AT&T has developed a new virtual customer service representative named Kate. She is an addition to their BusinessDirect Portfolio. Kate is meant to help customers quickly find answers to their questions, relating to products and services. Kate is able to provide the same high-touch service available from normal human representatives. An example given in this article from ramanmedianetwork.com refers to a customer needing to upgrade one of AT&T’s devices. Kate will guide the customer through the selection process making it easy and personal. Unlike most online avatars or virtual chat agents, Kate is able to understand all phrases and context of questions asked. Kate is also able to direct customers to helpful links. If for some reason the customer will need to speak with a real agent Kate also has access to the chat so that things do not need to be repeated. Kate according to John Cushman, the VP of AT&T eSales and service, “Tools such as Ask Kate allow AT&T to assist customers instantly, continuously, and in the comprehensible way they need.”
I think that Kate will be very beneficial to AT&T. Companies always have issues with customer service. This can be in many different fashions. People can struggle to get through and if they do they are put on hold. Sometimes customer service representatives are of no help. Then when a customer does finally get through or does talk to a representative that wants to help they either cannot solve the problem or do not know any other way of figuring out the problem. Kate will fix a lot of these problems. One is that Kate, since she is a virtual customer service representative, will always be available and should be easy to access. Related to that is the elimination of being put on hold. The second issue is how helpful the representative is. Kate will quickly respond and will do the most it can to help and if it cannot figure it our she will direct a customer to an agent or send the customer links to try in order to solve the problem. Also, Kate can help to save AT&T money and may bring more customer loyalty. AT&T can cut back on some customer service representatives since Kate should be able to solve most issues. And if Kate is as successful as AT&T hopes then the improved customer service should keep customers happy and loyal.
With Kate there also could be a few negatives that arise. Related to the cutback of workers, if Kate has some sort of problems or fails the old issues with customer service will arise again and could be even worse because of fewer representatives. Also Kate could have a malfunction and give customers the wrong answers that could cause some minor to major issues. Although overall if Kate works as planned I see it as being a positive thing for both AT&T and customers. It should provide improved customer service and maybe attract more customers to AT&T, while retaining the current customers.
http://www.ramanmedianetwork.com/meet-my-new-smart-friend-kate/
1 comment:
On the surface, Kate seems to be another step in the right direction for the customer service industry (1). However, the validity of these virtual characters has been strained and eventually disproven by customers and users nationwide. Almost all websites have a virtual chat option for customer service resolution as opposed to speaking with a real person on the phone. For simple, easily comprehended problems, these chat bots can usually sufficiently give users enough correct information to resolve their problem. With more complicated issues, however, these chat bots are significantly less successful. Understanding the nuances of the issue, but more importantly the customer’s intentions and emotions regarding their perspective resolution, is what is lacking in these virtual helpers. Customer service is a big market, cost companies millions annually, and virtualizing at least a portion of the claims could save them immense amounts. This monetary savings pales in comparison to the amount of business that could potentially be lost through customers dissatisfied with either the way they were treated, the depersonalization of their claim, or the inefficiency that they experience while attempting to resolve it.
It’s going to be some time before these virtual representatives become even close to as helpful as a real person. It is unlikely that they will ever completely grasp all aspects of a human conversation, and thus, they will eventually become better but never replace their counterparts. As technology advances so will the robots, but ultimately some other completely new technology will replace this theory all together.
1. http://www.ramanmedianetwork.com
Post a Comment