A selection of Humana Pharmacy customer service agents have
had the opportunity to try a calls coach powered by artificial intelligence.
The coach monitors the biological markers in both the agent’s and the
customer’s voices then sends cues to help the agent keep the call on-track.
The cues, which are invisible to the caller, include
continuous speaking, empathy cue, energy cue, extended overlap, slow to
respond, etc. Each cue comes with a suggestion, such as “Think about how the
customer is feeling. Try to relate.”
The goal with the artificial intelligence tool is to improve
the customer experience, and results from the digital coach have been positive.
From January to March 2019, Humana measured all of its customer call centers,
and for those calls where the artificial intelligence coach was utilized for
real-time feedback, Humana experienced a 3.1 point increase in our
transactional net promoter score (NPSt), a three point increase in the perfect
call metric (PCM), and a 26 second decrease in the length of the call.
Cassandra M. said, “Since using Cogito (the vendor for the
artificial intelligence coach), I discovered that based off the tone of my
voice and the member, it can tell me when I should be applying empathy – even
when I don’t think it’s necessary. This has definitely improved my interaction
with the members which gives them comfort and reassurance that I understand and
relate to what they are going through, which in turn, has increased my PCM on
the surveys which is super helpful.
“It also has the ability to alert me when I should giving
off more energy in the tone of my voice. When I am sounding more energetic
during the phone call, I have come to find in my experience that it also raises
the energy of the member which creates for a better conversation.”
The artificial intelligence tool is voluntary. Humana
Pharmacy Service Operations team believes that by showing agents how the tool
can improve their results will create additional engagement and utilization.
Ultimately, the goal is to help agents feel more emotionally tuned-in and
satisfied with their jobs as well as provide more personalized customer
service.
USAToday interviewed two Humana leaders about the technology. Read their comments here.