Due to the changed conditions for companies and users, voice bots are becoming more and more relevant across industries. They offer a solution to the problem of ever-increasing customer expectations and also show a solution for companies to deal with the increasing number of channels while maintaining the same budget. Both, the places of integration and the application areas for voice bots are diverse. Especially for the channel call center, which is often under cost pressure due to increasing customer expectations.
Using the example of the German automotive industry, the aim of the work is to find out, how far the use of voice bots in call centers has already progressed and which tasks voice bots can take over from human agents.
Exemplary use cases (which are the equivalent from the company's point of view to the term "touchpoint" used from the customer's point of view) for voice bots in the call center should be elaborated and tested for their voice bot suitability and universal evaluation criteria for the selection of further use cases should be developed. This should enable each automotive manufacturer to individually assess their own use cases in the channel call center in terms of the voice bot suitability. Finally, a guideline has to be drawn to guide the German automobile manufacturers in promoting voice bots' use in their call centers.
To find out which general framework conditions, prerequisites, and potentials voice bots have, the focus has to be put on these items at the beginning of the work. Based on this, the topic of call centers along the customer journey will be developed to get an impression of the importance and the areas of application for call centers in the different journey phases.
Dealing with the exemplarily selected automotive industry, industry-specific peculiarities are thematized to design an expert survey and a further call center study to find out whether and for what purpose voice bots are already being used in the call centers and where further applications may be. In addition, current implementation barriers and success factors are identified to explain the status quo. For the expert surveys, various automotive industry experts, the voice bot technology supplying industry, and independent call center and technology experts will be interviewed for an objective view of the questions.
Based on the results obtained, influencing factors for voice bot suitability and a procedural guideline is developed.
Table of Contents
- Problem Definition
- Purpose of the Paper
- Method
- Definition of Voice Bots
- Components of a Voice Bot Technology
- Process of a Voice Bot Interaction
- Voice Bot Types
- Voice Bot Types according to Functionalities
- Voice Bot Types according to Places of Integration
- Relevance of Voice Bots
- Changed Customer Expectations & Progress in Technology
- Benefits of Voice Bots
- Potential Disadvantages & Limitations of Voice Bots
- Relevance of Voice Bots for Corporate Applications
- Success Factors for the Use of Voice Bots
- Conception of the functional Capabilities of a Voice Bot
- Technological Realization of a Voice Bot
- Performance Controlling of a Voice Bot
- Customer Journey
- Definition of the Customer Journey
- Conceptual Assignment of Touchpoints, Channels and Customer Experience
- Increasing Importance of the Customer Journey
- Customer Touchpoint Management Requirements for Companies
- Call Centers
- Definition of Call Centers
- Call Center Types according to Communication Direction
- Underlying IT-Landscape in Call Centers
- Challenges in today's Call Centers
- Use of Call Centers along the Customer Journey
- Call Centers in the Phase of Awareness
- Call Centers in the Phase of Consideration
- Call Centers in the Phase of Purchase
- Call Centers in the Phase of Usage
- German Automotive Industry
- Definition of the Automotive Industry
- Characteristics of the German Automotive Industry
- Industry-Specific Customer Journey of a Vehicle Purchase
- Relevance of Call Centers in the German Automotive Industry
- Analysis Methodology
- Current Use of Voice Bots in German Automotive Call Centers along the Customer Journey
- Use of German Automotive Call Centers along the Customer Journey
- Status-Quo of the Implementation of Voice Bots in German Automotive Call Centers
- General Potential of Voice Bots in German Automotive Call Centers
- Potential of Voice Bots in German Automotive Call Centers along the Customer Journey
- Phase of Awareness: Potential of Voice Bots in German Automotive Call Centers
- Phase of Consideration: Potential of Voice Bots in German Automotive Call Centers
- Phase of Purchase: Potential of Voice Bots in German Automotive Call Centers
- Phase of Usage: Potential of Voice Bots in German Automotive Call Centers
- Dependency Factors for the Use of Voice Bots
- Guideline for the Usage of Voice Bots in German Automotive Call Centers
- Step 1: General Success Factors to be considered
- Step 2: Conception of a Routing and Prequalification Voice Bot
- Step 3: Conception of a Case Closure Voice Bot
Objectives and Key Themes
This master's thesis aims to analyze the potential of voice bots in call centers within the German automotive industry. The study examines current usage, identifies potential benefits and limitations, and develops a guideline for successful implementation of voice bots.
- The role of voice bots in optimizing customer journeys within call centers.
- Analysis of the current state of voice bot implementation in the German automotive industry.
- Identification of key success factors and dependency factors for voice bot integration.
- Development of a step-by-step guideline for deploying voice bots in German automotive call centers.
- Exploration of the specific needs and challenges of the automotive industry when using voice bots.
Chapter Summaries
- Chapter 1 introduces the research problem and the purpose of the study. It also outlines the methodology employed in the analysis.
- Chapter 2 delves into the definition of voice bots, their technological components, different types, and their relevance in the context of changing customer expectations and technological advancements.
- Chapter 3 focuses on the customer journey and its increasing importance, analyzing the role of call centers in the different stages. It highlights the unique challenges faced by today's call centers.
- Chapter 4 provides an overview of the German automotive industry, including its defining characteristics, and the specific customer journey involved in purchasing a vehicle.
- Chapter 5 presents a detailed analysis of the current use of voice bots in German automotive call centers, assessing their potential across various stages of the customer journey. It examines the dependency factors that influence their successful deployment. The chapter concludes with a guideline for integrating voice bots, outlining key success factors, and providing specific examples of voice bot implementation in the context of routing, prequalification, and case closure.
Keywords
Voice bots, call centers, German automotive industry, customer journey, customer experience, artificial intelligence, robotic process automation, success factors, implementation guidelines.
- Quote paper
- Laura Dahlhaus (Author), 2019, Recommendations for the Use of Voice Bots in Call Centers of the German Automotive Industry, Munich, GRIN Verlag, https://www.grin.com/document/1302877
