Mervyn Pretorius, Chief Technology Officer, CCI Global.

One of the most common questions asked of the Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) sector is, ‘will Artificial Intelligence take jobs from the sector?’. The answer is a resounding no. That said, it’s worth interrogating the value of this disruptive technology for the sector.

We must look past the current hype cycle to establish the real value of AI in the contact centre environment. As an enabling technology, AI offers incredible benefits for the entire sector – clients, customers and the people who work within it – but it isn’t a replacement for the value of high-quality human interaction.

Contact centres have evolved

Traditionally, contact centres managed high volumes of calls, many from people who often simply needed a task completed for them, for example an account transcript, or a change to existing information or bookings. In order to offer these services, contact centre agents needed to retain huge amounts of information across multiple systems, and be able to listen attentively to the needs of the customer while frequently juggling multiple requests and tasks during one interaction. Understandably, this human element led to varied customer experiences and some less-than-optimal outcomes for the customer. It’s equally no surprise that the hangover from that time is a degree of reluctance by customers to engage with contact centres.

Now, self-service channels and AI-powered chatbots have largely replaced the mundane and repetitive tasks agents used to complete for customers. Customers are increasingly comfortable using self-service options, provided that the app or channel is intuitive and straightforward to use.

By automating routine tasks, technology, and specifically AI, is revolutionising the way knowledge is managed and used in contact centres. AI is helping agents deliver high-value services to customers who need a more complex and emotionally sensitive or nuanced interaction, dramatically increasing the value of customer engagements.

Flipping the narrative

By largely automating low-value routine tasks, AI has shifted the focus from high volume-low value interactions to high-value, lower-volume agent interactions that require elevated levels of empathy and mastery of emotional intelligence. Here, AI-driven systems are an invaluable tool to bridge the divide between an agent’s natural ability to retain and find knowledge and the requirements of the customer.

The integration of Large Language Models (LLMs) is proving to be a much better fit for contact centre activities than classical knowledge bases. The LLM handles the complex task of finding the best answer or match to any query, delivering a smooth and seamless experience in real-time during customer interactions by allowing the agent to use natural language for queries. This empowers agents to manage more complex requests faster and more accurately, removing variability from the process, resulting in a better customer experience.

Another significant advance is the use of real-time, contextually aware AI translation capabilities and live transcription on calls. This enables agents to accept and manage queries in multiple languages where a language barrier might otherwise be a hindrance. It significantly enhances the customer experience, as serving customers in their preferred language fosters ease and builds brand loyalty. While AI-driven language models may not always achieve perfect translations, neither do humans. Translation technology closes the gap of understanding, and most customers are tolerant of a few language quirks while being assisted. Live transcription also helps the agent make sure they understand what the customer is asking for, and ensure that everything requested is completed in the first call – an important metric for BPO clients.

AI enablement has the added benefit of improving not only the customer’s experience, but the agent’s experience along with it. By augmenting agent performance with LLMs and automation, the entire process is more pleasant on both sides of the contact. AI suggestions can shave time off the duration of a call for an agent and help resolve issues more speedily. This improves the agent’s metrics and reduces their stress, while AI-driven training simulations offer realistic scenarios for agents to experience handling complex situations, thereby improving their problem-solving skills and boosting confidence. All these elements aid in employee retention.

Embracing technology sets apart BPO service providers

Predicting the future is challenging, but there is no doubt that implementing new AI technologies such as LLMs, chatbots and translation aids has been beneficial for the industry, and in the medium term, the expectation is that AI will continue to create new opportunities to enrich customer experiences in areas such as conversational AI. BPO operators and clients who embrace AI and other disruptive technologies are likely to continue to see positive results and satisfied customers.

BPO operators such as CCI who recognised the value of LLMs early on, and who have built and trained their own models are benefitting from this foresight, as they are able to offer clients ring-fenced data security with the ability to isolate and protect key client data, even deploying on-premise solutions for clients with specific security concerns or data parameters while still empowering agents for seamless customer engagement.

As the BPO sector evolves, AI is not a threat but an opportunity to enhance the value of human interactions and deliver better services to customers across languages and channels. By adopting AI solutions that empower agents with knowledge, translation, and automation, BPO operators can differentiate themselves from the competition and provide superior customer experiences that drive loyalty and retention.