What is our primary use case?
The main purpose of implementing a solution like TalkDesk, specifically a CCaaS environment with the latest technologies, was to enhance the customer experience. That's one of the major focus.
We also focus on how this platform can help us achieve ROI and business improvements, as well as improve operational efficiency through automation. With the recent introduction of AI, we have seen a significant increase in productivity and efficiency for users, agents, and operations.
Innovations in every aspect of contact center platforms are rapidly increasing, which greatly benefits the business. In summary, our focus areas are operational efficiency, agent productivity, business efficiency, and business improvement. These were the key factors we were looking for in a solution, and TalkDesk delivered.
Additionally, we are a managed service provider. So not only do we use this product, but we are also a channel partner for TalkDesk, reselling this solution to our customers and clients who have similar goals and requirements.
How has it helped my organization?
TalkDesk enhanced customer service with AI. There are three different sections where TalkDesk focuses on AI's ability to enhance solution productivity.
1. Agent Efficiency:
One area is agent efficiency. They are enhancing this by integrating with large language models and generative AI.
- Integration with Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI:
For example, one use case is the integration with knowledge management. Let's suppose a company has an in-house knowledge management solution. The TalkDesk platform can easily integrate with this solution and train on the local data. But not only with the local data, with the integration into different channels, they can even enhance the data training into the knowledge management resources.
So, a customer is looking for a specific input when calling an agent. With the help of interaction analysis, the platform captures everything the customer is saying in real-time. Based on the customer's input, TalkDesk, with its integrations into the LLM and generative AI, can bring out the information right in front of the agent so they can easily communicate back to the customer. This allows the agent to provide the right information at the right time.
- Automated After-Call Summaries:
Another use case is the after-call work summary. Earlier, this was done manually, but now, with generative AI, it summarizes the conversations, including action points, and provides a snapshot of the summarized conversation right in front of the system right after the call. This enhances agent productivity because they no longer have to spend time updating everything manually. It's all automated, including updating the customer relationship management system (CRM).
2. Operational Efficiency:
The second area is operational efficiency. With complete interaction analysis, TalkDesk can provide insights into the business, like:
- How agents are performing!
- What they are talking to customers about!
- What the customer is looking for, and product trends!
This deep insight allows the business to make the right decisions at the right time.
3. Sentiment Analysis:
The third area is sentiment analysis, where AI plays a major role. It can determine whether a customer is happy or not and how the conversation is going. If a customer isn't happy with the agent's response, the platform can help channel the right agents with the relevant training to enhance their performance and better handle the customer.
These are the three major areas where AI implementation is focused, although there are other areas within the TalkDesk solution where AI is implemented.
What needs improvement?
There's room for improvement in dashboard customization. TalkDesk has a good set of dashboards, some custom dashboards available, and default out-of-the-box template dashboards.
There are plenty of dashboards, probably more than twenty. You can do customization, but the level of customization you want to do varies with different customer requirements.
Some customers may find it sufficient, while others may want more customization. So, there is room for improvement in the flexibility of the dashboard and reporting customization.
We were impressed with the way the features are bundled and how it works today. We haven't seen anything that we thought needed improvement except for the dashboard customization aspect. Otherwise, everything is okay.
For how long have I used the solution?
I first used it in 2021. So, I have used it for 15 to 18 months.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
We haven't seen any performance issues. It is all good. The platform is geographically distributed around the world with about three to four data centers, so reliability and resiliency are not an issue.
From the time we started working on TalkDesk and since it's been implemented in production, we haven't seen any major issues. There was only one minor glitch with the client agent, but it was very brief and didn't affect the business. All of our clients are really happy with it.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It is definitely a scalable solution. Not only TalkDesk, but all cloud contact center solutions today are CCaaS (Contact Center as a Service) and hosted in the cloud. Scalability is not an issue at all. You can scale up or downsize your agents easily without any issues.
TalkDesk adapted to the growing business demands:
Business growth and scalability will be different for different businesses. For example, some customers may initially onboard with 100 to 200 agents but have a projection of scaling up to 500 in the next 12 months. This is a commitment that starts from the beginning of the onboarding discussion with the vendor.
We have seen a couple of customers who scaled rapidly in a short span of time. They initially onboarded 50 to 60 users but doubled their agent growth within the next six months, going from 60 to 120 or 150. This isn't an issue now because we don't have to wait for that scale to happen. It's seamless; we can raise a support ticket or engage with the account manager to let them know we want to double your growth and add more agents. It is all seamless.
Technically, it's just a matter of time. They need to assign the license and onboard the new agents onto the platform. It's a one or two-day job.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
The user experience and the ease of implementation are the main pros.
For me, the dashboard customization is the only con. Otherwise, there are no disadvantages. Everything is possible. Even if there are no out-of-the-box solutions available, you can do some customization, and everything is possible. The team is more than happy to help and achieve what the business is really looking for.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup is straightforward.
1. Implementation strategy:
The implementation strategy usually starts with the customer clearly defining their requirements and what they want to achieve. Their business capabilities should be clear and concise because that will be the input for TalkDesk.
From there, it starts as a consultative approach. When you have the inputs ready, you will be engaged with a TalkDesk consultant, and there will be routine calls with all the stakeholders involved. It will go hand-in-hand. There will be a designated project manager.
The customer's requirements are explained, and the consultant will provide input and recommendations, including enhancements and best practices.
Once everyone agrees on the high-level design, it's signed off, and the implementation starts. TalkDesk will configure and deploy the solution, followed by sandbox testing involving engineering resources from the customer side. Once everyone is happy with the results, it's signed off and moved into production.
2. Deployment time:
It depends customer to customer, on the complexity of the solution. Some solutions will be very straightforward, pretty much out of the box. If you have the input ready and the design secured, it's a matter of a week to implement everything, test, and deploy.
However, when customers have complicated requirements that require custom integrations, it takes longer. This involves different elements and modules, so it would take up to three to four weeks.
3. Maintenance:
It is one of the major advantages of moving from a legacy solution to a cloud solution. You don't have to have any resources to maintain it. You are just the user. All the solutions are on the cloud and completely managed by Talkdesk. Because this is a contact center as a service, we use the service, but we don't maintain anything. So, in that aspect, there are no burdens or overheads from the customer side to maintain it. It's straightforward; if there are any issues, they raise a support ticket with Talkdesk's support team, and they'll get back to you as soon as possible. The support is good as well.
What was our ROI?
First, many legacy contact center platforms are on-premise based. They have a lot of on-premise infrastructure and cost elements that consume resources to manage and operate.
That's one of the commercial debts because it's always eating up resources and the commercial element, particularly in maintaining the on-premise infrastructure.
- Increased productivity: Compared to cloud solutions today, there's a vast difference in features and functionalities. The new solutions can bring a lot of productivity, which is a return on investment you can count on.
For example, contact center agents usually take about ten minutes after each call to summarize and document their conversation with the customer. This was a manual process, but with new cloud solutions, it's automated. The interaction analysis elements of the new platform constantly analyze all communications and are intelligent enough to summarize those conversations, helping agents keep a brief summary right in front of their workspace. These elements increase agent productivity drastically.
- Resource management: Another major benefit is the elimination of managing on-premise resources, both hardware and the people needed to maintain them. This is completely eliminated when moving from legacy solutions to cloud contact center solutions.
- Business Efficiency: The third major thing is how you can improve business efficiency. There are a lot of automation in place now where all communications are transcribed or listened to intelligently. With new technologies in cloud contact center platforms, you get an analytical dashboard in front of your computer for every single communication between the customer and the agent. This provides the business management team with insights into where they need to enhance the business, whether it's positive or negative, in order to improve agent efficiency and operational efficiency or address customer needs and enhance their experience. These analytics give them decision-making power.
Stand-out features:
This isn't unique to TalkDesk, as there are multiple contact center solutions available in the market. However, TalkDesk has a user-friendly interface, especially the workspace that the agent uses. It's a single workspace where they can see all the applications integrated through the OpenAPI, eliminating the need to open multiple applications.
They don't have to waste their time. They have a single view of all the data, whether it's from the CRM or the knowledge management resource. This is one of the positive advantages. Although other platforms have this, TalkDesk is one of the most user-friendly interfaces.
What other advice do I have?
Overall, I would rate the solution an eight out of ten.
*Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: MSP
