Agent-assisted automation

Agent-assisted automation is a type of call center technology that automates elements of what the call center agent 1) does with his/her desktop tools and/or 2) says to customers during the call using pre-recorded audio. It is a relatively new category of call center technology that shows promise in improving call center productivity and compliance. Desktop integration is focused on how the agents interact with their desktop tools. The main challenge is that there are often many desktop tools, some new, some legacy system. These tools can make the process of handling customers’ requests quite cumbersome and time consuming. That time on the phone can often be frustrating for customers and expensive for companies. By using software to integrate the tools, the process can be streamlined. For example, information can be entered once and populated across multiple tools or doing a step in one tool can automatically accomplish a different step in another desktop tool. Pre-recorded audio (sometimes referred to as soundboard (computer program) or as soundboard technology) is another form of agent-assisted automation. The purpose of using pre-recorded messages is to increase the probability (and in some cases error-proof the process so) that the right information is provided to customers at the right time. The required disclosures are pre-recorded to ensure accuracy and understandability. By integrating the recordings with the customer relationship management software, the right combination of disclosures can be played based on the combination of goods and services the customer purchased. The integration with the customer relationship management software also ensures that the order cannot be submitted until the disclosures are played, essentially error-proofing (poka-yoke) the process of ensuring the customer gets all the required consumer protection information. Phone surveys are ideal applications of this technology.