing traditional call centres completely in favour of chatbots by some companies is certainly an interesting move, it’s not the only industry to be doing so.
“Indeed, there has been a lot of talk over the past year about job losses in call centres due to AI. But even though it may speed up response times, many people call customer service lines in the first place because they want to talk to a real person who will not only help them with any problems they may be having, but also someone who will understand and care about their query.” Ben Booth tells YCB.
According to a survey on agent and team performance, the top priorities for contact centre leaders are delivering excellent service (47.0%) and ensuring team happiness (46.6%). Therefore, in order to achieve these goals, call centres need to focus on building a customer-centric culture that empowers agents to deliver great experiences. Investing in training that enhances product knowledge, communication, and problem-solving while equipping agents with the tools and authority to resolve customer issues efficiently is key.
“Unfortunately, at the moment AI technologies are not advanced enough to empathise in the same way humans can. Not only that, but some problems that people need help with don’t have clear-cut answers, and at the moment AI technologies on their own cannot improvise or offer personalised solutions in the same way that humans can.
“I’ve recently read about a company that has chosen to completely turn off their phone lines in favour of using AI and chatbots, and reviews suggest they have had less success in terms of customer satisfaction and resolving issues.
“Therefore, instead of opting to completely replace traditional call centres in favour of AI, call centres should be using new technology to leverage and add to their business to enhance customer service, rather than replacing humans completely.
“Incorporating AI into call centres offers significant benefits without the need to replace agents entirely. With an average of 35% of calls manually evaluated each week by contact centres, AI speech analytics can help manage this by automatically identifying sentiment analysis from any calls, allowing agents to focus on more complex, value-added interactions. Tools like chatbots and knowledge bases reduce the volume of simple enquiries, while AI-powered workforce management systems optimise staffing levels and predict demand more accurately.
By freeing agents from repetitive manual tasks, AI enhances efficiency and supports a healthier work-life balance without compromising job satisfaction or performance. It’s about creating a balanced approach where AI complements human skills, driving both operational improvements and agent well-being.
“It can also help to improve and empower agents’ responses and recommendations to customers. While AI cannot fully replace human empathy, it can make suggestions that help agents deal with difficult situations and, in the long run, improve sales and business.” Says Ben.
“Overall, it is not yet clear whether AI will reach a point where it can ever fully replace agents in call centres. Instead, businesses should consider how they can use cutting-edge technology to improve their operations and increase sales and profits.” Ben concludes.