at MMDSmart, who predicted that businesses would use the big data that Shamille is saying will be vital to the future of the contact centre, and use it to replace agents with ChatGPT. Cohen said the future is “going to be less human” adding: “The way technology is going and because businesses want to save costs and want to be more efficient, they’re going to humanise the technology so it sounds warm like a human being is speaking and it is going to become a lot smarter because generated by AI and predictive AI are going to come. “Today, most of the phone call centre experiences can be carried out on ChatGPT.” Human After All “I don’t believe humans are going to be surplus to requirements,” said Smillie. “As we look to the future, I think there will be roles for humans that we haven’t imagined yet. So I don’t think that technology is going to replace us. “In fact, I think it’s going to work more in harmony with us and hopefully alleviate some of the mundane things that none of us want to do. It will open new doors to do new roles and provide new services for things that we just haven’t even thought about today. Cohen went on to point to consumer trends amongst younger generations, pointing to short-form content providers like TikTok and the main interaction medium through text on a device. Whereas Thompson made a case for human interaction. “There will be roles, there will be massive opportunities, but the organisations that will keep the customer will be those that are innovative and create things that don’t exist right now. As a result, I think that we will end up with people wanting more human contact than ever before. “As a species, we are designed to connect with others through things like facial
expressions with a real human. “The funny thing about us is that we can spot a fake a lot of the time. So if you are a fake and you haven’t told us we don’t like it. We want integrity. We want sincerity. We want authenticity. You get that from another human being.” Taking it slow Marc Monet, head of Contact Centre at Benefex, agreed that human interaction will continue to be prominent in the contact centre and advocated for more benefits for agents who provide the service brands rely on. Before he said that, Monet warned that adopting AI early may not be the best policy. “In terms of where we go next, we do need to embrace technology but we need to get the people and the processes right as well. Technology is used as a sticking plaster sometimes or because the AI looks sexy or the CEO wants it, but before they bring it in, businesses need a plan. “I think the future for contact centres is technologies like AI fueling our knowledge systems, and providing good bot interactions. Where I see people coming in is being able to offer better training, and more empowerment so that agents can give solutions to the difficult queries. “I want a smaller contact centre, but I want those contact centre agents paid more. I want them to get better benefits. I want them to have all the best tech and all the best systems to make their job less complicated. “It’s making sure that we’ve got everything in place, contact deflection, we’ve got really good self-serve models, but then when someone needs help, they’re going to come through to someone that wants to be sat in that seat, is getting paid above market rate and has a title that reflects what they’re doing in a much more meaningful way, rather than just contact centre agent.”
Ira Cohen
mmdsmart.com
We want integrity. We want sincerity. We want
authenticity. You get that from another human being.
Mark Monet
IMP- ORT- ANT
TO US
YOUR CALL
IS
hellobenefex.com
ucadvanced.com
21
Powered by FlippingBook