How GenAI can help improve Government Contact Centers
By Sam Loewner, Senior Manager and State and Local Contact Center Leader,
Deloitte & Touche, LLP
There’s no doubt that most people are using machine learning and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions when they call a contact center, even if they don’t realize it. From credit card inquiries to store returns, those with busy schedules, working multiple jobs or balancing family responsibilities, often prefer self-service or chatbot support to solve common problems or answer straightforward questions.
And now with innovations in Generative AI (GenAI) and machine learning, government contact center leaders have even more tools to enhance their operations and services. These solutions can improve an agency’s ability to be proactive in managing its contact center, give workers the resources they need to provide more accurate, timely and efficient responses, and improve customer service.
My team at Deloitte has found that government agencies in Ohio and across the country — like many of their private sector counterparts — can utilize AI throughout the entire customer service life cycle. I often break these use cases down into three stages, which include:
Before connecting with a worker: Government agencies can deploy virtual agents that work 24/7 to provide useful information and options to callers, answer questions using GenAI, or even schedule callbacks for a time that’s likely to be less busy based on historical call data. Virtual agents can also collect caller information and deliver that to employees to help complete the transaction. This enables agency staff to more quickly get to the heart of a caller’s problem or issue, and in turn, reduce call time.
While connected to a worker: Imagine someone calls for help to complete a form that most agency staff don’t use very often: GenAI services can understand call audio in real time, search agency databases in the background to find reference materials about that form, and summarize the information for workers to get to a resolution more quickly. AI also gives supervisors a heads up, monitoring agent activity and offering real time alerts when something abnormal happens, so a supervisor can reach out to help and get a call back on track.
After-contact follow-ups and optimization: Agencies can use AI to analyze transcripts and gauge service quality, enabling supervisors to enhance training and make contact center improvements in near real time. GenAI-powered agents can place calls at a time selected by state residents to collect information if it’s missing, enabling staff to focus on more complex issues.
GenAI has the potential to deliver for government contact center agents and callers well beyond automation and chatbots. At their best, contact center AI solutions can help state agencies:
Lower contact center wait times and volumes.
Empower customer service agents with the tools and support they need to meet callers’ needs.
Improve management and reporting capabilities.
Give state residents flexibility on when and how they receive service from a contact center.
To learn more about GenAI in government contact centers, I’d encourage you to read some of our Deloitte research here. My colleague Jason Carbaugh also wrote about government contact centers awhile back, and his ideas are still quite relevant. And of course, feel free to reach out to me directly with any questions.