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Before “Star Wars” release in 1977, snooty high society cast Sci-Fi aside as a separate genre from “serious” works of fiction. It was a label delineating pulp from artistic merit. Sci-fi was B-movies—not blockbusters. That is until a galaxy far, far away came to the big screens.

Not long ago, consumers looking to contact the companies they did business with had to contain their outreach to the hours of 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., between Monday and Friday. If they had an option other than the phone, such as email or chat, they likely had to provide their information anew on each channel. Companies tightly controlled where interactions between its agents and customers happened, and they frequently made it too difficult for consumers to get the level of help and service they needed, CX futurist Blake Morgan asserted in Forbes.

The industry is abuzz with talk of AI (artificial intelligence). Advocates claim that contact center AI can do wonders to improve CSAT and lower operating costs. But how credible are these claims? It pays to carefully consider the specifics as to when, why, and how you plan to utilize AI in your contact center. This article provides context for how current AI solutions work, allowing you to decide which problems to solve, and offers eight best practices to help select and successfully manage an AI pilot project.

2020 was certainly a year unlike any other. A global pandemic of previously unimaginable extent has fundamentally changed the way we live, work and interact with each other, not only privately but also in a business environment. The use of digital channels has been on the rise for many years, both for how we communicate in our personal life, as well as for how we interact in a business environment. But in this past year, we have seen digital transformation adoption accelerate exponentially and, not surprisingly, we have seen this trend reflected in the contact center.

Answering routine questions, assisting contact center agents to handle calls, creating support tickets, checking statuses—conversational AI technologies have transformed all of these contact center tasks. And by doing so, this advanced call center technology has undoubtedly enabled enterprises to create a range of differentiated user experiences and increase productivity in specific workflows.

There’s a direct link between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction. Happy employees equal happy customers. Unhappy employees lead to unhappy customers. It’s not quite as simple as that, but as a generalization it’s not too far off. Employees are the driving factor behind customer satisfaction. Employee interactions set the tone for a positive or negative customer experience. When employees aren’t happy at work, their interactions with customers can, and almost always will, suffer. Over the course of time, this can have serious repercussions for a business.

Call centers can be management-intensive, especially when they use outdated software. Antiquated call center technology can prevent you from meeting your CX goals, frustrate your agents, cause you to overrun your budget, and make the call center an internal punching bag. In short, it can really ruin your day!