While each of you no doubt has several anecdotes to the contrary, I feel like customer service has gotten, dare I say it, better in recent years. I’m not referring to in-store customer service – that’s as hit-or-miss as ever. Rather, I’m talking about the digital realm, the web- or app-based encounters. 

There are many factors at play but it seems like companies are finally finding ways to use technology to help their CSRs deliver a better experience when customers reach out to resolve a problem or answer a question.

Early on, I was afraid that tech applications would evolve no further than the godawful bot-based customer service tools that many consumer-facing sites have, with their cutesy avatars promising to enthusiastically help you with every possible problem when in reality they’re about as useful as the product troubleshooting FAQs that urge you to “make sure the unit is plugged in.”

My hunch was that CSRs now have access to more information and therefore, crucially, have more ability to answer questions and fix those thorny problems that the bot reps cheerfully fail to understand when you type in your query.

According to results from a study released early this year, I was right about the more information part. For its CRM of the Future Survey 2021, software and services company Amdocs commissioned Coleman Parkes Research to survey 3,000 consumers, 100 CRM decision makers in Tier 1 communication companies and 150 of their customer agents to better understand how agents and the technology and systems they use interact.

Here’s the report’s take on the role of technology. Maybe things have already gone too far:

With as many as six systems in place to complete customer processes and an average of three required for every single request, digital adoption is far from seamless for contact center and retail agents. Too many systems – which are often slow and lack integration – are taking up agent time, forcing them to invest energy and time into manual processes rather than concentrate on the customer at hand.

The decision makers know their systems are not all they could be. Only 38% of those surveyed give high marks to the automation in their customer service support systems for how they trigger processes, suggest the next best action, capture customer details and send proactive notifications. Which means that the unfortunate service agents on the other end of the phone line or computer connection have a lot to deal with, on top of crabby customers.

And the trouble is, brands want to rely on technology even more in the future: Currently just over half (51%) of customer interactions are automated/unassisted across multiple channels (e.g., virtual assistants, chatbots, telephone automation, mobile apps or online portals) but decision makers want that to rise to three-quarters (76%) in coming years.

My recent customer service win occurred in early May when I used the messaging function in the Delta Air Lines app. Hours after landing in London for our Quirk’s Event, I tested positive for COVID-19 and over the next two days I frantically tried to figure out how to fly back to the U.S. once I was no longer considered a threat to my fellow passengers.

The wait times to speak to a Delta agent by phone were routinely more than two hours and I recalled that Delta now offers customer service through its app but feared that would just be more generic bot nonsense. Thus I was floored when my messaging connected me instantly to a real person, who efficiently helped me figure out my next steps. That our interaction was text-based rather than voice-based didn’t matter. 

I ended up being able to fly home only a day later than originally planned, though of course I was disappointed to have to stay away from our event a few floors below me in the hotel.

I realize the preposterousness of citing an airline as an example of technological and operational efficiency but whatever Delta has figured out, I hope it takes off.