Artificial intelligence, or AI, has been a hot field in technology for the past couple of years and there is great value in implementing artificial intelligence in IT service management. AI can power IT service management processes like routine tasks, notifications, and self-service. Interest in the ITSM space for artificial intelligence is significant, with many IT organizations looking to implement artificial intelligence in the services that they provide. In a recent trend report sponsored by Bright Pattern on trends in ITSM and ESM channels, many leaders in the IT industry have expressed significant interest in using AI to improve ITSM operations, and view AI as a tool that will enable an organization to do more with the manpower they have. Survey respondents were asked “Do you currently use or plan to use artificial intelligence for IT Service Management?” and the responses are shown below.
Based on the responses, we can see that only a small percentage of IT service providers currently use AI, but many want to implement it into their ITSM. 45% of respondents have plans to implement AI in their IT Service Management.
So how can ITSM vendors utilize AI to power their IT service management and make the experience easier for both the IT analysts and the end users?
Self-Service for End Users
Many end users want self-service, and self-service can help streamline ITSM operations. In a report by Microsoft, titled the “Global State of Multichannel Customer Service Report”, Microsoft stated that “more than 90% of customers expect brands or organizations to have an online customer self-service offering, and 60% percent say they have a more favorable view of a brand if that self-service offering is mobile responsive.”
Artificial intelligence can be utilized to drive self-service in your IT organization or help desk. Self-service for end users can be powered by AI through the use of Natural Language Processing and speech analytics. AI-powered Natural Language Processing allows end users to utilize their own voice to interact with the self-service menu, with accurate speech analytics to ensure correct understanding. This means that self-service is easy for end users, allowing them to access knowledge bases and service catalogs easily and quickly, saving both the IT analysts and the end users time.
Quality Management on All Channels
Monitoring quality on all digital channels can be difficult, especially with the sheer number of communication channels that IT organizations must interact with end users on. All digital channels like voice, email, SMS, messenger apps, and web chat need to be monitored to ensure high quality on every interaction.
Monitoring for quality is made easier with AI. Through AI-powered sentiment and text analysis, you can monitor 100% of all interactions on all digital channels. Gauge and analyze an end user’s mood during an interaction, while collection of data like call recordings and transcripts can be done simultaneously. Data collected through sentiment and text analysis can be compiled into an easy-to-use format baked on highlighted metrics and KPIs. Furthermore, interaction details and recordings that are collected can be used for retraining and quality assurance purposes.
Realize Immediate ROI by Starting with Specific High-Impact Use Cases
Interested in implementing AI to streamline your ITSM organization but don’t know where to start? Realize immediate ROI by implementing ROI on your high-impact use cases first. Implementing AI for automation of routine tasks, for example, is your best bet for realizing immediate ROI and feeling the impact of AI on your help desk quickly.
Start off by implementing AI assistance for use cases and tasks that are high-volume and well-defined. One example is password reset. As many as 40% of all help desk calls are related to password resets. The load these calls can place on the help desk is significant. This volume, paired with the fact that the average cost of each interaction that a help desk takes in North America is approximately $15.56 per interaction, makes password resets one of the most expensive tasks that IT service providers must support. While password resets are very simple to do, the sheer volume of password reset requests makes them a drain on help desk staff.
Implementing a self-service menu with AI-powered speech recognition and Natural Language Processing can automate password resets, saving your help desk a ton of time and money. By implementing AI in a self-service format with password resets, your IT analysts can focus their time on more technical and pressing tasks, and allow your help desk to see immediate ROI.
To implement the right ITSM framework and ITSM processes in your organization, you need the right ITSM tools for the job. Check out Bright Pattern’s latest ITSM and ESM Trend Report for how you can adapt your IT organization to the demands of 2021.
