Artificial intelligence (AI) has been a game changer for businesses of all shapes and sizes, transforming how we work and communicate.

Nowhere is this more evident than in customer experience, where AI-powered tools are guiding customers through self-service and empowering employees to be more efficient throughout their daily tasks.

To understand the impact of AI, we can look at companies like Vyopta, who recently launched Aviator, an AI-assisted support system, and see how they’re using artificial intelligence to improve the way they work.

What is AI?

While the classic idea of artificial intelligence features thinking, speaking machines (think C-3PO or Hal-9000), modern AI is not quite there yet. Today’s AI uses machine learning, natural language processing, and a vast amount of training data to identify patterns, analyze data, and generate human-sounding output.

One of the more exciting uses for AI is Generative AI, which uses natural language to create content in response to prompts and input. AI like ChatGPT, Google’s Gemini, and Vyopta’s Aviator use Generative AI to understand questions and create intelligent answers drawn from their training data.

It’s worth noting that despite the name, AI is not currently capable of thinking for itself. AI-generated responses are drawn from training data and predictive algorithms, so anything an AI “says” is based on what the algorithms indicate would normally be said in a similar sentence.

How and Why Companies are Using AI

Organizations are using AI as a tool to empower their workforces and provide improved customer support.

AI’s versatility makes it a helpful tool for everything from composing emails to analyzing large quantities of data to identifying trends or flagging potential fraud. At the same time, its ability to understand natural language makes it a helpful tool for customer support and self-service.

Vyopta, for instance, uses AI in its Aviator tool to act as an assistant for its users, including:

  • Guiding new users through onboarding
  • Assisting with adding new infrastructure and devices
  • Helping users fully utilize their platform
  • Seamlessly adopt and integrate new technologies and UCaaS platforms

In customer support, AI-powered tools are used to assist both agents and customers. This includes:

  • Automatically transcribing and summarizing calls in real-time
  • Providing customers with self-service options to carry out basic tasks
  • Managing repetitive, manual tasks for agents like logging calls and taking notes
  • Quickly accessing information for agents in real-time
  • Accessing customer information and providing agents with helpful, contextual information
  • Real-time sentiment analysis to ensure customers are satisfied

The benefits of this are clear: AI technology can automate tasks and save businesses time and money.

For instance, say it takes contact center agents one minute to log a call, including noting the caller’s name, issues they called about, and how the issue was resolved. Automating that process with AI saves that much time per agent, per call, leading to significant time savings across the company.

Using AI Responsibly

One of the biggest concerns around AI is using it ethically and responsibly. Artificial intelligence is a powerful tool, but like any technology, users need to understand what it can do and how it works before they rely on it.

Responsibly using AI takes several forms, including:

  • Training it on data that you have access to and permission to use, as well as ensuring the data is accurate
  • Fine-tuning the AI to make sure it gives correct and unbiased responses
  • Using AI-powered technology to assist human agents, rather than replace them altogether

According to Joe Williams, Product Support Manager at Vyopta, companies have a responsibility to ensure their AI-powered tools respond correctly to their customers, including not only sounding natural but also presenting accurate information.

“If the question is ‘What do you think of Company XYZ,’ the answer should not be a generated opinion of ‘I like Company ABC best,’” Williams explains. “We’re here to offer facts, not opinions.”

Similarly, if the AI tool doesn’t have an answer, it should be able to admit as much and suggest the customer reaches out to a representative, rather than make something up.

To address this concern, Vyopta finetunes and trains its AI by recording all the responses it provides to end users during testing and using a grading system to make sure all the answers are correct. If any are incorrect, they can then adjust the training and provide accurate information, ensuring the AI tool is trained properly.

How Vyopta Uses AI

We can look at Vyopta as a good example of how companies are using AI and ensuring it’s used responsibly. Vyopta uses generative AI in Aviator, bringing context-relevant, AI-assisted support to improve the customer experience and time-to-value.

First, Vyopta ensures the data Aviator uses comes directly from them. Aviator uses Vyopta’s documentation and Zendesk articles to find information and answer user-submitted questions, as well as analyze user feedback to improve. Vyopta made sure to test and fine-tune Aviator internally with a focus on improving and scaling customer service capabilities as well as relied on feedback across multiple iterations to fine-tune it.

At the same time, Vyopta can use Aviator to help maintain and fill out its knowledge base articles, using the core information it’s trained on. This reduces the amount of time Vyopta’s employees need to spend maintaining their knowledge base so that they can focus on supporting their customers and products.

Additionally, Vyopta’s team is frequently testing their AI technology to find new ways to utilize it. The goal is to find ways to apply AI to optimize daily work, such as improving user understanding of Vyopta’s data analytics by acting as a smart glossary that can break down and explain the data into actionable insights.

As AI technology develops, more uses and benefits will continue to emerge. We’ve already seen the impact it can have on daily work, the user experience, customer support, and more, and companies like Vyopta are unlocking new ways to empower their businesses with AI every day.



from UC Today https://ift.tt/Xsmw8ZA