With AI Counterparts, Is It The End of Outsourcing?
Who would think that the robotics and high-technology themes we used to watch in the movies, where robots could take human actions, would be possible someday? With the continuous advancement of modern technology, many businesses apply Artificial Intelligence (AI) for cost reduction and to earn the agility of the work process. For instance, Automated Teller Machines (ATM), Vendo machines, teller machines, and robot vacuums’ actions that were done before by humans are now possible through artificial intelligence.
Many people think that one of the industries that will be seriously affected by these changes is outsourcing customer service. Through outsourcing, the number of employees increases as the demand from different kinds of businesses is high. One of them is outsourcing in the Philippines, where many Filipinos were given a chance to look for high-paying salary jobs in BPO. And outsourcing becomes one of the great contributors to the success of the Philippine economy.
With the emergence of AI as one of the helpful methods in business, the alarming question is, is it the end of outsourcing for e-commerce?
Somehow, it looks ominous. But when you have a deeper understanding of artificial intelligence, you’ll discover how it would tell a very different story. Artificial Intelligence, if executed appropriately, will give a bright future to the outsourcing industry in the Philippines. It will offer chances for BPO employees to stay in their jobs while increasing their productivity and competitiveness.
Other people might think when they hear the term “artificial intelligence,” it is about robots. But there’s more than that. AI refers to the application of human intelligence in machines. Through the great minds of people in science and technology, they can program the machines to think like humans and imitate their actions. It can also be applied to any machine that demonstrates traits and actions associated with a human mind. It is why disruptive outsourcing was created.
Disruptive outsourcing is the counterpart of traditional outsourcing, and it involves the use of technological advancements that may include robotic process automation and cloud computing. Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is one of the great results of technology. It allows anyone to build software (ex. a robot), to imitate and incorporate human actions interacting within digital systems and exhibit a business process. Meanwhile, cloud computing is the delivery of different kinds of services via the Internet, such as data storage, servers, databases, networking, and software.
According to a BPO expert, there’s nothing to worry about the appearance of artificial intelligence. Some specialists believe that applications of AI enhance the quality of the BPO and call center transactions, and perform more accurately and at a faster pace. The demands and needs of many business aspects, such as outsourcing for customer service, cannot be replaced by the quality service of human call center agents.
Companies outsource their customer service to meet two goals — to serve the customer in all aspects related to the products or services and to make them happy and satisfied. Providing customers with what they need can be easily fulfilled by using artificial intelligence. But making your customers happy is another story. Only human call center agents can make this happen. Remember that to produce a happy and satisfied customer is not only by how their issues were resolved. But most importantly is by how they were handled and treated. And these factors cannot be automated. Even the best and excellent technological solutions will never substitute the emotional connection between customers and human agents.
Therefore, outsourced customer service is still the best and cost-effective way to run a business and achieve big sales.
