By Christopher Connolly

THE PHILIPPINES continues to be the global leader in the contact center industry, and if the country wants to retain this position for the next 10 years, urgently modernizing processes with the use of generative artificial intelligence (AI) and data is key.

According to IDC, generative AI spending in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region alone is projected to reach $26 billion by 2027. This includes AI investments in customer engagement as businesses seek to remodel their operations around creating delightful customer experiences at every touchpoint. In the Philippines, a 2024 IT & Business Process Association of the Philippines (IBPAP) survey reported that 67% of IT and business process management (IT-BPM) firms, the sector that includes contact center companies, are already leveraging AI in their operations, focusing on customer service, data entry, and quality assurance.

However, while AI use cases in customer experience are increasing, traditional contact centers still struggle to meet the evolving expectations for personalized, omnichannel interactions. Amid shifting customer demands, contact centers need to transcend inefficient legacy systems and overcome integration challenges to gain a competitive edge in the age of AI. By embracing advanced technologies and improving system interoperability, they can better cater to modern customers and enhance overall service quality.

THE STRATEGIC BENEFITS OF MODERNIZINGUtilizing real-time customer data and advanced language models can address operational inefficiencies in contact centers and improve agent experiences. Modernizing contact centers through cloud-native architecture can facilitate the delivery of better customer service at a lower cost and help businesses transition from outdated systems to more advanced ones.

With 43% of APAC consumers expecting a response within an hour, according to Twilio’s 2024 Consumer Preferences Report, streamlined processes and unified customer data can lead to faster responses and solutions. Customers do not have to go through the hassle of repeating their problems or waiting on operators to locate their information. Insights drawn from unified data, including customer history, conversational insights, preferences, and AI-derived traits such as sentiment, predicted lifetime value (LTV), and churn propensity, can also create highly contextualized and personalized interactions, which can keep customers happier and translate to greater loyalty and customer LTV for the business.

Businesses and agents also stand to gain. Reduced instances of app switching, better access to recommended responses, and automated wrap-up reports can enhance overall productivity. This approach addresses issues such as long waiting times, repeat calls, and high transfer rates, ultimately leading to service and operational performance improvements. Businesses can streamline operations further using predictive analytics, which reduces workload and search time for agents.

THE NEXT RACE: EMBEDDING CDP DATA INTO THE CONTACT CENTER TO EMPOWER AGENTSHarnessing the potential of first-party data, which is customer data directly collected and owned by the organization doing business with them, and empowering agents is essential for modernizing contact centers. Collecting first-party data from various sources and integrating it into real-time service interactions can provide agents with more comprehensive information than traditional customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Using a customer data platform (CDP) alongside CRM can help contact centers better understand customer behaviors.

Leaders in customer experience can rely on CDP data because it offers real-time insights and supports the shift towards omnichannel. The real-time nature of CDP data allows leaders to respond swiftly to customer needs and preferences as they arise. CDPs’ ability to consolidate data from billing systems, data warehouses, and marketing automation platforms also makes it easier to transition across channels without losing context or information.

With the emergence of newer large language models and the memory capabilities of CDPs, agents now have access to personalized assistance during customer conversations. This development changes the traditional approach to agent training. Lengthy training sessions confined to a classroom setting, which also incur additional costs, are less necessary. Instead, agents can engage with customers more proactively, knowing that their AI assistant can help with complex scenarios that may arise occasionally.

NAVIGATING TRANSFORMATION AMIDST FILIPINO CONSUMERS’ PRIVACY EXPECTATIONSAs with every new technology, businesses need to be mindful of using AI safely to harness customer data and build transparent and trustworthy systems. According to Twilio’s recent State of Customer Engagement Report, 41% of businesses in the Philippines consider protecting customer data their most pressing challenge. Shortage of labor and navigating the complexity of regulations were also identified as top challenges.

Incorporating privacy and security features and principles into the development lifecycle of new technologies can support the compliant and responsible use of customer data. The report also found that the majority (77%) would trust a brand more if it disclosed how customer data is used in AI-driven interactions. Additionally, three in four Filipino consumers ranked transparent communications such as clear terms and conditions, return policies, ease of reaching customer support, and responsive customer service, as the most effective ways to maintain trust.

As customer expectations and business needs evolve, traditional contact centers must also keep up with the times. Improving customer experience requires adopting modern technologies that ensure data protection, improved response times, and transparency. This shift involves moving away from outdated models and implementing scalable solutions that can meet business needs. Modern contact centers should be capable of rapidly adapting to changes and providing excellent customer service.

Christopher Connolly, Solution Engineering Lead, APJ, Communications, Twilio