contactless technology like Conversational AI in the form of digital kiosks, and voice-user interfaces can be seen up-ticking.

The appalling impacts of COVID-19 have brought several tech revolutions overnight. One of them is the beginning of the age of a contactless future. So much for fear of contracting the disease! As almost all nations went through complete or partial shutdowns, to limit the spread of the coronavirus, it seemed wise to switch to no-touch devices. As the world settles down to lockdown relaxations, contactless technology like Conversational AI in the form of digital kiosks, and voice-user interfaces can be seen up-ticking.

According to a Zinnov report, the market estimates show that companies spend close to USD 1 trillion on call center IT, with more than 265 billion customer calls being serviced per annum. Although most companies are contemplating a reduction in their call center workforce, there is a significant rise in the number of calls to contend with. Fast-changing government guidelines, especially across Banking and Financial Services, and rising concerns about personal well-being are leading to increased confusion amongst the masses, who are turning to customer service agents for support to conduct their business.

Along with the surge in the number of calls, the average call duration, which averages between 3-6 minutes for most contact centers, is expected to rise to 10+ minutes in the wake of COVID-19. To be able to handle the mounting pressure, enterprises are fast adopting conversational AI in their contact centers to augment existing human effort, while also freeing up their bandwidth for more strategic work. This can not only save companies millions of dollars in costs but also help them optimize call center operations.

It is believed that COVID-19 has further escalated the ongoing digital trend in contact centers and will lead to the permanent adoption of Conversational AI technology, complemented by back-end Automation. This will enhance customer service, while also freeing up bandwidth for people to focus on more strategic work.

Amid all the chaos induced due to coronavirus, the spread of misinformation about a pandemic is still the biggest threat among others. Conversational AI has become an essential tool or rather a weapon in the arsenal for Healthcare and Public sector entities that are trying hard to spread the right information and awareness amongst the public.

It's not a secret that enterprises globally have pivoted their operations to a work-from-home model. In fact, nearly 90% of the IT employees in India are working from home due to COVID-19. However, this sudden shift to virtual working environments has left many unanswered questions for employees. Further, managing distributed teams and addressing their queries/concerns in real-time has become a burdensome process for enterprises. This has led to newfound attention in B2B virtual assistants.

From scheduling meetings to answering critical questions at a simple voice or text command, Conversational AI can do it all for employees. These conversational bots can further help companies automate administrative tasks like screening resumes, scheduling interviews, and in some cases, conducting actual interviews, or managing paperwork.

The e-Commerce sector is witnessing a spike in the COVID-19 era, which is expected to continue on the other side of the pandemic. The surge in e-Commerce operations is expected to elevate the adoption of Conversational AI in Retail for product orders, answering customer queries, etc. It also provides answers to any questions that shoppers may have about delivery, store hours, and product availability.

The large-scale adoption of Conversational AI has given rise to new market trends in this arena. As more and more technology companies are rapidly upgrading their Conversational AI product portfolios to stay ahead of the rising competition in this space, it has been noticed that the emergence of newer "Speaking Styles" in virtual assistants, to suit specific personalities such as news anchors will take place. Also, the prominent application of Neural Voice Cloning powered by Deep Learning technology to create "Customized Brand Voices" will rise. Moreover, the rising emotional quotient in virtual assistants has been seen along with the greater technology convergence between Conversational AI & RPA during COVID-19 to optimize call center operations with a growing focus on the "Human in the loop" model. The AI-enabled technology is set to become an imperative for tech companies to deliver on the rising customer requirements through high-quality products and services.