The Pros and Cons of AI in Call Centers

Healthcare businesses differ significantly, but their success comes down to the same thing — exceeding customer expectations. To meet this objective, many companies in the industry have leveraged artificial intelligence (AI) in their call centers to improve customer experiences. While the benefits of using AI in customer support are evident, this approach also presents numerous challenges.

The Role of AI in Customer Support

From automating routine tasks to supporting human agents in their roles, call centers use AI solutions at every level. Some common examples include:

• Automated chatbots: These computerized programs stimulate verbal or written human responses.
• Virtual assistants: Just like human assistants, AI-powered assistants automate tasks to enhance productivity.
• Interactive voice response: This tool streamlines calls by allowing callers to make selections with voice rather than keypresses.

Advantages of AI Call Centers

Businesses across industries use AI to reduce costs, maximize efficiency and improve analytics. Learn about some of the pros of AI call centers.

1. Cost Efficiency

Whether you distribute medical tech devices or sell insurance, the goal of all businesses is to grow their bottom line. AI enables significant cost savings in three crucial ways:

• Reduced need for labor: Well-equipped customer service teams ensure your clients receive instant responses. By leveraging AI, call centers can provide speedy assistance while allocating live agents to more complex matters.
• Minimal training needed: Knowing what to say to a frustrated client is a true talent, and professional training helps enhance these skills. However, training sessions are often costly and require staff to put their regular tasks on hold for the day. AI doesn’t require training in the way humans do, making those tools ideal for specific jobs.
• Limited turnover: Between interviewing candidates and training new recruits, many costs are involved with replacing employees. Many companies estimate the total cost to be as much as three or four times more than the prior employee’s salary. By assigning certain roles to AI, businesses avoid paying employee-related costs for those roles.

2. Time Efficiency

In the business world, time is money, and that’s especially true in call centers. An instant and accurate answer to a customer’s query is essential for an optimal customer experience.

However, research shows that the average response time to customer requests is approximately 12 hours. By leveraging AI processes, such as intelligent call routing, businesses can help customers connect with the relevant team to gain the insights they need faster.

3. Enhanced Customer Experience

By the time a customer has recounted their issue two or more times, they are likely to feel frustrated. AI-powered chatbots and virtual agents eliminate this issue by providing customers with instant answers.

There are also greater capabilities to record customer responses. This data is particularly useful for ongoing issues, as agents can pickup where they left off.

4. Improved Data Analytics

Businesses must keep track of common product faults or service complaints to ensure effective resolutions. However, it is more challenging to track this data with multiple call center representatives responding to these concerns.

AI tools help to group customer data so your business can analyze trends and identify areas for growth and improvement.

Disadvantages of AI Call Centers

AI customer experiences may be faster and less expensive for a company, but they come with their challenges. Consider some of the cons of AI call centers before making your decision.

1. Ethical Risks

Brands need to maintain an objective and unbiased approach during customer exchanges, and AI may impact their ability to remain neutral. As AI tools are trained on big data that can contain real-world stereotypes and prejudices, they’re likely to contain gender and race biases. AI solutions with inherent biases impact the quality of information, resulting in potentially discriminatory interactions.

A further concern for healthcare businesses is the distribution of incorrect advice. Unlike human agents, AI-powered chatbots and virtual assistants have limited ability to ask clarifying questions, which could lead them to provide inaccurate responses.

2. Services Lack Personalization

Employees are often an organization’s greatest strength, as they embody the company culture and values. As humans, they experience and display a range of emotions, making it easier to relate to customers and personalize their responses. Ultimately, AI lacks the empathy humans exhibit, creating a disconnect due to a lack of personalization.

Personalizing services is an important consideration for businesses, as research suggests that 70% of consumers are more likely to support brands that understand their needs. Establishing meaningful interactions indicates to customers that you are aware of their unique preferences.

3. Heightened Security Issues

Cybersecurity threats — such as phishing, malware and viruses — pose a great risk to businesses. Approximately 85% of business leaders say that AI will significantly increase the likelihood of these threats.

For healthcare organizations, these threats are an even greater concern as a cybersecurity attack could expose confidential patient data. Aside from the legal and compliance implications of a data breach, customers will likely be less trusting of your brand in the future.

4. Long and Costly Implementation

AI-powered solutions may offer cost benefits in the long term, but the initial costs are high. In addition, they take months to implement, and it is sometimes years before you see the results.

According to the Harvard Business Review, a further problem with implementation lies in insufficient cross-team collaboration. For example, a business that neglects to involve all teams in adopting AI, such as call service agents and product manufacturers, is unlikely to experience positive results.

Make the Best Choice for Your Business

There’s no denying the importance of effective call center support. AI-powered call centers are one option, as they help to improve efficiency and reduce labor costs. However, your organization can also use other strategies to improve the customer experience.

One highly favorable choice is business process outsourcing (BPO) call centers. This option lets you equip your customer service team with skilled human agents who provide 24/7 support. As these workers work remotely, there’s no need to provide office space and supplies, helping to reduce overall costs. Many businesses prefer BPO call centers for their personalized service without the overheads.

Some of the other benefits of BPO solutions include:

• Trained personnel: BPO call center agents often undergo extensive training. This breadth of experience allows them to provide accurate and compassionate answers to relevant healthcare questions.
• Personalized customer journeys: Services are customized to your specific business, ensuring the best experience for your customers.
• Increased scalability and flexibility: Instead of bringing on full-time employees, you adjust your personnel requirements to your changing needs.