Above: Avaya’s Juan Manuel Mesa.

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in the daily lives of human beings has made it a powerful tool for all types of organizations, along with process automation and data analytics. Even Gartner analysis predicts that by this year about 72% of customer interactions will include emerging technologies such as machine learning.

This same research firm considers that some of the main technological trends will include AI engineering to monitor and optimize data, applications, and models; and generative AI to produce new forms of content through continuous learning.

Despite the great bets and promises that the development of these technologies bring, many projects and implementations, in areas such as customer experience (CX), do not obtain the expected results, and this is because companies continue to make the same mistakes that hinder or hinder these innovation processes. Avaya, as an expert in delivering a Total Experience, is confident that Artificial Intelligence is a cornerstone of the future in customer experience and offers some examples and recommendations for a successful implementation.

Delegate all responsibility to the IT team

When talking about Artificial Intelligence, we usually think of the technology experts of companies, this is a common place in which all the responsibility is left to a single area. An example is when customer service access channels are digitized or when a bot with AI is created and it is thought that this will improve or solve the customer experience on its own.

In decision-making and the implementation of a new technology, it is very important that interdisciplinary teams participate, from development engineers, marketing experts, communication, designers, and customer service agents, all of whom have something to contribute to this process and allow the application of technology is much more useful, functional and really meets the needs of the customer experience.

Implementation without a clear business objective

According to an Ernest & Young EY study, 70% of digital transformations fail and this is related to the lack of clarity about the objectives of the investments and the way in which the results will be measured. Therefore, it is not simply to implement as many technologies as possible, but to do so strategically, to clearly consider what is to be achieved in terms of customer experience, who is the audience, what is required to interact with them and how.

AI will enter to optimize these processes. It is essential to be realistic about the necessary resources to achieve these objectives and in the times of the take the decision, deployment and evaluation so as not to generate exaggerated expectations within the company or among customers. It is also recommended to be very clear about the value proposition that will be offered to users in each of the communication channels based on the use of AI.

View the technology and the human agent as separate silos

In addition to complementary applications for Customer Experience such as bots, Artificial Intelligence can also be used in different ways to optimize and enrich the work of human agents, and one of the mistakes is not taking advantage of this potential by staying in more limited implementations.

Some examples of what can be achieved with AI according to Avaya, are predicting future behavior of customers, routing calls based on sentiment to connect customers with the specialized agents they need and improving the emotional intelligence of advisors of service through real-time analysis of the conversation and the generation of alternatives to solve the customer’s needs.

Have weak cybersecurity mechanisms

The deployment of technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and robotics (in the case of bots) bring great benefits, but it also implies considering possible risks. In some cases, companies focus a lot on development and functionality, and the security part is the last aspect they spend time on, usually after an incident occurs.

AI systems are not immune to possible hacking, and for example, bots must be protected so that cybercriminals do not take control of them and direct customers to fraudulent pages. Security, both for users and agents, must be one of the priorities in each new implementation or development of the customer experience.

With the support of AI, solutions can also be developed to shield customer conversations from identity theft cases through voice biometrics. Also, the analysis of conversations through Speech Analytics allows you to find indicators of possible scams, fraud or forgery.

Waste data and measurements to improve the experience

After implementing an AI solution such as chatbots it is important to test it internally and with the audience, reviewing possible flaws before its official launch. After its implementation, it is key to constantly review the data and information to measure the quality of user experience or the effectiveness of the tool and to be able to improve it progressively and select a trustworthy provider.

Great expectations have been placed on Artificial Intelligence, as well as on other emerging technologies, for several years the possibility of replacing human service agents has been mentioned, but “at Avaya we see these tools as extensions of the human capacities that come to complement and improve empathy, emotional intelligence and the ability to satisfy a client in the service areas and advisors.”

We know that not all companies have the same challenges and needs. Avaya is helping companies around the world to define the best strategies to implement and the most appropriate technological solutions for the different needs of the companies. You can find more information here or at our our Experience Avaya event.