Comprehensive software reviews to make better IT decisions
Hi, I’m a robot, how may I direct your call?
Google’s Contact Center AI is in beta. Start a proof of concept so you are ready to take advantage of this product when it reaches general availability.
At Google Next 2019, the Google Cloud team announced that they are applying their virtual agent to the contact center. According to the product’s website, Google Contact Center AI will interface with your contact center infrastructure to replace your IVR, to automate certain actions, and to connect callers with a human agent. These workflows will be powered by Google Cloud’s Dialogflow.
Our Take
This product has the potential to greatly improve customer service but proceed cautiously. Customer satisfaction will improve if you can remove a painful phone tree. However, poorly implemented AI will inevitably result in poor experiences, and 62% of customers will stop “doing business with a brand due to a poor customer service experience” (N=5000, Microsoft Dynamics 365).
This space is fluctuating; don’t invest too heavily yet in a single product. After all, Cisco Collaboration announced its own AI offering for the contact center at Enterprise Connect 2019.
If it’s with Google or another vendor, AI is coming to the contact center. Prepare with a proof of concept.