How has AI impacted the world of customer services?

As software and technology continues to develop, many businesses across numerous industries are turning to artificial intelligence or AI as it’s also known. It’s highly likely that you’ll have rang your bank, insurance company or another similar business and been met by an automated telephone service. Whether you have to press various numbers to be taken through to your desired destination or even say short sentences, AI is becoming more popular than ever and dont forget to check out Complain.biz.

With many businesses opting to use AI to improve efficiency, not everyone sees it in that way. For many people the prospect of being met by an automated telephone service is enough to put them off ringing to ask their query. There’s no doubt that AI has a strong number of advantages, but it also brings its downsides as well. People like speaking with an actual person when being dealt with, for example, if a homebuyer is looking around at the market, they are going to want to make sure that they are being handled by an experienced mortgage professional, and they want to be able to see this in action. So within a business’s mortgage marketing strategies, they need to provide a ‘real feel’ to their services that can be projected through their advertising and to potential customers.

To explore this in more detail, CallCare surveyed 600 people to find out what they really thought of automated telephone services and how they weighed up against speaking to an actual customer service advisor.

What do you find most frustrating about AI?

One of the most important questions the respondents were asked in the survey, was what do you find most frustrating about automated telephone services. The biggest outcome with almost 250 people agreeing, was that amount of time it takes to be transferred through to a customer service advisor. In second place was the amount of time people feel they have to repeat themselves, with just over 200 respondents giving this answer.

Has an automated telephone service solved your issue without an advisor?

Many businesses who use automated telephone services would hope that the majority of respondents will say yes to this, and feel their money has been well spent. Sadly for them, this isn’t the case and the result goes strongly against what I’m sure they’d like to hear. According to the survey, 74% of people said that they have never had an issue solved just by an automated telephone service alone, meaning they had to be transferred to an advisor.

Would you rather speak to a human or AI when making a complaint?

At some advisors point we’ll have all had to deal with an automated telephone service and it’s down to each individual opinion to decide whether or not you’re for or against the service. If you’ve ever been in a position where you want to make some form of complaint then it’s more than likely you’ve been greeted by AI rather than a human. According to the survey, 97.5% of respondents said they would prefer to speak to a human than an AI when making a complaint.

Perhaps that could be a reason why industries such as medicine and healthcare may have human advisors to answer emergency calls since they can provide appropriate assistance to people in need. For that, hospitals and clinics can go for an after hours call answering service to have a knowledgeable team who can provide medical help and solutions for emergencies.

Further, when looking at the results of CallCare’s survey, you’ll notice that a large percentage of people prefer human interaction to AI, and by quite a margin. As AI and automated telephone services become more popular, it would be wise for businesses to look at results like these before jumping straight into the service. After all, they should prioritise the needs of their customers.