With conversation intelligence technology, you know that you will be able to navigate increasing call volumes, improve operational efficiency and customer care staff morale, and support revenue generation strategies. You are ready to take the next step; all that’s left is finding the right vendor. This is where things start to be tricky.
The global conversational AI market is booming and is projected to grow from USD 13.2 billion (2024) to USD 49.9 billion by 2030, according to MarketsandMarkets research. Selecting the right vendor from this vast sea of providers is already hard. Even if you manage to narrow the providers down to those specializing in conversation intelligence for the contact center market, their features and offerings may appear to be similar. So, how should one go about identifying the right technology partner?
This blog will take you beyond “the façade” and highlight three factors that will differentiate the vendors and your subsequent conversation intelligence experience and success.
Off-the-Shelf vs. Custom
How critical is the performance of your contact center to your overall business success? If you’re just looking to add basic conversation intelligence capabilities to support a small team of agents, any vendor offering standardized solutions may suffice. However, these “generic” conversation intelligence solutions won’t cut it if you operate a strategic, revenue-generating contact center. Your business has its unique operational challenges and opportunities. The industries you serve have their own sets of regulatory requirements and distinctive language. Your use cases may evolve, and you’ll need a solution that can scale as you grow. Because of these intricacies, you should focus on seeking out a conversation intelligence provider who can provide a platform that can adapt to your specific needs versus forcing you to fit into their prescribed mold. You don’t want a vendor; you want a technology partner.
A partner will listen to your needs and collaborate on value mapping to guide the conversation intelligence deployment planning. They will offer their guidance and expertise to move your deployment forward per your requirements and help you avoid costly mistakes during the implementation. They will continue supporting you after the deployment to ensure every terminology and industry-specific information is correctly captured so you get an accurate picture to drive winning business decisions. Your continued success is their priority.
Recap: Don’t settle. Find a partner with expertise, a proven track record of success for your specific segment, and the flexibility to build and scale a solution tailored to your business needs.
AI Done Right
Artificial intelligence (AI), especially generative AI (GenAI), is at the top of customer care leaders' minds. In a survey by McKinsey, over 80% of respondents planned to increase their investment in GenAI in 2024 and 2025, with customer intelligence from conversations identified as the #2 area of focus for GenAI deployment. At the same time, these leaders identified a “lack of AI maturity/governance” as one of the major blockers. Their concerns are not entirely invalid because not all AI offered by vendors is created equally.
Virtually every vendor uses some form of AI in their offering, and the capabilities and performance of their solution will depend on the amount of training data and security measures. Look for vendors that leverage large learning models (LLMs) that are pre-trained on extensive amounts of contact center conversation data and not just any data. This distinction is important because if your model cannot interpret accents or unique speech patterns, sentiment, brand names, and industry words–all typical customer interaction scenarios–then the data you receive will not be beneficial. You want clean data that you can trust.
Speaking of trust, it’s imperative to understand how the AI processes your data. Data privacy and security are top priorities, especially for contact centers supporting highly regulated industries with strict data protection requirements. Therefore, the platform of your choice must not only employ solid security protocols–such as personally identifiable information (PII) redaction–but also carry required certifications like HITRUST and HIPAA that confirm their compliance. Additionally, you’ll also want to confirm whether your data is feeding the LLM that may also support your peers and competitors.
Additionally, many may claim to use "cutting-edge” AI, but very few have successfully implemented GenAI technology for their customers. Therefore, make sure that companies you work with can actually deliver on their GenAI promise.
Recap: Check under the hood. Ask the vendors what type of AI technology they utilize and how many contact-center-specific parameters their LLM was trained on. Get the information on output accuracy. Make sure they comply with your data security requirements and have the necessary industry certifications. Unless you want to be their guinea pig, ensure that the vendors offering GenAI have plenty of proven successful deployments with other customers.
Show Me the Data
The backbone of any formidable conversation intelligence solution is its ability to swiftly process massive amounts of data and deliver specific information to you and your agents in a digestible, actionable format–in real-time or after the interaction. Your choices based on the output can profoundly impact the success of your people and business. Therefore, accessibility to information and the ability to take action to improve agent experience in real time should be critical decision factors.
Unfortunately, not all vendors can provide the information you may want. Many will try to deflect by presenting you with beautifully designed reports based on the data they can pull and avoid addressing questions around tailored data reporting. They will try to sell you a pretty picture, so don’t lose sight of what you are buying. After all, great-looking data that doesn’t tell the right story to drive actionable outcomes is useless.
Recap: Ask for a custom report. Have the vendor create a report that helps you understand and measure your particular use case. Then, have the vendor show you how to build a custom, real-time experience to solve that particular use case. Did you get the information along with an instant fix to address the challenge? Proceed. Did you get a pretty report without the information you needed? Were you not able to act on the data immediately? Pass.
To the Finish Line
By identifying conversation intelligence as your next technological investment, you have already taken the right step toward revolutionizing your contact center experience. Now, all you need to do is find the right partner to make this transformational journey as smooth as possible. Start by narrowing the field to providers specializing in conversation intelligence solutions for contact centers. Make sure they are flexible and able to adjust to your requirements as well as the restrictions and mandates of the industry you service. Test the solution to make sure it performs to your expectations. Confirm that the vendor not only has high-performing AI capabilities but is also investing in emerging technology so that you can benefit from the advancements down the road. Lastly, make sure you find a partner that has your interests and long-term success in mind.
Observe.AI empowers contact center leaders and their teams with our customer-first approach and leading GenAI conversation intelligence solutions. Let us be your partner in this transformation journey and watch your business and customer satisfaction soar.
