AI Applications for Help Desk Outsourcing
Artificial Intelligence Automation Solutions Reduce Business Costs
Oct 31, 2009
The state of the economy is forcing many businesses to tighten their belts, and consider various ways to save money. Help desk outsourcing is always on the table for service-based industries, due to the many varieties of cost-savings it brings. As artificial intelligence products become more available to the business sector, outsourcing many operations to artificial intelligence applications may become even more cost-effective than outsourcing to other countries. Examples of the cost-effectiveness of help desk outsourcing to AI include telephone assistance, and knowledge bases.
Outsourced Customer Service
Outsourced customer service, using natural language processing and automated responses, simplifies operations for both the caller, and the business. Previously, businesses had to hire people to answer the phone, and route calls to the appropriate person or department. Currently, AI voice recognition programs interact with callers in various ways.
- Providing general information to the caller without the need for any human interaction, based on the caller’s needs.
- Requesting and processing necessary information in order to perform various functions, from resetting passwords, to making payments.
- Routing the call to the appropriate department, complete with caller information, in the event that the caller needs to talk to a “real person”.
The amount of time invested in these operations can be considerable. Outsourcing customer service by using AI programs to perform these functions can result in an equally considerable cost-savings. The artificial intelligence application is not only able to interpret a caller’s numerical responses, but also verbal responses. In order to achieve this, AI programs are given an extensive database of sounds and words, and ‘taught’ how to interpret them.
Call Center Outsourcing
Call center outsourcing requires an automated knowledge base. Using an automated knowledge base system reduces manpower requirements for businesses that offer technical and customer support services. Many businesses are forced to pay unskilled workers to take calls, answer simple questions, and escalate more difficult issues to second or third level support. Alternately, well-trained technical support personnel waste valuable time taking calls and answering simple questions. Using an AI-based automated knowledge base for call center outsourcing prevents both of these issues.
Expert Systems in Call Centers
AI-based knowledge bases used for call center outsourcing are typically expert systems, and must be populated with information provided by “experts” in the area. Using a combination of expert systems and neural networks, however, allows a knowledge-base program to not only hit the ground running, but also to increase knowledge with each problem addressed. One example of this type of program is the Right Now Knowledge Base.
AI in Business
Using artificial intelligence in business frees up more highly-trained personnel to perform technical and increasingly challenging job functions. It also allows a business to avoid the necessity of additional unskilled labor, and the overhead costs associated with additional personnel. Finally, the AI programs used for outsourcing are available around the clock, and continually improve their performance.
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