NLP challenges in the contact centre industry

An introduction to the findings of the second AI for CX eBook 

Natural language processing (NLP) is a technology that allows machines to understand human language, and contact centres sit at the hub of both digital and agent-led customer conversations. Investing in contact centre NLP, therefore, seems like a powerful and logical strategy to refine not only self-service but other AI-driven processes too. Do the responses from the AI for CX survey of over 1,000 business executives, conducted by Davies Hickman, support this idea? Read on for a quick summary of the findings to answer this question and pique your appetite for the rest of the data. 

1) NLP contact centre challenges

How often do things go exactly as planned? Learning from one’s own experience, or that of others, can be a huge benefit when it comes to realistic expectations and a well-executed plan. The same applies to an NLP investment and contact centres should be prepared for the work involved in getting projects up and running.   

The survey results reflect what many technology providers know, that AI projects need nurturing. Fortunately, there are key areas of awareness organisations can factor into their roadmap for change. When combined together, the experiences reported by European executives and the expertise of a solution provider can help get ahead of the learning curve. Certainly, armed with experience organisations are already on the lookout for ways to progress their NLP projects.

2) The progress of NLP in contact centres 

Who is driving NLP decision-making in 2022? Interestingly, the survey looked at a range of sectors and asked which executives are championing NLP decisions: business executives or those in IT. The picture varies, overall however, business executives make the majority of decisions. What’s more these same executives paint a promising picture of the future, both for launching new NLP projects and progressing those already active in their contact centres.  

3) NLP support for contact centre users  

The potential applications for NLP are wide, so what are contact centres actually using NLP for and which areas hold interest for the future? As NLP works to gain more details or data from text and speech, its main applications can be segmented into analytics, refining automated processes or informing actions. Unsurprisingly, the survey shows high levels of interest in multiple use cases and, reassuringly, supporting users remains a priority.

Contact centre futures with Odigo and NLP 

How can contact centres benefit from the survey insights? It seems clear that setting out with commitment to the process and the right choice of experienced technology partner are key components to success. Beyond that, contact centres should also consider the opportunity that NLP represents as part of a whole package of transformation when using a cloud-based software solution. 
 
Odigo’s Contact Centre as a Service (CCaaS) solution has a complete set of tools and was recently named a Global Leader for the 3^rd consecutive year in the ISG Provider Lens™ CCaaS 2022 report. We know that every contact centre is unique, so technology needs to be applied intelligently to digitalise, expand or refine processes and services in a tailored way for a supportive user strategy. Discover all of the survey findings about NLP use cases and investment to inform your next steps.