INTERVIEW Evolving customer experiences Sajeewa Nissanka of CentrePal talks about how AI is overcoming long-standing issues to transform contact centres BY ALEX SMITH The power of AI is being leveraged to transform the way businesses talk to their customers. Friction points that contact centres have struggled with for years – complex and inflexible menu systems, slow response times and overwhelming administrative burdens – are being overcome with the help of AI-enabled tools. “Natural language understanding means customers can describe their needs in their own words rather than navigating rigid menu systems,” explains Sajeewa Nissanka, head of product at contact centre solution provider CentrePal. “Real-time sentiment detection enables supervisors to identify escalating situations and intervene before they become costly problems. Automated call summaries eliminate the administrative burden that keeps agents tied up between interactions.” The impact of overcoming these long-term issues is already being felt by both customers and agents, says Nissanka. “We’re already seeing customer interactions evolve with AI,” he says. “Routine enquiries are being resolved directly by AI, cutting delays and reducing friction in the service experience. At the same time, agents are freed from repetitive or mundane tasks and can focus on complex issues that demand empathy and creative problemsolving. The benefits are twofold: customers enjoy faster resolutions and more personal interactions, while organisations maintain service quality across every channel and agent.” However, these new tools must be introduced in a simple way to reap their full benefits, stresses Nissanka. “The key is embedding these capabilities within existing infrastructure like Microsoft Teams, not layering on extra tools or complexity,” he says. “When AI works through platforms like Teams that organisations already use, adoption becomes seamless. Agents spend more time helping customers and less time managing tools, while organisations gain operational insights that were previously invisible or delayed.” CentrePal was the first contact centre solution to be certified under Microsoft’s new Unify integration model – a Teams framework that allows it to run advanced AI directly within the Teams Phone platform. Nissanka sees this as the most effective way to fully capitalise on the transformative advantages of AI. “Our approach is to embed AI where it has the most impact on day-to-day operations, without adding complexity,” he says. “For customers, this means practical benefits, like faster call routing using natural language, real-time sentiment and transcript visibility for agents and supervisors, and automated call summaries that save agents time while ensuring more consistent service.” “Our approach is to embed AI where it has the most impact” 84
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