Please Wait While We Connect You To An Agent – No more.

🙋🙋🙋🙋

And this guy!

and her!

I could go on but I'd lose track 🤷‍♀️ and forget what I wanted to say instead. 

Just a few months ago, Google showcased a demo of the Google Duplex, an upcoming upgrade of the Google Assistant, making an appointment through a phone call, albeit eerily humanlike. Watch the video to find out more:

By simply saying “Google, make an appointment for a haircut between 10am and 12pm tomorrow”, the virtual assistant calls your designated hair salon and has a conversation with the receptionist. Imagine if you were the receptionist, I bet you wouldn’t be able to tell that this person, who just called to make an appointment for a client, was an AI bot.

This AI bot comes complete with voice fluctuations, understanding of the conversation and the requirements of the client, and the initiative to look for other options and ask other relevant questions not directed by the client, creates a new frontier in customer service.

Maybe you don’t feel that there is a connection between Call Centres and IoT. However, these two have a history of playing catch up. As consumers become more tech-savvy, with their needs and demands expanding with every new device added to their repertoire, there is also a need for customer service to improve the technology and equipment used to provide support. 

With IoT, customer support, telemarketers and customer service agents now have the ability to collect customer information and data through various different sources, be it through wearable tech, beds, cups, toothbrushes, lamps, fans aside from Facebook, Instagram, Email, Skype Calls, FaceTime, etcetera.

Essentially, the Google Duplex acts like a smart, IoT enabled chatbot with the ability to speak, complete with intonation and pauses. 

Just imagine.

A call centre full of telemarketing staff could be replaced by programs that run online, 24/7, without the need for office space.  

No more waiting for 3 hours on Singtel to simply ask about your network disruption, wrong bills, only to get the answer that you could’ve gotten in 5 minutes.

AI in telemarketing could record data, and analyse them, create algorithms and learn from their predecessors. 

Customers tend to call into call centres when they are extremely infuriated and agitated by a product or a service that the company is providing. With AI bots instead of real people, AI will not encompass uncontrollable emotions, thus create a calming and understanding environment for the agitated customer.

In addition, with the ability to continue conversations and incorporate data collected on the Google Duplex, a scenario such as the one below may be possible:

Customer: Hi, my lights in my living room are not working suddenly.
Company: Hi, thank you for calling our hotline. Is this Angela? Please state your mobile number and email address to verify your identity.

Customer: Yes, I am Angela. My number is 12345678 and my email is 123@gmail.com.

Company: Thank you for calling, Angela. Let us pull up information from your lights before it malfunctioned. Ah, we see that the bulb has blown. You will need to purchase new lightbulbs. Would you like to purchase them from us or from your nearby hardware store?

Customer: How long will it take if I order it from you?

Company: Our delivery guys are all out at the moment for today. While we can schedule a slot for you tomorrow. would you prefer if I checked your nearest hardware store for you?

Customer: Yes! Please check with the hardware store at Northpoint City and let me know if they have the bulbs in stock.

Company: Please give me a moment. Ok, I have reserved 2 bulbs for you at Home Fix at Northpoint City for collection today, anytime before 10pm.

Customer: Great! Thank you so much.

Company: You are welcome!

A person can now have a back-and-forth conversation with a company, without the need for an actual person on the other end. Moreover, with IoT, other relevant information can be incorporated into the program! Conversations between customers and the service provider can be used to also enhance this AI customer service chatbot.

Companies can also generate greater conversions and sales when they use a program like Google Duplex. Google Duplex can help you follow up your leads and arrange for a meeting, set your appointments for medical, automate your customer service/support teams and yet create a trustworthy impression of your brand because your clients and customers don’t feel that they are receiving automated responses.

http://forum.univoxcommunity.com/discussion/1808/what-drives-customer-loyalty

It is important to not neglect the role of customer service as marketers. Customers usually go to hotlines first to solve issues, and only head to social media to flame the agency when the hotlines fail. Customer service is a component that generates higher sales as customer loyalty influences a returning customer to spend more, while recommending their friends and new customers to your business. With the introduction of the Google Duplex, you now have no excuse to not nurture this customer base.