When an IT outage grounds thousands of flights or a hurricane knocks out power, damaging homes and property, one thing becomes clear: the world doesn’t stop moving and customers need answers.
Events like these don’t just test businesses; they highlight the critical role of contact centers in helping people navigate uncertainty.
This past year alone has shown us how crises can shake industries, from waves of insurance claims after natural disasters to travel chaos caused by IT failures.
For contact centers, these moments are more than just operational challenges; they are opportunities to step up, build trust, and ensure continuity when customers need it most.
As risks evolve and customer expectations rise, contact centers must adapt by embracing strategies and tools that prepare them to handle whatever comes next.
Adapting to a Changing Risk Landscape
The risks facing contact centers are intensifying, with natural disasters becoming more frequent and severe amid shifting environmental conditions.
Meanwhile, the ongoing growth of eCommerce and online services has raised the bar for customer expectations. Today’s consumers not only expect faster responses but the majority of them count on round-the-clock availability.
Case in point: recent Metrigy data in our report, “Wait Times and Customer Service,” shows that 80% of consumers consider 24/7 live agent availability vital for many companies: and customers now expect responses on social media in as little as five minutes.
In a crisis, meeting—or even exceeding—these expectations become even more critical. And for good reason: consumers are anxious and worried, with the not knowing driving their fears.
Hence the growing popularity – and need – for artificial intelligence (AI) -powered solutions. However, new data in another of our reports, “The future of customer engagement: How AI is reshaping contact centers,” shows that only 51% of contact center leaders have fully integrated AI into customer interactions.
This data point suggests that many contact centers are not equipped to leverage AI’s potential during times of crisis. But as disasters become more frequent, integrating AI will be non-negotiable in keeping operations online and running smoothly.
Why AI in a Crisis?
AI is about empowering contact centers and agents to perform at their best. And there is no time more critical for them to do so than during a disaster. Leveraging AI helps contact centers adapt swiftly, ensuring they provide the compassionate and effective service that customers need in high-pressure situations.
The ability of AI-powered applications to rapidly and accurately assess data and deliver immediate responses gives the three most precious commodities when these events threaten and strike. These are time, information, and people.
...as disasters become more frequent, integrating AI will be non-negotiable in keeping operations online and running smoothly.
When disasters strike, contact centers face a perfect storm of unpredictable surges in demand and reduced workforce availability. AI-powered tools have emerged as lifelines, enabling contact centers to scale operations in real time, maintain speed and reliability, and keep things running smoothly throughout the customer journey.
Without AI, the stakes are high: longer wait times, frustrated customers, and potential revenue loss. By leveraging AI, contact centers can adapt on the fly, ensuring that every customer is supported, even when agents’ bandwidth is stretched thin.
Here are two examples where AI can help:
- Real-time insights and suggested resolutions to lighten agents’ workload, enabling them to process cases—such as flood-related insurance claims—more quickly.
- Supercharging self-service tools like IVRs and chatbots to handle routine inquiries, allowing live agents to focus on more complex issues. After a power outage, for example, customers can reschedule appointments or request refunds without waiting in line.
Supporting Remote Agents
AI-powered platforms also ensure remote agents have secure tools and optimized workflows, a critical capability when office operations are disrupted.
Remote setups have long been a cornerstone of disaster recovery strategies, and the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated this approach. By equipping remote agents with reliable communication platforms and streamlined workflows, AI helps maintain continuity and efficiency: even in the toughest crises.
Equally important, AI acts as a critical resource for supervisors, surfacing insights that enable them to better support their teams.
By identifying issues and providing targeted guidance with the help of AI-powered tools, supervisors can empower agents to deliver the empathy, connection, and resolution customers need when it matters most.
The Role of AI in Crisis Response
The impact is undeniable. Our data shows that 100% of contact center leaders using AI just to analyze conversational data report positive outcomes, including:
- Faster resolution times (57.69%).
- Reduced agent burnout (57.69%).
- Improved customer satisfaction (57.69%).
- More personalized interactions (50%).
Imagine what a difference AI can make to inform customers. Like whether the power has come back, their flights, buses, or trains are operating, the roads are open, where they can obtain treatment and urgent prescription refills, and when it is safe to return to their homes and workplaces.
The Human-AI Partnership
AI’s role in crises is about more than just handling the workload: it’s about working alongside human agents to deliver the best possible outcomes. That’s where the human-AI partnership shines.
AI doesn’t replace agents: it equips them with tools to serve customers more effectively. By providing contextual information and suggested resolutions, AI helps agents respond with efficiency and empathy. And when personalized care is needed, virtual assistants seamlessly escalate issues to human agents, ensuring every interaction builds trust and loyalty.
A Future of Resilient Service
By keeping service uninterrupted, empowering both supervisors and agents, and meeting rising customer expectations, AI helps contact centers navigate crises with confidence and efficiency.
It goes beyond keeping operations running; it’s about delivering experiences that customers remember. In an unpredictable world, the right blend of AI and human expertise ensures companies can provide exceptional service: no matter the challenge.