AI in Customer Service – Complete Guide With 5 Best AI Customer Service Software

Exceptional customer service is crucial in today’s competitive market, where consumer expectations are higher than ever. Businesses must provide quick, personalized support to engage customers and maintain their reputation. To achieve this goal, more organizations are using AI to transform customer service with instant responses, 24/7 availability, and the ability to handle a large volume of support requests.

Servion Global Solutions predicts that by 2028, 95% of all interactions with customers will be powered by AI, and eventually, consumers will prefer interaction with machines over humans.

In this article, we will explore the role of AI in customer service, its benefits, use cases, and the best platforms available.

What is AI in Customer Service?

AI in customer service refers to the use of artificial intelligence technologies to automate, enhance, and streamline interactions between businesses and their customers. It includes various tools and applications to handle customer inquiries, provide prompt and round-the-clock support, and improve overall customer experience.

Artificial intelligence helps organizations achieve faster response times, personalize customer interactions, and solve problems efficiently. Common AI applications in customer service include chatbots, virtual assistants, automated email responses, and sentiment analysis tools. These technologies use machine learning algorithms and natural language processing (NLP) to understand and respond to customer queries accurately and in real-time.

According to the Forbes Advisor survey, 73% of businesses already use or plan to use chatbots soon for instant messaging. Furthermore, Gartner predicts that by 2027, AI-powered chatbots will become the primary customer service channel for around 25% of organizations, which highlights the growing reliance on AI in customer support.

Benefits of AI in Customer Service

By integrating AI into customer service, businesses can improve their support teams' efficiency, increase customer satisfaction, and build a positive business image.

Key benefits of customer service AI include:

Increased efficiency and productivity

AI-driven tools can handle repetitive and mundane tasks, such as answering frequently asked customer questions, processing simple transactions, and managing appointments.

According to Zowie, AI-powered virtual assistants can automate over 70% of all customer queries, providing relevant responses and personalized service without the intervention of a human agent.

This automation allows agents to focus on more complex interactions like resolving intricate customer issues, handling escalations, and providing in-depth consultations, significantly boosting agent productivity.

According to Forrester's 2023 Generative AI report, chat agents can use generative AI tools to increase their case resolution per hour by up to 14%.

24/7 customer support

One of the biggest advantages of AI in customer service is that AI-powered systems, like chatbots and virtual assistants, provide 24/7 customer support across the whole customer journey.

This ensures that customers can get assistance at any time of day, regardless of the time zone and language. This is especially important for international businesses, and time-sensitive matters that cannot wait until a human agent is available.

Cost savings

By automating routine tasks and handling a large volume of inquiries, AI reduces the need for a large customer support team. This can help businesses reduce the costs of hiring, training, and maintaining staff. Moreover, AI software can manage thousands of interactions simultaneously without added costs.

According to VentureBeat, implementing AI in customer service can reduce costs by up to 30%!

Personalized experiences

GenAI not only automates customer interactions but can also use customer data to deliver highly personalized and meaningful experiences. By understanding individual customer needs, and analyzing purchase history, AI can suggest products, services, or solutions that are most relevant to each customer.

Receiving personalized support makes customers feel understood and encourages them to make repeat purchases from the same business.

Faster response times

AI software can provide instant responses to customer requests and inquiries, reducing wait times and enhancing customer service experience. This is crucial in today’s fast-paced digital environment, where 90% of customers expect quick resolutions to their problems.

Improved customer satisfaction

Qualtric’s XM Institute report suggests that 94% of customers are likely to purchase more from a company and recommend it to others if they have positive customer support experience. That’s why ensuring clients' satisfaction should be the top priority for all businesses. AI can help enhance client satisfaction by providing swift, engaging, and personalized responses.

Handling increasing support demand

During peak times or sudden surges in customer queries, AI can efficiently manage the increased load. AI systems can handle multiple interactions simultaneously, ensuring that all customers receive timely assistance without overwhelming the support team.

Multichannel support

AI can seamlessly integrate across various customer service channels, including email, chat, social media, and phone systems. This provides a unified and consistent customer experience regardless of the channel used by the customer, even if they frequently switch between them.

Data-driven insights

AI software can analyze vast amounts of customer interaction data like purchase history, and past interactions to identify trends, common issues, and areas for improvement. These actionable insights enable businesses to proactively address problems, refine their customer service strategies, and make data-driven decisions.

In summary, AI in customer service not only enhances operational efficiency and reduces costs but also significantly improves customer experience by providing personalized and accurate support round-the-clock.

7 Ways to Use AI in Customer Service

Artificial intelligence has become an essential tool in enhancing customer service operations. Below are key use cases of AI in customer service:

1. Chatbots

AI-powered chatbots can handle a high volume of customer inquiries simultaneously, providing instant responses to common questions. They can also perform basic tasks such as order tracking and appointment scheduling, taking off some workload off the service teams.

Chatbots are available 24/7, ensuring that customers can receive help at any time, improving accessibility and convenience.

According to Forbes, chatbots are currently the most common AI use case in business with 68% of consumers already having experience using customer service chatbots (2023 Ipsos research).

2. AI-powered virtual assistants

AI-powered assistance tools are revolutionizing customer service by providing real-time support and intelligence to human agents.

AI virtual assistants, such a Creatio's Copilot, provide agents with real-time help during customer interactions. They can suggest relevant knowledge articles, similar cases, best practices, and playbooks, helping agents resolve issues more quickly and accurately. They also ensure that support agents provide consistent and correct information to customers, by standardizing responses and updating information in real-time.

Moreover, AI assistance tools can analyze the current workload, status of support agents, and case details to provide suggestions for intelligent case routing. This ensures that each case is directed to the most suitable human agent based on expertise, availability, and case complexity.

AI can also automate the documentation of interactions with customers and follow-up tasks. After a call or chat, AI software can generate detailed summaries, update case files with relevant data, and schedule follow-up actions. This allows support teams to focus on more important tasks like building relationships with customers rather than administrative work.

3. Workflow automation

AI can automate repetitive and time-consuming tasks, such as ticket intelligent routing, data entry, and follow-up communications. Among other things, AI tools can send a customer request to the right agent, analyze ticket context, suggest new responses, and provide summaries of customer conversations.

By streamlining these processes, AI frees up human agents to focus on more complex activities, enhancing overall productivity and reducing operational costs.

4. Improved call management

AI systems can enhance call management by using voice recognition and natural language processing to understand and route calls effectively. These systems can also provide agents with real-time help by suggesting responses and providing relevant customer information during calls.

Generative AI can also create summaries of conversations and interactions with chatbots or interactive voice response (IVR). This allows customer service agents to easily return to a conversation and address additional questions without requiring customers to repeat themselves.

5. Sentiment analysis

AI-driven tools can evaluate interactions with customers to determine the emotional tone of communications. Using Natural Language Processing technology that enables AI systems to understand and interpret human language, these tools help understand customer emotions, and tailor responses accordingly. This enables more empathetic and proactive customer support, which can help retain more customers.

6. Personalized recommendations

AI can analyze customer data to deliver personalized product and service recommendations. By understanding individual preferences and behaviors, AI software can suggest relevant offers, enhancing the customer experience and increasing the likelihood of sales.

Personalized interactions make customers feel more understood, fostering customer loyalty and encouraging clients to return.

7. Predictive analytics

Predictive analytics tools use AI to forecast demand for optimal staffing and predict customer behavior and next-base experiences based on historical data and trends. Businesses can use these insights to anticipate issues, optimize resources, and proactively address potential problems before they escalate. Additionally, AI can play a crucial role in fraud detection and prevention.

Things to Consider When Implementing AI in Customer Service

Implementing AI in customer service can bring significant benefits, but careful planning and considerations are essential to ensure successful integration.

Here are key factors to keep in mind:

• Data quality and accessibility - AI relies on data to function effectively. Ensure your customer data is correct, relevant, and accessible. Consider how AI will integrate with existing CRM systems or databases to ensure smooth data flow.
• Available resources - consider the financial resources needed for AI implementation, including initial investment and ongoing maintenance costs.
• CX expertise - choose AI systems that were trained on customer experience (CX) conversations and are equipped with the necessary CX ability to deliver correct and relevant interactions.
• Training and adoption - provide comprehensive training to ensure that human agents understand the functionality of AI-powered tools.
• Implementation efficiency - select customer service AI software that streamlines the planning, testing, and improvement of implementation. Look for an intuitive setup process that doesn't require data scientists or professional developers.
• Security standards - make sure the software has robust security measures to protect customer data and capabilities to follow data privacy regulations. Choose AI solutions that prioritize data encryption, access controls, and regular security audits.

Including AI in customer service requires strategic planning, alignment with business goals, and effective management of technology and employees. By addressing these aspects, businesses can successfully use AI to improve customer experiences and gain a competitive advantage.

5 Best AI Customer Service Platforms

In today's dynamic market, using AI in customer service can significantly improve customer service interactions and boost businesses' reputation.

Here’s an overview of five leading customer service platforms supported by AI:

Creatio

Creatio offers a robust AI-powered low-code and no-code platform with CRM capabilities for customer service, sales, and marketing. Service Creatio enables businesses to streamline customer interactions, enhance customer engagement, and improve operational efficiency through automated workflows and AI-driven insights. Service Creatio is a scalable solution suitable for businesses of various sizes and industries, including healthcare, banking, and retail.

Pros

• Advanced AI capabilities of Creatio's Copilot for real-time assistance and workflow optimization.
• A comprehensive set of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Models (AI/ML) to derive customer intent, classify cases, and route, prioritize, and summarize work.
• Seamless integration with CRM functionalities, enhancing customer data management and interaction tracking.
• Extensive customization options to tailor workflows and automate processes according to business needs.
• Extended case routing suggestions with the status of service agents, case completion timeline assessment, etc.
• Case resolution helps with suggestions for knowledge articles, similar cases, best practices, playbooks, etc.
• Comprehensive summary of sentiment analysis.
• Knowledge management aid - topics suggestions, content generation, and recommendations for service agents.

Cons

• Learning curve for new users due to the platform's extensive features and customization options.

Pricing

Pricing for Creatio starts at $40 per user per month for the Growth plan and Service Creatio management platform.

Rating

Gartner - 4,8

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Zendesk

Zendesk is a widely recognized customer service platform that integrates AI to enhance customer support agents' operations. It offers a range of AI-powered tools, including chatbots and analytics, to streamline workflows, personalize customer interactions, and improve agent efficiency.

Pros

• AI agents help manage high customer demand and provide instant support with replies powered by the knowledge base.
• AI for self-service and conversational experiences, including support for industry AI models.
• AI-powered answer Bots with machine learning capabilities help answer questions, generate replies, and integrate with external systems.
• Automation suggestions based on ticket context analysis.
• Broad channel support, including voice, messaging, chatbots, and portals.

Cons

• Additional costs may apply for advanced AI features and integrations.
• Personalization and customization of ticketing systems are available only for expensive enterprise-level plans.
• Multi-channel support is decentralized with each channel working independently, which can pose a risk of delivering inconsistent messaging.
• Real-time chat, phone, and messaging support might experience performance issues during peak usage.

Pricing 

Pricing starts at $55 per agent/month for the Suite Team plan.

Rating

Gartner - 4,2

Zoho

Zoho Desk’s customer support software offers a comprehensive suite of AI-driven customer service solutions aimed at improving customer satisfaction and operational efficiency. Zia, an AI-powered assistant helps businesses streamline customer service interactions, automate routine customer service tasks, and enhance customer insights and analytics. Zoho integrates AI capabilities across its CRM and customer support applications, simplifies workflow management, and improves response times.

Pros

• Omnichannel self-service and agent-assisted service.
• Affordable pricing plans suitable for small to medium-sized businesses.
• AI-powered tools include chatbots, analytics, and automation for a streamlined customer experience.
• Guided Conversation - a robust self-service platform for customer issue resolution.
• Customer sentiment analysis with customer insights and knowledge-based content suggestions.

Cons

• Limited scalability for large enterprises compared to some competitors.
• Lack of automated ticket routing capabilities.
• Lack of support for quality management, forecasting, or agent staffing.
• Insufficient core reporting functionalities.
• Advanced AI features may require additional customization and integration efforts.
• AI tools are only available on higher-priced plans

Pricing

Zoho Desk pricing starts at €14 per user per month for the Standard plan, with higher-tier plans offering more advanced AI features starting at €40.

Rating

Gartner - 4,4

Hiver

Hiver is known for its AI-driven email management and collaboration platform, focusing on enhancing team productivity and customer support through shared inboxes and workflow automation. Hiver’s AI Bot Harvy uses NLP to enhance the efficiency of customer support teams by offering intelligent insights into customer conversations. With Hiver, businesses can effectively manage their tasks, improve email response times, and boost customer service teams' productivity.

Pros

• Specialized AI software for email management, task delegation, and customer response automation.
• Intelligent email template recommendations based on customer messaging analysis.
• Integration with Gmail and Outlook for easy adoption and integration into existing workflows.
• Customer interaction management via email, phone, live chat, and WhatsApp.
• AI-powered email summaries facilitate smooth agent hand-off and improve response time.

Cons

• Primarily focuses on email management rather than broader customer service functionalities.
• Limited AI customization options compared to more comprehensive customer service platforms.
• Frequent pricing changes.

Pricing

Hiver offers pricing plans starting at $19 per user per month for basic features, and higher-tier plans offering advanced AI capabilities for $79 per agent per month.

Rating

G2 - 4,6

Freshdesk

Freshdesk is a popular customer support software that incorporates AI to streamline ticket management, self-service options, and customer engagement. Freddy AI helps businesses enhance client satisfaction with personalized interactions, improves agent productivity, and reduces response times with AI automation. It caters to businesses of all sizes with scalable AI-driven solutions that are adaptable to growing businesses and changing customer service needs.

Pros

• AI-powered features include multilingual chatbots, predictive analytics, and omnichannel support for comprehensive customer service.
• Freddy AI support bot suggests best resolutions based on case history, offers communication guidance, and helps generate replies.
• Conversational intelligence supports customer sentiment analysis and provides next-best-action recommendations.
• Customizable workflows and automation rules enhance operational efficiency and service delivery.

Cons

• Pricing can escalate with additional AI features and enterprise-level support options.
• Basic agent scheduling and forecasting are extended only via third parties.
• Learning curve for inexperienced users unfamiliar with AI-driven customer service platforms.

Pricing

Freshdesk pricing starts at $15 per user per month for the Growth plan, with higher-tier plans offering more advanced AI functionalities.

Rating

Gartner - 4,5

Choosing the right customer service AI platform depends on your business requirements, budget considerations, and specific needs for enhancing customer service quality. To make an informed decision, evaluate each platform based on its features, scalability, pricing, and alignment with your customer service strategy.

AI in Customer Service – How to Get Started?

AI in customer service can be transformative, but starting on the right foot is crucial. First, you need to define business objectives for AI implementation, such as reducing response times, personalizing customer interactions, or cutting costs. Clear goals will shape your AI strategy and help you set up metrics for achieving success.

Next, evaluate your existing customer service processes and workflows to find inefficiencies and areas where AI can add value. Understanding where automation, analytics, and AI can enhance your business performance is essential for effective integration.

Choosing the right platform is a critical step in this process. Creatio stands out as a top choice due to its comprehensive AI capabilities, including workflow automation and real-time assistance through its Copilot feature. With extensive customization options and seamless integration with existing systems, Creatio is ideal for businesses of all sizes.

Once implemented, continuously check AI performance and gather customer feedback to improve customer service AI strategy. Stay agile and adapt to evolving customer needs and technological advancements.

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