Are your call wait times too long? Do your agents or employees spend too much time answering the same questions? Are you trying to accelerate your cloud transformation? If yes, you should consider augmenting your staff with a “virtual” agent. In a May 2021 study conducted by IBM, 99% of companies reported an increase in customer satisfaction as a result of using virtual agent technology, with leaders achieving higher first contact resolution, containment, and better intent recognition. 

Here are five easy ways your organization can improve the experiences it delivers using a virtual agent.

1. Create an informational IVR 

Create an informational IVR by training your virtual agent to answer questions about products and services, hours and locations, company policies, and more. Handling these simpler, more repetitive questions via an intelligent self-service experience allows you to offset incoming call volume – optimizing your workforce – while solving common inquiries with little or no wait time. 

2. Mobile detection/deflection

Further offset call volume by offering customers the option to be digitally redirected to a web or mobile self-service experience. In this way, the virtual agent will detect when a customer is calling from a mobile device and ask them if they would like to engage in your company’s digital experience instead of being routed to an agent. If the customer accepts, they will be digitally routed by receiving a text message that contains a URL to continue their self-service experience. At any point, the customer can leave the digital self-service experience and be put back in the queue. 

3. Two-factor authentication

Enable your virtual agent to send a code over SMS to seamlessly validate callers with two-factor authentication. Provide an extra layer of protection to ensure the security of your customers’ online accounts beyond just a username and password. 

4. Repeat caller block

A virtual agent helps increase satisfaction by meeting customers’ needs quickly and efficiently, while giving back much-needed time to agents so they can handle more complicated issues. This process is obstructed by unwanted spam and telemarketing calls (conducted repeatedly and often automatically) that fill up your queue. A virtual agent can be used to track and automatically drop or redirect these calls without them going to a live person. 

5. Automation of manual tasks 

Customers can benefit when agents are able to spend less time completing manual tasks and are faster and more efficient helping them instead. To fulfill customers’ needs, a virtual agent is able to handle simple, manual tasks such as balance look up and password resets allowing agents’ time to be better optimized providing customers with the best possible experience.

 The Easiest Way to Get Started with a Virtual Agent

Avaya now makes it easier than ever for your business to rapidly deploy and customize a virtual agent. There is no need to build from scratch, and developer expertise is also not required. You can also add advanced functionality like conversational AI and web services integration – it’s up to you how much you’d like to do and when. And, you can add your Virtual Agent to any existing communications infrastructure.  

Take some time right now to set up a self-service, cloud-based virtual agent – it only takes a few minutes! Learn more about Avaya Virtual Agent.