Conversational AI a Hot Topic in SOCAP Tech Roundtable

Conversational AI a Hot Topic in SOCAP Tech Roundtable

December 17, 2021

At SOCAP in September, Alta exhibited autoMate, its proprietary voice-driven AI solution, along with its content moderation service capabilities. In addition to companies visiting Alta’s booth to learn more about both services, Matt Nelson, Chief Information Officer at Alta Resources, participated in a technology roundtable.

In the panel-led discussion, Nelson and other IT professionals in the industry discussed contact center technology that supports effective and low-effort customer experiences and agent workloads. When asked about the role virtual assistant technology will play in the overall customer call experience in the near future, Nelson replied, “Because of the negative bot experiences early on, everyone is afraid to let a bot talk to their consumer. Rather, a bot shouldn’t be expected to handle every conversation; it should start with only what we know it will be successful with.”

“Bots are not magic, they’re scripted. It is up to the team employing the bot to identify customer patterns in questions and conversation that they can script into the bot. We recommend that many companies start off slow with one simple script, such as, ‘Why are you calling?’ This one simple question streamlines the call flow and gives the agent control of the call before they even pick up the phone.”

Nelson recommends building from that first question by identifying uses cases, or business scenarios, that are quite common from a customer call. “We know that for a lot of our contacts, people are calling about orders. If the virtual assistant can probe for the order number, that can position the agent to hit the ground running.”

“Conversations cost money, and with the bot establishing the conversation, the call is handled timely and efficiently by the agent. The best part is we’ve seen a rise in customer satisfaction scores alongside the use of the virtual assistant. Customers like easy and effort-free.”

Alta has a history of providing thought leadership at SOCAP events throughout the years and garnered recognition at the event for Alta’s 20-year sponsorship. Pat Nicholson, Vice President of Business Development at Alta and SOCAP Board Member, received the award. “It’s an honor to be recognized for 20 years as a SOCAP sponsor. Partnerships that last as long as Alta’s has with SOCAP really speaks to an alignment both organizations have toward the same goal–– a commitment to best-in-class customer care. Alta has and always will do what we can to support SOCAP and our industry by sharing our insights and learning from fellow thought leaders.”

To learn of upcoming shows and events Alta will attend or exhibit, check back occasionally to Alta’s News & Events page.