Top Contact Center Automation Trends for 2024—Including AI

As AI and machine learning advance, the need for companies to keep up with the latest contact center automation trends has become more crucial than ever. Contact center automation has various use cases that create opportunities for businesses to enhance the customer experience. Failing to leverage these opportunities can cause businesses to fall behind.  

In this blog, we’ll explore the latest contact center automation trends and explain why automating your contact center can be beneficial to your business. We’ll also discuss common types of contact center automations and provide a brief overview of where contact center automation is likely headed.

What is Contact Center Automation and Why is it Important?

Contact center automation is the process of adopting software and AI-powered tools to streamline customer service operations. This enables companies to prioritize the high-level objectives that drive customer satisfaction and maximize revenue.

Some of the goals companies often pursue include reaching customers on their preferred communication channels, providing personalized customer experiences, and satisfying customers throughout the buyer journey. Automation can help companies reach these goals by simplifying repetitive and time-consuming tasks so that contact centers can focus most of their time on high-value tasks. 

According to IBM’s Business Value Institute, virtual assistant technology in the contact center resulted in 12% and 9% boosts in customer and agent satisfaction scores. It also led to a 15% decrease in handling times and containment rates of roughly 64%. 

This indicates that automation in the contact center is no longer a “nice-to-have” but a necessity if companies want to stay ahead of the competition. 

Common Types of Contact Center Automation

Contact center automation can be implemented in various ways. Here are a few common automations.

• Call Scheduling Automation

Call scheduling automation makes it possible for contact centers to effectively schedule calls based on where the customer or client is along their buyer’s journey. 

For example, you can automatically schedule onboarding calls or presentations for new customers who have just made a purchase. By automatically scheduling calls based on a customer's action in their buyer journey, you’ll be able to meet their demands more easily and readily, potentially leading to higher conversion rates and customer satisfaction. 

• Customer Interaction Automation

Some of the qualities that many customers look for in a contact center, which, oddly enough, can be hard to find, are 24/7 availability and quality, and helpful self-service options. 

Through AI-powered technology like chatbots, interactive voice response (IVR) systems, and virtual assistants, contact centers can address such challenges, ensuring that customers can get the support they need at any time. 

Customer interaction automation also boosts the efficiency of contact centers. With AI-powered tools handling basic customer interactions, agents can address more complex issues and invest more time and resources into honing their skills. 

• Sales and Marketing Automation

Sales automation is vital to the outbound activities of a contact center, such as telemarketing, customer onboarding, and surveys. With sales automation, contact centers can improve efficiency while conducting activities that lead to higher conversion rates and customer engagement. 

Automating sales operations can help contact centers prioritize powerful strategies that enhance marketing efforts, such as personalization, content marketing, and email marketing. 

• Forecasting Automation

Contact centers have to handle large volumes of customer data, some of which they store in their customer relations management (CRM) system, and some of which often go unused. This data can be used to help companies forecast trends and equip them with the insights to prepare for possible future challenges, such as shifts in communication channel preferences, fluctuating customer demands, and regulatory changes.

By adopting contact center automation, companies can parse through large volumes of data more efficiently than ever. They can identify trends and patterns in historical data through statistical analysis, which human personnel may miss or couldn’t possibly get through. These advanced data analytics capabilities can lead to more accurate forecasting of emerging trends. 

•  SMS Scheduling Automation

With 52% of prospects on mobile and SMS having open rates of 98%, SMS is a key mode of communication in contact center outreach. Contact centers can stay top-of-mind and boost customer engagement by automating SMS to reach customers after they’ve carried out certain actions in their buyer’s journey. 

For instance, automated call scheduling can be used to reach out or nurture a lead who has indicated an interest in a company’s products or services by signing up for a newsletter or downloading a white paper.

Software Used in Contact Center Automation 

What software and technology are behind the latest contact center automation trends? Here are some of the software used in contact center automation. 

• Conversational AI or Chatbot 

Conversational AI is one of the biggest contact center automation trends on the horizon thanks to the rise of ChatGPT. GPT-style chatbots are now essential tools in contact centers. Built on natural language processing (NLP), these tools can be used to respond to customer queries in real-time. 

They supplement self-service options, such as knowledge bases, FAQs, and video walkthroughs, making it easier for customers to solve their issues independently without human intervention. Conversational AI has become advanced enough to engage with customers using human-like language models and to understand customer intent when responding to queries. 

• Interactive Voice Response 

An IVR tool is an automated telephone system that allows customers to interact with voice response systems using touch-tone keypad selections or speech recognition. Through a voice response system of pre-recorded messages, IVR systems can serve as self-service options for customers, reducing the need for them to speak to an agent. 

For queries that require live agent support, IVR systems provide customers with menu options to have their calls routed to specific agents or departments. 

• Automatic Call Distribution (ACD) Systems 

ACD software automatically routes incoming calls to qualified agents based on predefined criteria, such as agent skill level, call priority, or geographical location. 

Advanced ACD systems can work in tandem with IVR technology. For example, IVR technology can prompt a caller to enter their preferred language or location or indicate the reason for the call, so that their call can be routed to the appropriate agent.  

• CRM Software

CRM has been a key component of contact center operations for a long time. It is the process of collating customer data from various communication channels, such as telephone, live chat, and email, and using this data to analyze customer behavior to better cater to their needs.

Integrating Automation tools with CRM software can streamline data collation and data analysis, allowing contact centers to provide exceptional customer experiences. 

• Robotic Process Automation 

Robotic process automation (RPA) is a technology that allows contact centers to create, manage, and deploy software robots to handle various mundane tasks. Like humans, software robots can extract and verify data, manage emails, and schedule appointments. 

However, they are much faster and can be more consistent than humans when performing these tasks, and they don’t need to take a break or retire for the day.  

12 Call Center Automation Trends to Watch

Current contact center automation trends are geared towards driving results for both the contact center and customers. Here are some of the most popular contact center automation trends to watch in 2024. 

1. Omnichannel Solution

Efficient omnichannel support has become a hallmark of companies focusing on providing quality customer service. Customers now expect businesses to be able to meet them wherever they are. Can you respond to your customers effectively if they are on social media? Is your contact center set up for phone calls? What about email? 

Contact center automation can help companies consolidate customer information, making it possible to maintain consistent communication across all channels. With all the data in one place, agents can easily follow up on customer queries, without needing the customers to restate their problems or questions. 

2. AI-Powered Self-Service 

Automated chatbots are fast becoming a major channel of communication in contact centers. Gartner projects that 1 in 10 agent interactions will be automated by 2026. This has a lot to do with the evolution of AI-powered chatbots from rigid tools that rely on scripted responses to sophisticated bots that comprehend and generate human-like text and facilitate interactions with customers that feel natural and fluid. 

Some popular conversation AI bots include ChatGPT and Bing Chat. Since customers value conversation-driven customer service, GPT-style automated bots can help boost the customer experience, while improving the efficiency and effectiveness of contact centers.

By 2026, Gartner predicts that the integration of conversational AI in contact centers will also help reduce agent labor costs by $80 billion in 2026. 

3. Workflow Automation 

Contact center automation is making contact centers more productive and efficient by handling everyday tasks. These tasks may include order tracking, setting dispositions, and updating the database. 

By automating everyday tasks, agents can have more time to focus on more complex tasks. Workflow automation can also minimize human error, which can lead to lower costs and a better customer experience.  

4. Predictive Analytics

Predictive analytics remains an important tool in customer service delivery and has become even more powerful and impacted contact center automation trends further. 

From the ability to predict potential problems to the ability to deliver exceptional personalized service, these tools help improve service quality, agent productivity, and customer retention. Predictive analytic tools incorporate cutting-edge automation technologies, such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, sentiment analysis, and big data analytics to compile current and historical data to predict future trends. 

5. Intelligent Call Routing 

The traditional method of routing calls in a contact center involves directing the calls to qualified agents based on the customer’s reason for calling. While effective to an extent, this method has been quite inefficient because it doesn’t account for parameters like call complexity, agent score, geography, and customer accent or language.  

Automated call routing capabilities have quickly grown to help contact centers take such parameters into consideration when routing calls. By efficiently matching agents to callers, companies can provide better customer experiences. 

6. Agent Assistant

Agent assistants are automated tools that use technology, such as machine learning and software systems to improve agent performance. Agent assistance technology blends human behavior with AI attributes to deliver exceptional customer experiences. 

For instance, agent assistants can help with language translation between agents and customers in a multilingual customer support scenario. 

7. Hyper-Personalization

Many companies now prioritize hyper-personalization because it drives customer satisfaction levels and brand loyalty. Speaking of contact center automation trends, 71% of customers expect to have personalized interactions with the companies they patronize. 

Hyper-personalization involves sourcing and compiling large volumes of data about your customers on an individual level and harnessing this data to address their specific needs. Automation can help streamline this process, enabling companies to have customer data at their fingertips and respond adequately at any point in the customer journey.

8. Automated Scorecards

Contact center automation is transforming agent performance scoring systems. Traditional scorecards are typically based on historical data, which means that supervisors cannot respond in real-time or intervene in critical situations.  

With automated scorecards, supervisors can evaluate agent performance in real-time, enabling them to provide immediate feedback or intervene when necessary. 

9. Speech Analytics

Contact center automation trends are also introducing more advanced speech analytics tools. Using natural language processing and machine learning patterns, these tools can uncover unstructured data and structured data derived from spoken interactions with agents and generate valuable insights about customer behavior. 

The impact of speech analytics in contact centers extends beyond customer interactions. It also impacts the agent side of things. Contact center managers can use speech analytics tools to monitor agent performance based on their oral communication with customers. This provides the manager with insights for scoring the agent’s performance and pointing out areas that can be improved upon. 

10. Text Analytics

Projected to grow at a CAGR of 39.90% to reach $40 billion by 2028, text analytics is another powerful way for companies to generate insights from unstructured and structured text-based data. 

This data can be derived from various communication channels in a contact center. Even voice calls and video transcripts can provide valuable customer insights that companies can use to deliver excellent customer experiences.

11. Advanced Learning & Development with LMS

The growth of AI-powered learning management systems (LMS) is having a significant impact on contact center automation trends. These tools can simplify the training process in a contact center, enabling you to educate your employees, partners, and even customers on key areas, including business objectives, compliance, and performance. 

Automated training allows you to rapidly onboard learners, provide consistent training, and provide immediate feedback and assessment. 

12. Quality Assurance 

AI-powered tools have been developed to have a wider reach on quality assurance (QA) tasks in a contact center. Not only can these tools help boost productivity and efficiency by assisting QA teams with their tasks or completely taking over the QA work, but they can also help contact centers cut back on costs involved in implementing quality assurance procedures.

For instance, automated tools can help contact centers prepare QA scorecards and automatically evaluate agent performance by listening in on calls. These tools can also generate automatic feedback reports for agents, providing supervisors with additional coaching material and references to guide agents on areas that call for improvement.

Benefits of Contact Center Automation

Contact center automation can transform your business in several ways. Here are some benefits you can expect when you automate your contact center operations. 

• Leads to Brand Loyalty 

Consistent quality in service delivery is a big driver of customer loyalty. Unlike human agents, automated tools are less prone to mistakes and can generate data with more accuracy. 

They can be consistent in helping contact centers deliver quality service and meet customer expectations, leading to loyal customers. 

• Offer Revenue Opportunities

Reducing costs has always been a major challenge for contact centers. However, the issue has become more complicated due to the unpredictable economy. Automation provides businesses with several opportunities to reduce costs. 

Contact center automation solutions offer more cost-saving opportunities than outsourcing or hiring staff. When contact centers rely more on human effort, they have to pay employee wages and outsourcing fees for unused agent capacity even when request volumes are low. 

Contact center automation training is also cost-effective. These cost-saving benefits, in addition to the capacity of automation-powered contact centers to serve more customers than in traditional contact centers, lead to a significant boost in revenue. 

• Boost Contact Center Efficiency and Productivity:

Repetitive agent work is one of the top three reasons for agent attrition. Contact center automation can help prevent this by handling repetitive tasks, so customers can focus their time on tapping into their creativity and problem-solving skills when addressing customer challenges.

In addition, automation integration in contact centers can enable agents to focus on core activities that require more human input and judgment, such as rapport building with customers, sales and upselling, and training and skill development. 

• 24/7 Availability 

Unlike human agents, contact center automation tools are capable of working around the clock. They can operate whenever you require support. According to Invesp, 67% of customers worldwide used a chatbot to access customer support in the previous year. 

Since this indicates that lots of customers are willing to use chatbots for support, you can feel confident that you’d be providing the round-the-clock availability that customers crave if you integrate chatbots into your contact center solution.

Examples of effective contact center automation use cases

Here are three examples of industry leaders who automated their contact center operations and saw significant benefits as a result. 

• Delta Airlines 

Delta Airlines, a leading airline, leveraged contact center automation to streamline its customer service operations. The company used interactive voice response (IVR) technology and AI-powered chatbots to handle customer inquiries pertaining to flight status, baggage tracking, and booking changes to qualified agents. This allowed agents to focus on addressing more complex tasks, leading to reduced wait times and enhanced customer satisfaction. 

• Amazon 

Amazon, an e-commerce giant and household name, adopted contact center automation to boost the efficiency of its contact center. The company leveraged automated chatbots and virtual assistants to handle routine tasks, such as tracking and order processing, inventory management, and complaint resolution. This reduced customer wait times, enhanced agent efficiency, and led to higher levels of customer satisfaction. 

• Netflix 

As a top-tier streaming platform, Netflix adopted contact center automation to streamline its customer service delivery. The company deployed AI-powered chatbots to help customers with issues such as password resets, account and billing management, and content navigation. By doing this, Netflix succeeded in speeding up response times and personalizing the viewing experience for customers. 

The Future of Contact Center Automation

Today’s contact center automation trends indicate that AI will be a key driver of innovation and contact center operations in the future. AI and machine learning advancements have improved the capacity of contact centers to achieve consistency and transparency across various communication channels, which, in turn, is leading to higher levels of customer satisfaction. 

In the future, the main priority for contact centers will be selecting the right set of automation tools to augment their live agents and balancing machine input with human collaboration. 

Achieving this synergy between technology and the human touch will help create a future where excellent customer service takes center stage.

The takeaway: Getting started with technology for call centers

Given the current contact center automation trends, automating your contact center can be the best decision for your business in 2024. PanTerra Streams provides you with a cloud-based platform your automation tools can integrate with so you can manage your communication initiatives from anywhere. 

With 24/7 monitoring and management by PanTerra’s team, we keep your communication systems operating efficiently, so you can maximize your productivity and focus on the activities that provide the most value. Want to learn more or get started? Build your quote today.