Unlocking the Power of AI in Contact Center Operations: A Conversation with QuinStreet

In an era where Artificial Intelligence (AI) is revolutionizing various industries, contact centers are no exception. QuinStreet, a leader in vertical marketing and media online, faced numerous challenges in its contact center operations. To delve deeper into how AI is playing a transformative role, I sat down with Tyler Orrell, Vice President of Contact Center at QuinStreet. Here’s a brief overview:

1. Challenges Before AI: Quinstreet’s decision to invest in artificial intelligence for their call center stemmed from their challenges in effectively reviewing 100% of their contact center calls to provide statistically meaningful feedback to their staff. They also wanted to optimize their sales process and achieve greater customer engagement consistency.
2. Discovering AI Vendors: QuinStreet’s primary aim was to enhance both agent and customer experiences. Traditional quality assurance wasn’t delivering the needed results. The limited visibility, lack of screen recording, and insufficient data from call reviews often led to inefficiencies. The company looked at AI as a solution to achieve 100% QA compliance, improve sales processes, expedite agent ramp time, and reduce rep churn.
3. Evaluating AI Vendors: QuinStreet adopted a methodical approach with a Request for Proposal (RFP). They rigorously viewed demos, refined their choices, and emphasized working with innovative and disruptive tech providers. Key factors were ease of use, adoption, and a blend of supervised and unsupervised AI. Self-Service and a flexible platform also became important.
4. KPIs for AI Success: Tyler emphasized the importance of time-to-value, adoption, deep business understanding, and accuracy as crucial metrics. Organizations should realize the value of AI quickly and ensure that the chosen solutions are easy to use and precise.
5. Role of Employee Training: Training is paramount. QuinStreet ensured regular communication with its team about why they were adopting AI and what they hoped to achieve. By setting a clear measure, baseline, and expected outcomes, the organization could engage in fruitful discussions with all stakeholders.
6. Choosing Specialized AI over CCaaS Provider Solutions: For Tyler, selecting a specialized AI vendor like Level AI had clear advantages over in-house solutions from CCaaS providers. He believed in collaborating with vendors who excel in their domain, are updated with the latest trends, and can offer best practices for those specific use cases and space.
7. Future Trends in the Industry: Tyler foresees a shift towards dedicating more time to valuable tasks, automating self-service functions, and using voice analytics. Organizations should aim to redefine roles, ensuring a unified and higher-quality training, and employ real-time trending for agents.

Conclusion: AI’s integration into contact centers offers a plethora of benefits, from improving customer experience to ensuring compliance and enhancing operational efficiencies. As QuinStreet’s journey suggests, the key lies in choosing the right vendor, investing in employee training, and staying abreast of emerging industry trends.