AI-Led Automation Transformed Contact Centre Performance In 2023: Ozonetel Study

Artificial intelligence-enabled automation has improved contact centre performance and customer engagement, with a 41% reduction in abandonment rates reported in 2023, as compared to 2022, according to a study by Ozonetel, an omnichannel customer experience platform provider.

The study found that agents answered calls 10% faster, on average, and customers were 15% more likely to answer calls from a business in 2023, compared to 2022. Agents were, on average, 20% more efficient in handling inbound conversations.

The report noted improvements in five key areas.

Decreased Abandon Rates Reflect Higher Customer Experience Standards

After four years of decline, abandon rates significantly improved this year. On average, in 2023, only 20% of calls were disconnected by callers when in queue, compared to 34% in 2022. Many contact centres implemented intelligent automation and call routing to improve agent availability, helping businesses prioritise customer calls and reduce abandon rates.

This also reflects an evolving customer experience landscape where voice interactions are made by customers only in case of urgency, as there are many other channels available for contacting businesses. Businesses are turning to chat and WhatsApp for simpler interactions, responding to customers' desire for a seamless omnichannel experience. 

Intelligent Automation Reduced Pickup Time

Pickup time, the average time a contact centre agent takes to answer inbound calls—which includes the duration for which the agent's phone rings but excludes the wait time of the caller—has reduced to 6.9 seconds in 2023 from 7.7 seconds in 2022.

More companies have implemented ‘webrtc' calling and an auto answer feature, which has led to improvement in pickup times. With this feature, calls automatically get connected to available agents without any downtime.

AI-Enabled Conversational Intelligence For Agents Reduced Talk Time

The average talk time, which is the time an agent spends talking to a caller, reduced to 2.64 minutes in 2023 compared to 3.7 minutes in 2022. This improvement is driven by features such as smart agent assistance and deep customer relationship management integrations. The study noted that smart suggestions and secure access to relevant customer data have helped agents resolve queries faster.

Automated Call Dispositions Reduced Wrap Time

Wrap time is the time used by the agent following the end of a call to complete any administrative tasks like updating notes about the conversation or process orders. This year, wrap times reduced to 43.6 seconds from 47.4 seconds in 2022. With AI providing automated call transcripts and insights, businesses are increasingly automating after call work, leading to an increase in agent efficiency and availability.

Improved Connection Rates Indicate Higher Customer Engagement

Average contact rates, which indicate how many calls were answered by contacts, increased to 45% this year, as compared to 39% in 2022. Higher contact rates indicate that customers are receptive to calls from their dedicated relationship managers or service providers.  

A growing number of companies are now deploying verified business IDs using Truecaller Integrations or WhatsApp Business Accounts. Automated outbound calls from a familiar business number reduce cart abandonment, improve collections, encourage reorders and increase customer lifetime value, the report noted. 

Prashanth Kancherla, chief product officer at Ozonetel, said, “In 2024, AI will take things to the next level. It will free up agents for high-value conversations at strategic points in the customer journey, while also equipping them with the right knowledge to deepen customer relationships and drive business growth.”