Assessing the ROI of AI solutions in the contact center isn’t easy.
Arecent Valoir reportestimated that organizations spend, on average, just under $1,000 per user per year for CRM and CCaaS, supporting infrastructure and add-ons, with integration technologies making up 26 percent of that annual ongoing cost. Disconnected CX systems are a drain on productivity, Valoir contended, with service reps accessing an average of nine applications to do their job, while the average service organization supported 20 different applications in their effort to bring data together into a 360-degree customer view — a goal which 87% of CX leaders believe is unattainable.
Organizations should consider includingmany different variablesin their ROI calculations: administrative support, governance, compliance, licensing costs, usage costs, end-user training and ongoing monitoring. Similarly, organizations should look at the benefits of AI through three different lenses: cost savings, productivity improvements and revenue increases.
Despite the challenges of measuring benefits and costs, AI-powered solutions in companies and CX operations do seem to be delivering ROI.
46% of CX leaders say AI improved CSAT
Arecent Cavell surveyof CX leaders found three areas in which AI delivered clear and demonstrable value in contact centers: improved customer satisfaction (46%), improved agent productivity or effectiveness (43%) and faster resolution times (42%).
54% report AI benefits outweigh costs
A recentMetrigy global studyfound that most companies are using AI in some way. Despite this, ROI remains “somewhat elusive,” with 54.2% saying that the benefits of AI have outweighed its costs. Companies see the biggest value from AI in helping employees be more productive, which can lead to measurable reductions in operating costs as well as benefits to customer service metrics and increased revenue.
65% consider AI successful
Arecent Laivly surveyfound that 65% of companies called their most recent AI initiative to transform CX successful. Fifty-five percent of leaders report CX and contact center AI as a top-three AI investment priority across their company, with 30% ranking it as their number one priority. Fifty percent of companies that consider their AI deployments successful cite selecting use cases that deliver measurable ROI within the first 90 days as a top success factor.
90% report positive ROI
Arecent Five9 reportfound that 9 in 10 CX leaders reported positive ROI across all areas of AI adoption. Knowledge authoring and curation along with self-service automationg positive ROI. Real-time compliance monitoring was the use case listed most often as having a “very positive” ROI
7 in 10 agents credit AI with time savings
Nearly 7 in 10 agents credited AI with reducing after-call work, such as note-taking and data verification, per anApril UJET report. Nearly 25% of respondents said that AI-powered automation also helped them focus on soft skills such as empathy and active listening. However, 93% of the surveyed contact center agents said they double-check or verify information provided by AI tools before using it with a customer; the report did not specify whether that added time back to the interaction or how much time it added.
50 seconds saved per interaction on average
Amazon Connect Customer user Priceline said thatautomated call summarizationhas delivered immediate financial benefits to the organization. “We have saved 50 seconds per interaction on average by implementing summarization,” said Sean Huberty, vice president of operations with Priceline.
