Fast Company article reports on the use of AI tools to bolster customer service reps’ mental health, including tech that can send a calming montage of family pics to stressed-out staff.
06/20/2024 9:25 A.M.
1.5 minute read
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A recent Fast Company article highlighted how some tech firms are developing AI technologies to enhance the mindset of customer service representatives who may be feeling burned out.
“Mental health studies have found call center workers to be more prone to burnout and compassion fatigue than many other professions,” according to Fast Company. “A 2021 study found just under 46% of the call center employees were mentally in an at-risk group and encouraged ‘training, counseling, and support programs’ for the workers. But with the help of AI, some companies are attempting to counter those negatives.”
Here are two of the companies highlighted in the Fast Company article:
SoftBank
SoftBank Corp. is set to release AI-driven technology that changes the voices of angry customers, giving them calmer tones to help protect agents from the mental toll of being at the receiving end of customers’ frustration.
A Financial Times article on the tool noted that it is set to be widely available for call centers “sometime before March 2026.”
First Horizon
First Horizon uses “AI to scan customer service calls, and if the technology determines the employee’s patience is running thin, it will send a video montage of photos of the person’s family set to music to ‘reset’ the employee and calm them down,” according to Fast Company.
In a trial, the bank’s agents and their supervisors used the system for six weeks. They saw a 20% reduction in burnout levels and an increase in customer satisfaction scores, according to an American Banker article on the tool.
Read the Fast Company article here.
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