What is Agent Assist? How to Empower Your Contact Center Agents With AI Assist Technology

The role of contact centre agents is often a demanding one.

From managing high workloads to dealing with rude customers, your agents are faced with a myriad of challenges on a daily basis.

It’s why a shocking 59% of contact center agents are at risk of work-related stress and burnout.

On top of that, 86% of agents feel that they don’t have the right resources in place to support customers effectively.

In light of these unfortunate statistics, it’s imperative that employers take steps to support their contact center teams and create a productive work environment.

Equipping human agents with the best tools to help them in their role is a key part of achieving this aim.

And that’s where technology like Google Agent Assist comes into play.

Agent Assist helps agents to perform to their best ability - leading to increased agent efficiency, optimal contact center performance, and higher quality customer service. 

So, if you’re interested in improving your employee and customer experience with Agent Assist technology, you’ve come to the right place. 

In this article, we’ll cover:

• What is AI Agent Assist and how does it work?
• The benefits of Agent Assist technology
• How to get the most out of Agent Assist

What is Agent Assist?

Google Agent Assist is an application of contact center AI that helps contact center agents deliver exceptional customer support more efficiently.

It achieves this by analyzing customer conversations, case context, and customer data in real-time. This insight is used by Agent Assist to provide:

1. Contextual guidance - offering relevant guidance throughout a customer interaction, such as ready-to-send response recommendations and solutions to common problems.
2. Knowledge base suggestions - extracting content from your knowledge base documents, website, and FAQ database to help agents resolve customer issues and provide more accurate information
3. Personalization - Using of customer data, history, and sentiment, to help agents provide a tailored experience and personalized recommendations.

These capabilities are designed to help human agents communicate better, resolve issues faster, and elevate the customer experience.

This also leads to a better agent experience, as they'll feel empowered and supported to perform to their best ability.

Although Agent Assist is primarily used for AI-enhanced customer service, it can also be a valuable tool for online sales and digital engagement.

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How does AI Agent Assist work?

Google Agent Assist works by leveraging artificial intelligence technologies, (e.g. machine learning, natural language processing) to understand interactions with customers and provide helpful suggestions.

It can also gather customer data, analyze sentiment, and provide insights into the customer’s digital journey.

In order to offer suggestions and guidance, Agent Assist draws on this information plus the data that’s been uploaded by the organization using it. 

This data usually consists of transcripts from previous customer interactions and knowledge base documents.

The system will also continue to learn from every customer interaction and feedback, allowing it to improve its accuracy and effectiveness over time.

The benefits of Agent Assist technology

Agent Assist technology can be an extremely valuable addition to your contact center, benefitting both your agents and your customers.

Here, we’ll explore the key benefits in turn.

Improved contact center performance

One of the great things about technology like Google Agent Assist is that it helps human agents perform better which, in turn, improves overall contact center performance.

It does this by giving agents a set of process-enhancing tools that enable them to be more productive, efficient, and self-sufficient.

In fact, Agent Assist gives agents the ability to manage 28% more cases and can increase a agent productivity by up to 50%.

By implementing Agent Assist, your contact center can enjoy:

• Shorter handling times
• Quicker resolutions
• Improved Average Response Time
• Higher CSAT scores
• Faster training and onboarding for agents

This optimization of contact center performance often results in lower operational costs as well as a better digital experience for your customers.

Empowered agents

We know that Google Agent Assist helps agents to perform better - and it does this by empowering them to succeed and carry out their best work.

When equipped with Agent Assist technology, contact center agents can gain:

• More expertise - With Agent Assist, all the information and prowess that agents need to provide stand-out customer support is at their fingertips. They no longer have to search through a knowledge base for answers or type out every response themselves. Agent Assist automates this process while providing guidance, giving agents more time and confidence to embrace their roles as expert advisors for your brand.
• Increased motivation - When agents have the best resources to help them succeed in their roles, they’ll feel more supported, engaged, and motivated. Agent Assist simplifies tasks and reduces the demand on agents, contributing to better workload management and a more positive work environment.
• Stronger customer relationships - As Agent Assist takes the strain off agents by automating a number of tasks and workflows, it leaves them with more time to focus on customer relationships. Empowered and equipped agents have a greater capacity to be attentive, establish rapport, and deliver higher-quality experiences. This is essential not only for improving customer relations but for building brand loyalty.

By empowering agents to perform better and unlock their full potential, you’ll reap the rewards of happy and engaged employees. 

Agent Assist achieves this by arming human agents with supercharged efficiency, empathy, and knowledge.

A better customer experience

As Google Agent Assist facilitates improved performance and agent productivity, it makes sense that it also powers a better customer experience.

After all, there’s a reason why the use of Agent Assist increases customer satisfaction scores by 10%.

Thanks to this technology, agents can anticipate customer needs, communicate more effectively, and solve problems faster. In this way, Agent Assist augments and enhances the human experience.

Agent Assist also gathers information on the customer’s digital journey, their sentiment, and any other available data. Agents can use these insights to provide personalization and a support experience that’s tailored to the individual customer.

By harnessing the power of Agent Assist, you can optimize customer service and deliver a next-level experience that delights your customers and keeps them coming back for more.

How to get the most out of AI Agent Assist software: Best practices

It’s undeniable that Google Agent Assist can be an invaluable aid for your contact center teams.

That being said, you can only fully reap the rewards of this technology when it’s used well and implemented successfully.

Fortunately, we’ve compiled the best practices to help you get the most out of AI Agent Assist.

1. Define your goals

Before implementing Agent Assist, it’s important to set out what you want to achieve with this technology.

In order to create these goals, you first need to identify the key performance indicators (KPIs) that you wish to improve with the help of Agent Assist technology.

You also need to decide on specific target values for each one. For example, you might want to reduce your Average Response Time by 30 seconds or increase your customer satisfaction (CSAT) scores by 10%.

Make sure you include a plan for how you’re going to use Agent Assist to achieve these targets within a specified time frame. 

This plan needs to be communicated to your contact center teams to ensure that everyone is on the same page and working together toward success.

Whatever KPIs you decide to focus on, it’s imperative that they align with your overall business goals.

For instance, if your overarching goal is to reach revenue targets, you’ll want to make sure that the KPIs you choose for Agent Assist will contribute to increased profits and conversions.

By defining your goals for Agent Assist, you’ll provide a clear roadmap for your business and a set of objectives that your agents can work towards.

2. Use alongside an AI Virtual Agent

Virtual agents are automated systems that provide customer support across multiple digital channels.

They're typically powered by AI technologies like conversational AI, natural language processing (NLP), and generative AI.

Virtual agents can be deployed on your website, app, and socials to handle FAQs and basic issues without intervention.

In fact, it’s estimated that chatbots and virtual agents resolve customer inquiries around 69% of the time.

In cases where an AI virtual assistant can’t resolve the customer’s problem on its own, it can initiate an intelligent hand-off to the most suitable human agent.

If you use Agent Assist without a virtual agent, all customer service requests will be sent straight to human agents without an intermediate digital touchpoint. 

This will increase the demand on your agents, leaving them with less capacity to utilize Agent Assist and provide the best possible experience.

With virtual agents handling common customer inquiries and fielding initial requests, your human agents will be free to prioritize using Agent Assist tools for the customers who need them most.

3. Create a comprehensive knowledge base

One of the key resources that Agent Assist utilizes is the data that’s fed to it by your business.

This data typically consists of transcripts from previous customer interactions and documents from your internal knowledge base.

As such, it’s crucial that you devise a comprehensive knowledge base so that Agent Assist can perform effectively and in a way that’s tailored to your brand.

When you’re creating the knowledge base for your Agent Assist software, bear in mind the following tips:

• Build up a database of FAQs, common workflows, how-to articles, troubleshooting guides, and step-by-step instructions for basic customer issues.
• Include your branding and style guidelines so that the language Agent Assist uses in its suggestions is the appropriate tone and fully on-brand.
• Make it a collaborative effort by asking your agents for input and suggestions - this will help ensure you cover all bases.
• Regularly review the knowledge base content to ensure that it’s relevant, accurate, and up-to-date.

By equipping Agent Assist with a detailed knowledge base, you’ll guarantee that it provides your agents with the best possible guidance for your individual business needs.

4. Dedicate time to training

Providing agents with thorough training is a critical piece of the Agent Assist puzzle.

After all, these technologies are only as good as the agents wielding them. And you can’t expect your agents to truly benefit from Agent Assist if they aren’t equipped to use it.

When it comes to training your agents, consider the following pointers:

• Start by introducing agents to Agent Assist technology and its key features. Explain what it is, how it works, and how it can help them during customer interactions. Further exemplify with a demonstration of the software in action.
• Highlight the benefits of using Agent Assist, such as reduced handling times, improved customer satisfaction, and increased productivity. Emphasize how this technology can help agents perform better and more efficiently.
• Arm agents with in-depth, practical training on how to use Agent Assist in a range of contexts. Ensure that they understand how best to utilize the insights and suggestions provided by the software.
• Provide ongoing training and refresher courses to ensure that agents continue to use the technology effectively. Offer additional and advanced training to help agents develop and improve their performance.
• Continuously monitor employee performance and their usage of Agent Assist. Use this information to produce constructive feedback and identify areas where additional training or support may be needed.

By training agents to use Agent Assist effectively, you can ensure that your agents are armed with the knowledge and skills required to succeed with this technology.

5. Continuously monitor performance

The implementation of Agent Assist is not a one-and-done solution.

Instead, it’s imperative that you continue to monitor Agent Assist performance and make adjustments accordingly.

You can achieve this by tracking the performance metrics that best align with your objectives. 

The following are some examples of commonly used customer service metrics:

• First Contact Resolution Rate
• Average Handling Time
• Average Wait Time
• First Response Time
• CSAT score
• Conversion rate

In addition to analyzing your metrics, it’s important to seek feedback from your contact center teams.

Your agents are the ones using this technology every day, so they’re in the optimal position to assess its effectiveness and identify areas for improvement.

If you want to get a complete picture of Agent Assist performance, you can also ask your customers for feedback. That way, you’ll ensure that Agent Assist is actually adding value to the customer experience.

Monitoring performance and continuously striving to improve is essential for long-term success with Agent Assist technology. 

It’ll also help you ensure that you’re on track to reaching your KPI goals.

The takeaway: Getting started with Agent Assist technologies

Technologies like Google Agent Assist are rapidly transforming business processes.

From customer service to sales, these technologies are becoming essential for brands looking to improve agent efficiency, reduce costs, and optimize the digital customer experience.

With the best practices provided in this article, you’ll have a solid foundation to get started with Agent Assist as part of your digital customer service strategy.

But in order to truly get the most out of Agent Assist, you also need the right customer engagement platform to facilitate it.

That’s where Talkative comes in.

Our customer service platform provides a suite of contact channels that’ll allow you to connect instantly, and effortlessly, with all your digital customers.

With our solution, you can integrate Google's AI Agent Assist with live chat and messaging, empowering you to deliver a superior customer experience at every chat touchpoint.

Want to learn more?

‍Book a demo with us today and discover how you can engage and convert more customers than ever before with the power of Talkative and Agent Assist combined.