In the dynamic landscape of customer and citizen interactions, the traditional contact centre is always looking for its next function, aspiring to deliver true value rather than simply being cost-centric. This transformation is now catalyzed by the rise of what Gartner referred to as ‘machine customers,’ a growing phenomenon brought forth by the Internet of Things (IoT).
As connected devices become more ubiquitous, they enable seamless interactions and engagements with private businesses and public organizations, acting as digital emissaries on behalf of their human users.
I spoke with Content Guru‘s Co-Founder and Deputy CEO, Martin Taylor, to explore the transformative potential of machine customers, also referred to as ‘digital customers’, their significance in shaping the future of contact centers, and the main sectors already benefiting from the change.
What are Machine Customers, exactly?
What we refer to as ‘machine customers’ are IoT devices such as vehicles, medical devices, or home appliances programmed to initiate interactions with the contact centre notifying of dangers, issues, or other user-related requests.
With an average of about 3.5 connected devices per person, machine customers are becoming a valuable market. According to a Gartner prediction, by 2026, machine customers will make up 20% of contact center traffic, signaling a profound change in customer engagement dynamics.
“I believe this might even be a conservative estimation,” Taylor notes. “In a world already filled with machine agents – machine customers are simply their natural counterparts.”
Common Use Cases in the Insurance and Utility Sectors
The insurance industry emerges as the classic candidate to reap substantial benefits from machine customer interactions.
A great example would be a car informing the insurer it’s been involved in an accident so it can take control of the accident scene.
“This will automatically generate a call from the insurer’s contact center to the driver, and it allows the insurer to optimize operations and resource allocation, as well as avoid potential issues,” Taylor explains.
The utility sector is another key beneficiary of machine customers, particularly electrical utilities and power companies.
“We operate contact centres for various power companies, who are already heavy users of intelligent automation and integrations,” Taylor shares.
“It’s only a natural step for them to have their smart meter population becoming part of this same omnichannel contact hub.”
As a machine customer, a smart meter could, for instance, indicate that power transmission stopped for a certain location, triggering proactive communications from the contact center to resolve the issue.
Revolutionizing Healthcare with Virtual Wards
Another sector highly impacted by the emergence of machine customers is the healthcare sector. Accelerated by the pandemic, it’s been experiencing a profound transformation with the advent of ‘virtual wards,’ enabled by machine customer interactions. By remotely monitoring patients’ health conditions, virtual wards allow healthcare providers to deliver post-operative care and reduce hospital stays.
According to Taylor, Best Buy’s estimation that 30% of hospital-type healthcare is going to be delivered in the home sounds just about right.
“Who wouldn’t prefer to be treated at home rather than a hospital?” he notes.
“The food’s better, it’s more comfortable, and there’s always a free bed. Also, patients’ post-operative recovery tends to be markedly better when they’re recovering in their home environment.”
The initial use of virtual wards was monitoring discharged patients at home using connected IoT devices, requiring the patient to take readings with a designated device and self-report several times a day. However, according to Taylor, the real game-changer is the possibility of an acute virtual ward, including hospital-style continuous monitoring, where a patient can wear a patch continuously transmitting vital signs.
“In this case, the contact center also becomes a system of action,” Taylor says.
For example, if the connected device notices unusual readings for a particular patient, the contact centre can trigger a WhatsApp message that asks to take the reading again, initiate a call, or add the patient to the call-out list for clinicians.
“We’re putting out the first of these acute virtual wards now with NHS UK, which should open up many new and exciting opportunities,” He shares.
Where does Content Guru Come in?
As a longtime player in the contact center space, Content Guru continues to embrace the machine customer revolution, integrating an advanced customer data platform within their storm® environment.
“Our focus on large-scale and high-reliability services, combined with an omnichannel single-stack architecture, makes us fully equipped to implement and optimize machine customer use cases.“
Ultimately, Taylor believes the combination of an increasingly digitalized public and the proliferation of low-cost, reliable devices, alongside omnichannel, cloud-based contact center platforms is going to be transformational.
“It’s expanding not only the notion of what a customer is, but also what a contact center can be and what it can do.”
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