Report: Nearly Two-Thirds of Contact Center Agents Want Real-Time Help From AI

Despite prevailing perception that AI will make contact center agents obsolete, Cresta report shows they are embracing AI to work faster, boost skills, and elevate job satisfaction

Cresta, the end-to-end generative AI platform for contact centers, unveiled its new research, State of the Agent Report 2024: GenAI’s Rise in the Contact Center. Based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. contact center agents, the report highlights contact center agents’ enthusiasm for using generative AI. The findings contrast with the conventional wisdom that contact center agents fear how generative AI will negatively impact their jobs – in fact, 65% of agents want real-time help from AI during their customer interactions, and nearly all (95%) agents using AI report they are able to quickly and efficiently resolve customer issues.

“Our research reveals that generative AI has become a game-changer for contact center agents – instead of worrying it will take their jobs, many see AI as an indispensable co-pilot making them better at their jobs,” said Ping Wu, CEO of Cresta. “The contact center industry has always been fraught with turnover, often due to insufficient training and minimal technology investment. It’s clear that when organizations empower their contact center agents with generative AI, those agents are happier, more knowledgeable, and have more positive interactions with customers.”

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AI Skeptics to Advocates
The notion that AI will replace humans has created anxiety and uncertainty across industries, and contact center agents are often at the center of this narrative. However, this issue ignores the benefits that generative AI delivers for contact center agents, including more effective job performance and skills development. According to the report, twice as many agents who use AI versus those who don’t strongly agree that they perform better in their role because of the technology available to them.

• Make or break: Seventy-nine percent of agents said having access to good software makes or breaks whether an agent is good at their job.
• Prioritizing technology: Eight-nine percent of agents who use AI say that their company is prioritizing technology investments to support them at work, compared to only 57% of those who are not using AI.

AI Improves Talent Retention
High attrition has long plagued contact centers, with a turnover rate nearly triple that of other industries. The implications of this are vast, from negative customer experience to damaged brand perception.

• Poor onboarding: The combination of poor onboarding and outdated technology has contributed to poor morale – in fact, less than one-third of agents say their training and onboarding was excellent. Meanwhile, 35% of dissatisfied agents feel their company’s leadership is neglecting crucial technology investments that could support their work.
• More confident new agents: On average, it takes contact center agents four weeks to feel competent in their jobs. AI-driven personalized coaching and training cuts this in half. On the flip side, agents who are given one-size-fits-all training are twice as likely to leave the company within the next six months.

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Peak Agent Performance, Broader Skill Sets
With contact center leaders under pressure to turn their cost centers into profit centers, agents are increasingly encouraged to shift their priorities from only customer service to sales – a lofty pursuit without the proper resources and technology. AI is tackling this issue by helping agents upskill on the job, boosting their confidence in making proactive sales.

• Uncovering the opportunity: Of the agents who are already equipped with AI, 81% feel that they can comfortably identify when to shift an interaction from a service focus to a sales one, and over 80% of them also report comfort with both upselling and cross-selling products.
• More effective coaching: Generative AI is also improving contact center coaching, an endeavor that has often been manual and time-intensive. Less than half (49%) of contact center agents say they’ve received effective on-the-job coaching. However, those who have experienced more personalized coaching through generative AI say it’s nearly three times more effective than those who go through a “one-size-fits-all” coaching process.
• Personalized metrics: Agents say they want more data-driven, personalized insights based on their performance metrics, with 75% demanding more visibility into the data that’s being used to judge their performance.
• Better coaching, happier agents: Ninety-one percent of agents with AI-driven personalized coaching say they’re happy at work, compared to only 57% of those with standard coaching.

By implementing AI to alleviate common agent pain points, companies across a range of industries are using the technology to attract prospective agents. Brinks Home has deployed Cresta’s generative AI platform to influence traditional metrics and use cases across the contact center, including percentage of calls QA’d, average handle time, and employee satisfaction.

“When recruiting top talent, the sales market is highly competitive, but we have an advantage with the resources we’ve invested in for our Sales Center,” said David Garza, Vice President, Sales and Operations, for Brinks. While most candidates aren’t familiar with generative AI, they’re intrigued. They recognize the value in using this tool and see the returns as we help set them up for success. We frame it as: imagine receiving the answers to the test as you’re actually taking it. That’s what we’re able to provide with this platform.”