In the past two months, companies everywhere have shifted their workforces from office cubicles and conference rooms to home offices and dining room tables. The coronavirus pandemic’s thunderous impact – bolstered by government mandates to maintain social distancing protocols and shut down non-essential workplaces – has forced companies to pivot hard and fast to a new reality, whether they’re ready for it or not.

For companies in competitive markets, customer support is a key differentiator. In fact, it can be one of the key reasons a customer decides to renew or churn. But with customer expectations higher than ever, and modern support no longer involving only simple, repeated questions, your front line is often dealing with a high volume of tickets across multiple channels that involve product and process complexity.

Research is clear: customer service is one of the biggest drivers of customer loyalty. In fact, 78 percent of U.S. consumers say customer service is important to loyalty, according to Netomi’s State of Customer Service 2020 report. Increasingly, customers expect support that is fast, personal, and effective. To deliver the experience that customers expect, companies are adopting AI to provide immediate resolutions that bring customer delight and business value.

In the past 3 years, the AI space has become so noisy that even seasoned executives struggle to cut through the jargon, making it challenging to deliver against an AI strategy. Support leaders face a series of roadblocks. The AI space overall isn’t accessible to the business stakeholders who want to leverage it for improved customer experience.

Understanding the latest advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) can seem overwhelming, but if it’s learning the basics that you’re interested in, you can boil many AI innovations down to two concepts: machine learning and deep learning. These terms often seem like they’re interchangeable buzzwords, hence why it’s important to know the differences.

Artificial Intelligence refers to the simulation of human intelligence processes by machines, computer systems to be precise. These processes primarily include learning, reasoning, and self-correction. Machine learning is a term that is synonymous with AI. As the name suggests, machine learning refers to empowering machines to learn by themselves using the data provided and predict the best possible outcome of a complex problem.

Unless you build or program computers for a living, you could be forgiven for never having wondered what actually happens under the hood. How do computers make decisions? What do their instructions look like? Can they, y’know… think?

In the last decade, automation has brought about considerable changes in simple and complex processes for quicker output. In the call center industry, programmed automation has enhanced customer experience and made a significant impact on support efficiency. With artificial intelligence being at the forefront of change, there is apprehension over whether AI will take over end-user support completely.

The growth of Artificial Intelligence has had an enormous spurt in the last few years. The use of AI in Helpdesk Automation is reducing the burden on professionals. Chatbots integrates with IT Service Management(ITSM) and acts as a virtual support agent.

Artificial intelligence has revolutionized customer support all over the world. Thanks to artificial intelligence, businesses have reaped the benefits of smart voice agents, instant call routing, automated email responses, and more. But with the continued popularity of social media as a channel of customer support, it only makes sense to use AI to optimize your support strategy. Here are three ways to reap the benefits of AI and automation in your social customer support –