Service Automation

     Service Automation is the process that works as a supporting system for the service staff and managers to achieve their work-related objectives. Infrastructure, Data, Devices, and Software are the key components of service automation.

The automation of everyday life is not an unusual occurrence: from grocery shopping to the management of our very social life, we smoothly automate a great many tasks. Customer service automation is no exception.

There are 5 major domains of Service Automation −

Contact Centres − they are the main basis of the customer relationship. They address customer queries via Email, telephone, instant messaging, SMS, or fax. They have databases, Automatic Call Diversion (ACD) system, and voice recording system. The staffs respond to Emails and chats with customers regarding problem and solution.

Call Centres − they are a part of contact centres which majorly handle inbound and outbound calls. They perform typically more generic duties, deal with people and calls which are outside the business, and at times can make outgoing calls. The staffs need to have excellent patience, and reading and listening skills.

Help Desks − they are internal to the business. They are oriented towards supporting the business staff. Helpdesks generally provides diagnostic and troubleshooting help.

Field Service − the service engineers or technicians visit customer’s workplace or home to install, repair, or maintain the products. They visit factories, workshops, warehouses, and offices to provide service. They also help the customer to specify the product, test and demonstrate it after installation.

Web-based Self Service − some businesses offer solutions to the customers’ problems on the web itself. The customers can buy products online, track installation and service issues, and conduct online diagnostics.

Benefits of service automation:

Automation removes or minimizes the human element in a given area of service. This removes the potential for redundancy, wasted effort, and human error.

Streamline your process:

Automate workflows by prioritizing and attributing tasks. These include responding to customers and following up on ongoing support situations. These small reductions in the effort expended daily by your team can add up to hours, even days, of time saved over the course of a year.

Decrease friction for the customer:

When a customer gets in touch with customer service, long wait times are a giant pain point. To shorten them, you have several options: automating support channels or hiring more agents.

Customer service automation can allow you to pre-emptively do away with customer’s friction points, thanks to predictive analytics. Call recording, voice recognition, and usage monitoring can help you keep tabs on how customers interact with your product, sales team, and support funnel.

Lower your costs:

Customer service automation lets you operate convincingly and efficiently with a more compact team.

While some automation services are costly to implement, many are available on a subscription basis. This means your support desk, your CRM software, your phone system, etc. You won’t pay for more than you use, and you’ll be able to easily scale your subscription to suit your needs.

Enhanced productivity − since an optimal number of customers are scheduled, the service time taken is used at its best thus increasing productivity.

Disadvantages of service automation:

·         No human connection:

Customers can resent having to deal with a machine. Indeed, empathy, a quintessentially human ability, is an essential part of exemplary customer service. In one example, one brand found that emotionally engaging with customers reduced attrition and increased advocacy.

·         Improper configuration:

Poor system design can really hurt your customer service automation system. If your IVR makes your customers go round in circles, if your chatbots can’t understand a customer’s issue, if call routing causes redundant conversations, then automation is more trouble than it’s worth.

·         A damaged reputation

Customers will amalgamate your customer service and your brand. If your automated customer service leaves them frustrated of feeling taken advantage of, they’ll disengage from your brand altogether. This can be the result of the poor configuration, a lack of human presence, or both.

·         Maximize your brainpower.

Your organization is made up of many highly skilled individuals. By leveraging automation, the menial tasks will be handled by technology, allowing staff to further develop their skill sets and focus their expertise on more complex and strategic business matters. You also have the added benefit of reducing payroll expenses by not requiring additional staff to handle increasing workloads. Automation provides a greater amount of work utilizing the same capacity.

·         Goodbye inefficiency.

 Improve the customer experience and create efficiency in operations by automating process tasks that are repetitive and time-consuming. Think how more efficient Human Resources could be by automating their processes, like onboarding and offboarding, and decreasing the need for the vast amounts of paperwork.