Have you recently visited a bank* or retailer* and engaged in an online conversation. . . not knowing it was virtual (*instances are positioned next to bank/retailer website)? That's right, HAL is now a reality as virtual web agents start gaining in popularity as a means to extend a company's support services. Here, I provide a quick intro and high level channel cost data – information that should convince you to learn more (that's where I can help). I focus on MyCyberTwin here but recognize other solutions like Noah exist.
This blog entry is the second in a series focused on developing a service platform optimization model to quantify benefits. If you have not, read Channel Cost Analysis: Savings Potential of the Community Channel as a compliment to this entry.
Now, a little more from www.mycybertwin.com: A CyberTwin is an artificial intelligence character, which functions on your behalf. Enterprise CyberTwins are advanced customer support robots, which live on the web and talk to your clients. They outperform humans - CyberTwins are always accurate, always in a good mood, speak many languages, and work day and night. Benefits include:
- Increased sales - provides flexibility across outgoing interactions based on business objectives
- Improved customer satisfaction - responds quickly, with high accuracy, and always with a friendly disposition
- Reduced costs - handles thousands of simultaneous queries, 24 hours a day, at a low cost
- Improved resource availability - humans handle more valuable work
For additional background, check out this virtual web agent discussion by Charles Wooters and Daniel Marcu's.
If you were wondering who's started engaging in this, companies using virtual agents include: Alaska Airlines, Buy.com, Continental Airlines, IKEA (since 2004), NASA, National Bank of Australia, the U.S. Army, and Verizon Wireless
How does one create a virtual agent? Simply develop a virtual 'brain' to handle support needs by leveraging existing expertise among your support staff. As for pricing, think of it as a tiered model – just how smart (how large of a virtual brain) do you want your agent to be?
But, what are the benefits? I'm pulling data from MyCyberTwin. I recognize they have incentives to publish inflated benefits so I consider this a starting point. Focus on the magnitude of the potential cost savings:
Live call agent median cost per contact (source): | $5.50 | Virtual agent median cost per contact: | $0.75 |
A few additional metrics that speak to cost savings:
- Virtual customer support character on Buy.com cut the cost of support as a percentage of revenue from 2.06% to 0.57% - Stanford University
- Web self-service systems reduce call-center volume between 8 and 12 percent.
- Users will opt for non-phone based support options 80% to 90% of the time.
If some of those numbers are not enticing enough, I offer these more generic benefits from implementing web-based or self-service technologies, from Supportindustry.com's 2009 survey. Note: the survey does not explicitly include the use of virtual agents. 6% of respondents offer 'Other' as a support channel - the default if a virtual agent is being used. Benefits (as identified by % of respondents):
- 33% - Increased efficiencies
- 18% - Cost reductions
- 16% - Reduction in the number of support requests
- 16% - Greater customer satisfaction and loyalty
And to tie this into my previous blog on customer support communities, a self-service knowledgebase represent the second most-offered support channel, with 63% of respondents making such access available.
Finally, if you want to continue this conversation with me, virtually, feel free to speak with my virtual self at https://mycybertwin.com/chat/easiegmann.
I'm excited to hear what you think of the potential for virtual agents. Does it seem like a viable extension for providing support? Are we going too far off the virtual deep-end?
Cheers!
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