Maximize customer satisfaction AND maximize automation

How do consumers get help during peak calling hours? How do callers get help after hours? Cupertino, California-based TuVox believes they have the answer. The company uses conversational speech to make customer service better, faster, available anytime – and less expensive.

The most frequent complaints heard from callers today are: (1) having to wait on hold for a representative, (2) long and confusing touch-tone menus, and (3) having to repeat information already given.

Dealing with peak calling hours has been the curse of customer service since the invention of the telephone, and call center managers can't seem to get enough "warm bodies" on the phone to answer the jammed lines. Today's voice recognition systems have reached a level of sophistication whereby callers can handle routine transactions by using the power of voice, without relying on a human agent to become available.

Applications for the utility market such as Transfer Service, Stop Service, Start Service, Change Billing Information, Bill Payments and many more are easily automated – providing excellent customer service and reducing staffing costs. Many consumers also cite a significant benefit of privacy protection when transacting with an automated system compared to a human being.

While previous generation touchtone systems attempted to provide automation, the convoluted menus that trap callers in "voice mail jail" have been the target of consumer resentment for years. Websites like www.gethuman.com have sprouted up to give callers a roadmap to a real person – thus defeating the very essence of reduced costs through automation and the benefits of "anytime" service. In contrast, speech recognition solutions give callers the chance to say what they want ("I have a billing question") and cut through the maze to resolve their issues expeditiously.

In a recent study of caller opinions, "having to repeat information already given" is the number one complaint cited. According to Larry Miller, President and COO, TuVox, the company has an answer for that as well. "The speech system remembers everything the caller says," explains Miller. "If a caller needs to speak with someone, the system passes that information to the agent's screen, so callers don't have to repeat themselves. Agents can actually handle caller issues faster."

In addition to call routing, speech recognition is being used to automate a wide range of tasks in the energy utility industry, including Connect/Disconnect/Move, bill payment, outage reporting, ticket status, and appointment scheduling.

The Next Generation of Automation

Progress Energy is one of the utility industry leaders in offering a wide range of self-service options to its customers. The core of their technology strategy is simply to offer easy to use systems that provide a great customer service experience. This philosophy has resulted in Progress Energy being ranked first quartile in customer satisfaction and in technology containment rates.

"We've seen customer preferences shift in accepting technology over the years. Customer feedback now clearly shows that in many cases, customers prefer using technology for some transactions when it's designed well." says Tucker Mann, Vice President Customer and Market Services, Progress Energy.

In late 2007, Progress Energy began exploring the next generation of self-service automation to offer customers. The company quickly realized the limitations inherent in touchtone VRU platforms and began exploring options with a speech-enabled IVR.

The company targeted service order requests for starting, stopping or moving as transactions that offered the greatest opportunity. These transactions could only be completed with a well defined speech application because they required the ability to recognize customer name, address and dates.

After considering numerous vendors, Progress Energy chose TuVox as their technology partner. TuVox is providing Progress Energy with a hosted speech recognition solution and technical expertise in the design and implementation of the system.

Speech applications represent the next generation in technology service offerings in providing a world class customer service experience.

"We are continuing to focus on ways to improve the customer experience by offering new and innovative service channels. The TuVox and Progress Energy partnership is a great example of leveraging technical expertise and industry knowledge in achieving that goal.” -Tucker Mann, Vice President Customer and Market Services, Progress Energy.

Choice Is the Key to Success in Caller Adoption

In order to drive caller satisfaction while achieving the highest possible automation rates:

1. The caller must be given the choice to use the automated system
2. The system must provide a high-quality, reliable experience, and
3. There must be seamless blending of automation and agents.

CHOICE

With any automated system, the perception of choice is critical in gaining buy-in from the end user. In speech applications, callers must feel that they have the choice to use it, and can at any time change their mind and speak to a person. In the real world we have this choice in front of us at all times, whether we choose to exercise it or not.

At the bank, at the airport and at the gas station, we know that if we need assistance a person is only a few steps away.

Similarly, callers should know that they always have the option of speaking with a human being. This serves the dual purposes of reducing frustration and increasing user confidence with the system. Further, if callers know that the alternative is less attractive (long wait times) they will be more inclined to try automation.

FACT: When provided with a choice, callers typically choose automation when the wait is longer than 2 minutes.

As an example, imagine choosing whether to wait in line for a boarding pass from a ticket agent, or whether to use a self-service kiosk at the airport.

In this case, a "visible queue" might influence your decision to use the automated kiosk. But what about the "invisible queue" on a telephone? In implementing speech automation, it is critical to let your callers know how long the wait is. Even if you choose to push every call to the automated system regardless of queue times, your callers should know that they could reach an agent at any time by saying "representative" or "operator".

QUALITY

The second factor that drives adoption of automation is the quality of the application. This encompasses a wide range of issues, from the quality of audio (no static, constant volume level) to the quality of the application (does it correctly recognize what the caller says?) to the quality of voice talent (does it match the persona of the company?). Each of these elements plays a role in how favorably your callers perceive the system.

In addition to the quality of the audio and voice, customers demand a reliable and consistent experience. If ATMs constantly short-changed bank customers, there would be a mass migration inside the banks to deal with reliable human tellers. Similarly, speech applications must provide the same level of repeatable experience. When a caller says, "I need help using my MP3 player", the call should be routed accurately and consistently to a resource that can assist, whether it is an automated system or a human being.

IVR (Interactive Voice Response) systems have failed to deliver a quality customer service experience because they are built on a hierarchical decision model that can only provide limited options to callers. These systems force callers to listen through an endless number of menus before getting to the option that will enable them to take care of their issues.

BLENDING AUTOMATION WITH AGENTS

As stated previously, callers should always have the choice to speak with a human being. Once transferred, it is critical to pass along all call information to the agent, including the full transcript of what was said in the automated system. As a result, the agent can immediately pick up where the speech application left off and callers do not feel they have wasted time in the automated system. If they have to start all over with the agent, there's a good chance they will not even try the automated system the next time around.

For streamlined caller-agent interaction, call center agents must be presented with key information such as customer account number, caller phone number, wait time and reason for calling in as seamless a way as possible.

Relevant call information should appear in the agent desktop application, case management system or browser window. The agent should also have options for transferring the call to specific points in the system, without losing any caller-entered data.

The Web and the Phone: The Best of Both Worlds

It is a stark reality that not all call types are "automatable", either because they are too complicated or because there is a low call volume.

If there isn't enough volume to justify developing, deploying and maintaining the application, then don't do it. Also, consider how complicated the call is. You may be surprised with the success companies are having with seemingly complicated transactions like automated troubleshooting.

The world's best-selling portable music and video player is supported through TuVox voice self-service. The company takes over 100,000 calls in the 3-day window during the holiday season, and TuVox eases the pain of handling these calls by diagnosing issues and instructing end-users how to use the device.

Another example is an automated "change of address" application in use at a large magazine publisher with several key fields being filled in via automation with over 60% success.

However, there are other complicated calls that are not best served via automation. For these very complex calls, there may be value in partially automating a call. The more fields that can be collected using automation and then delivered to the agent via CTI, the more handle time can be trimmed from the call.

BLENDING SPEECH WITH WEB SELF-SERVICE

One of the top five US banks deployed web Self-service only to see new call types coming into their call center, with customers now asking questions about how to best use their self-service.

The Charlotte, North Carolina-based bank developed over 50 destination topic FAQ's for everything from "how to reset my password" to "how do I make sure my online bill payment went through", further enhancing their automation capabilities.

Start by looking for synergy between web and voice self-service channels with items like referencing your Knowledge Base and automating web FAQs.

REACHING OUT TO CALLERS

There is untapped value in an outbound call that informs a customer of an event of interest.

An example of this might be a status update for a service outage or a message indicating that a credit card on account is about to expire.

Reaching out to customers proactively with good reason will surprise and delight your callers, and will keep your company top of mind.

Conclusion

So, which has more importance: cost savings or customer satisfaction?

At Progress Energy, it's a true blend of both. They want to cut costs and keep customer service high. Customer service is very important to Progress Energy – they don't just say it, they mean it. That's why they measure the entire experience, from taking the order, to activating service, to handling billing issues.

If implemented properly, callers won't have to wait on hold for a representative, won't be subjected to long and confusing touch-tone menus, and won't have to repeat information already given.

This desire to emphasize both great customer service AND maximum efficiencies via voice self-service is being accomplished by companies today.

Customer satisfaction should always be the primary driver, with the understanding that automation savings can be achieved while maintaining an excellent customer experience.