While customers appreciate the speed and efficiency of AI agents, many still miss the human touch in service interactions. This isn’t a rejection of AI, but a call for better teamwork. As one expert in Customer Experience Dive noted about current applications: “Rather than seeing AI as a helpful tool, many customers perceive it as a barrier, leading to frustration and a feeling that their unique concerns aren’t truly understood.”
The future of communication lies not in replacing people, but in creating a powerful partnership. Our goal with the implementation of team-based AI agents in our messaging pilot is to use AI to handle routine tasks instantly, freeing up your team to focus on what humans do best: providing empathy, creativity, and nuanced solutions for complex customer needs.
Using AI Agents to Extend Coverage After-Hours and on Holidays
After-hours and holiday coverage has been a key area of our focus as we’ve been designing the messaging pilot. Some of the concerns and advantages we’ve been considering include:
Pros 👍
- The obvious – customer support even when your team is out
- Quick, practically instant replies
- “Ticket deflection” – giving customers answers to common questions
- Cost-effective scaling for companies without enough volume to justify hiring
Cons 👎
- Challenges with complex or unique queries
- Poor or no ability to hand-off a conversation to a person
- Miscommunication and unintentional loops
- Lack of oversight or review process
How we Are Solving for this in our Pilot
There’s a reason many people start a conversation with an AI chatbot with, “talk to a human.” We’ve all been there. Here are a few of the ways we are countering the poor experiences we’ve all felt:
- Many AI bots get stuck trying to understand the latest message. On the other hand, team members recall the context and the last few messages when crafting a reply – our AI does too.
- Hand-offs are built-in, including suggesting scheduling time with your team using your favorite scheduler.
- AI agents belong to individual teams and are trained on team objectives.
- AI agents look just like team members in your inbox – watch their responses, give feedback, or takeover when some human touch is required.
- AI agents don’t guess, they read your support documentation for context and instructions when responding.
blend human oversight with AI Agents for better outcomes
All of our research, experience, and feedback during the development of our messaging pilot has led us to the conclusion that the best AI agent is one that works with your team, not independently. They are talking to your customers after all.
That’s why they are members of your teams, they take your training and direction, and their responses are never hidden away.
Our messaging pilot, including AI agents is currently in development with our own team already using it here, on virtualpbx.com as the first “guinea pig” fielding real conversations. Follow along to our updates and be among the first to know when it launches by joining our waitlist.
