Artificial intelligence (AI) use cases run the gamut. Google it, and you will find everything from academic theories to ideas so narrow they arguably become fringe. Even when you consider AI initiatives that seem practical, the level of technical expertise required isn’t exactly on hand for most organizations. The truth is: AI is best applied to the business processes you may unknowingly take for granted. In that context, we all have a lot to gain from AI.
The Business Cost of Repetition and Case for AI
Think of it this way: AI is a technical solution looking for a business problem. The key to automation and AI is applying solutions to repetitive, high volume, simple processes. And where better to start than a tech support team that routinely receives requests that are similar in nature? Requests that sound something like this:
- “My emails are stuck in my outbox…”
- “My phone says there is a compliance policy error…”
- “I’m having issues logging into the company intranet…”
- “How many vacation days do I have left?”
Sound familiar?
Consider the magnitude and volume of requests like these that are thrown at your team. Now imagine never receiving them again. How much time and how many resources could your team save? How much time would you personally get back in your day?
Consider:
- The time it takes for people in various departments to ask questions, and the time it takes for the tech support team to respond.
- The same question may be posed in a few different ways, but it may be asked repeatedly, say, 25 times per month.
- It may take anywhere from 2-6 minutes to answer, due to research and documentation. This may involve online searches for links, consulting with others, looking up documentation on SharePoint or a OneNote, etc.
Developing an answer to any question isn’t instantaneous. In fact, tech support could spend one – two hours every month answering the same question. Now consider: how many repetitive questions do you regularly receive? How much is this draining your organization?
Practical Use of AI for Tech Support: Ticket Deflection
We took this into consideration when creating the AI ticket deflection feature in Tikit. It gives your team the ability to teach the Tikit virtual assistant how to respond to requests based on its knowledge and your culture.
Whether it be a team of specialists or individual contributors, the dynamic of conversations occurring within Microsoft Teams and chat functionality creates an opportunity for Tikit to provide answers without the need for expert-level knowledge of artificial intelligence. That means members of your support staff can cross-train Tikit, ultimately freeing themselves from repetition. They can move on to higher-priority work.
Tikit operates like this – when employees seeking help create a ticket (from a Teams chat or email), Tikit’s Helpbot virtual assistant kicks into gear. It:
- Uses natural language processing to match the request with like items in the knowledge base.
- Serves up an answer and/or resource to help.
- Creates and populates a ticket (in deflected status) with relevant documentation.
- Closes the ticket.
For simple requests like those mentioned above, it’s highly efficient.
Sometimes requests evolve or escalate. Tikit responds accordingly, intelligently chatting and responding to user questions in a manner that lowers analysts’ ticket workload.
Want to give it a try? You can see Tikit and its AI deflection process in action. You can also explore how and why Microsoft Teams, the foundation for Tikit, is an ideal help desk solution. Check out a Tikit demo and join our growing community.
