How AI Is Changing Business Communications

How AI Is Reshaping Business Communications

Customers have high expectations for business communication from the brands that they use. They want communication that is fast yet personalized. They want to be able to speak to a company from any device, at any time of day. Businesses have done their best to keep up with this demand, but a communication budget only stretches so far. Employees can only get so many emails written, calls made, or respond to so many social media posts in one day.

This is where artificial intelligence comes in. It is the future of business communications, and it is already transforming the process from beginning to end. The following provides a few examples of how companies are harnessing the power of AI in their communications strategy. At CallSprout, this is exactly what our AI Voice Agent does: it answers calls, transcribes the conversation, and routes each caller to the right place, all on a cloud phone system built for reliability.

1. Automation

The use of automation in business communication is nothing new. It has been around for the better part of two decades. When it was first released, it was more painful than helpful. For many, it conjures images of customers shouting into their phones over and over, putting emphasis on different parts of the requested service option. Recently, however, customer service phone automation has improved dramatically. AI has enabled it to better understand different volumes of voices, various accents, and a much longer list of alternate wording.

Today, customer service phone automation lets individuals find basic information without having to wait on hold for long periods of time. The technology keeps getting better. These virtual agents can handle more complex scenarios, and customers can ask questions and receive useful responses. That frees up customer service agents to handle only the more complicated and difficult situations. A modern AI voice agent goes a step further than a traditional menu by understanding what callers actually need.

This kind of service started with chatbots and has moved into voice through smarter AI call routing and Interactive Voice Response (IVR). In the end, it is more cost-effective for businesses, which can provide round-the-clock customer support and reserve their human agents for higher-value work.

2. Natural Language Processing

A larger and larger proportion of business communication is moving to apps. Companies interact with their customers through this software. Unfortunately, as the software is able to provide more feature-rich functionality, it can also be more difficult for the average user to navigate. Many companies are looking into implementing natural language processing into their apps to help customers fully harness the power of the app. This AI technology will significantly reduce customer frustration while increasing customer app engagement. Instead of having to learn each new tool, customers can simply speak to the app to request different functions to be performed. The complex function is then completed and the customer is better served.

3. Machine Learning

Traditionally, all aspects of business communication have been decided based on management intuition or their interpretation of data. They make guesses about how to route calls, emails, and social media posts. They estimate how many times sales and marketing should reach out to a lead. They provide customer service representatives with a ratio of how much they should speak and how much they should listen. Sometimes they are right and sometimes they are not.

Increasingly, though, many of these precision decisions are guided by machine learning. It can quickly analyze data, optimize a system, monitor the outcome, and improve over time. This reduces human error along with the learning curve. Various communication channels can be continuously optimized in real time. When the market or customer preferences change, so do aspects of the communication channels.

4. Business Intelligence

While it may seem like AI could take over the job of business communication, it will not. Customers still find it vital to be able to communicate with another human to feel an emotional connection. Robots and machines cannot provide this. Therefore, it is more accurate to view the future of AI in business communications as an assistive device. It will take care of lower-value tasks and support the workforce in their business communications.

One way AI will do this is through providing unparalleled business intelligence. It will analyze consumer behavior and report to a business just how close they should get to a customer to optimize the customer experience. AI can track customer movements and interactions, what they do on the website, the content of their email interactions with the brand, their social media presence, and much more. It can then analyze the data and provide valuable insights to guide customer service, marketing, and advertising on ways to customize communications to best fit consumer needs and wants.

5. Sentiment Analysis

AI can take call analysis a step further than just analyzing text in real time. It can also analyze the voice call with sentiment analysis. During the conversation, based on repetition of words, the volume used, tone, and pitch, the technology can help prioritize what should be addressed with the customer, stop a business from going down the wrong conversational path, and empower the professional to provide a customized experience that increases customer satisfaction. Accurate call transcription is the foundation here, turning every conversation into searchable text your team can act on.

Putting AI to Work in Your Phone System

AI is already woven into many aspects of business communication, and it keeps taking on a bigger role. It helps companies provide excellent service and enhance engagement across the board. To get there, businesses have to be open to embracing the technology across their communications, starting with the phone.

CallSprout brings these ideas together in one place. Our AI Voice Agent answers, transcribes, and routes calls based on your CRM and connects to the tools you already use, all on a cloud phone system running on a 99.999% uptime network. Because it is VoIP, it often costs around 30% less than legacy phone service, so you upgrade the experience and lower the bill at the same time. Ready to see it in action? Book a demo or explore the AI Voice Agent to put smarter communication to work for your team.