If you’ve attended any contact center conference in 2023 or simply Googled “contact center,” you’ll see that AI is one of the hottest topics in the contact center industry right now, and for good reason. It's not just a buzzword; it's a game-changer for the future of contact center operations. The past year, especially, has witnessed a surge in AI's prominence, thanks in part to technologies like OpenAI's ChatGPT. AI is not the end goal for contact centers or a replacement for their whole operations but a means to achieve seamless customer experiences. When used correctly, it can be a tool that smart contact center operators leverage to enhance their operations, both for their business and customers.

Workforce Management and Staffing Redefined with AI

Workforce management in contact centers involves meticulous planning, forecasting, scheduling, and day-to-day operations. Traditionally, this has been a challenging task, often leading to overstaffing and higher costs. When most contact center operators think about AI, they imagine AI-assisted chatbots or fully automated agents. However, there are bigger opportunities to enable AI to support perfect staffing. AI provides workforce management teams the ability to identify the right people with the right skills available exactly when needed. This is where AI excels.

AI's Role in Reducing Human Oversight

One of the key challenges in workforce management is the need for human oversight. From sifting through shortlisted resumes from the HR team to meticulously managing complex agent schedules. In the past, teams of individuals were required to monitor and manage contact center operations, relying on massive data sets that were difficult to stay on top of. With AI, contact centers can now use the speed and efficiency of AI to review large data sets in a matter of seconds. This enables workforce managers to easily find and make connections that would otherwise be difficult with manual oversight. Some of these improvements include understanding agent behavior during peak season or even determining when customer demand is the highest to improve staffing levels. In short, it offers a better way of doing things by leveraging AI’s automation capabilities to ensure optimal staffing levels.

The Transition from Manual to AI-Driven Staffing and Forecasting

The transition from manual workforce management to AI-driven staffing is where the true transformation is happening for contact center workforce management and staffing. Typically, companies have entire teams dedicated to this task, but AI can help contact centers lower operation costs by optimizing how their workforce and staffing teams identify, staff, and monitor agents. At ShyftOff, our platform is enhanced with AI to provide our partners with the ability to achieve perfect staffing. When we think of perfect staffing, this includes finding the right agent for the job and retaining this agent so you always maintain your service levels. With AI, you can eliminate the gaps in human oversight by finding the most qualified, high-performing agents that can do the job within the time needed. We review skill sets and availability to set our partners up with multiple agent options that can meet their staffing levels.

Forecasting is another area where AI shines. In the past, forecasting was often a manual Excel exercise. However, with machine learning algorithms, contact centers can predict future call volumes and arrival patterns more accurately. This, coupled with dynamic scheduling and on-demand staffing, leads to a level of precision that was previously unattainable.

AI Matching for the Perfect Agent-Client Fit

One of the most exciting applications of AI in contact centers is the ability to match agents with the work they are qualified for and enjoy doing, something that is nearly impossible to do today with manual hiring and staffing. Understanding the right data is one of the most powerful solutions that AI provides to contact center operators. At ShyftOff, our AI reviews not only the resumes of our agents but also the complex data behind their personality examples, interview engagement, onboarding process, and training competency. This goes beyond simply checking qualifications on a resume, where most human-driven operators are limited today. What this ultimately results in is companies finding the most perfect match for their job, leading to remarkable improvements in performance.

Optimizing the Recruitment Process to Improve Agent Satisfaction

Once we’ve identified the right agent for the position, we want to make sure we staff an agent who will be motivated to perform well. Using AI, we can virtually eliminate attrition, which not only saves time in having to hire and retrain agents but can significantly reduce costs for a contact center. AI provides a unique opportunity for contact centers to not only improve operations but also ensure that agents who are selected to do certain tasks want to do this work. When we match agents who are passionate about the work they are doing, the more likely we can maintain better performance. People, by design, are motivated by work that they are masterful at, which provides purpose and a sense of autonomy. By using AI to guide agents to roles that match their strengths and preferences, contact centers can boost agent satisfaction. Happy agents are more likely to deliver exceptional customer service consistently.

Contact center AI is a transformative force that helps reduce operational costs and improve efficiencies. From optimizing workforce management and agent-client matching to improving forecasting accuracy, AI enhances every aspect of contact center operations. As the industry evolves, we can expect even more innovative AI solutions in 2024 and beyond to drive efficiency, improve agent satisfaction, and deliver exceptional customer service.

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For more insights on how GigCX is designed for complex work, you might be interested in the following resources from our blog: 

• How to Optimize Contact Center Training for Performance
• How to Scale High-Performing Agents for Your Contact Center
• How Does GigCX Find the Right Talent for Complex Work
  
  

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