Aspect Software has announced Aspect Mila, a new interactive assistant that redefines how contact centre supervisors and agents interact with workforce applications and each other.

Aspect Mila is an integration of Aspect® CXP and Aspect natural language understanding (NLU) technologies. When used with components of the Aspect EQ Workforce Optimisation (WFO) suite, it allows supervisors to better manage staffing requirements and empowers agents to take control of their schedules from anywhere using their mobile devices, without direct access to the WFO desktop applications.

“First it was Siri, Alexa and Cortana as our personal assistants, and now chatbots are dramatically redefining how we interact in our daily lives. Consumers are quick to take advantage of the time-saving convenience bots offer and Aspect Mila is putting these same technologies and efficiencies to work in the contact centre,” says Mike Bourke, senior vice-president and GM: workforce optimisation at Aspect Software.

“The key objectives of Aspect’s WFO solutions have always been to align support with customer demand, while incorporating the needs of employees, and managing costs. Mila represents the next level of agent empowerment and convenience, which will lead to greater agent engagement, happier agents, and ultimately happier customers.”

Aspect’s recently-commissioned agent experience report with Pelorus Research found that 96 percent of supervisors think agents would be more satisfied in their work if they could use an interface that more closely follows the look and feel of consumer technologies like the iPhone. In fact, 75 percent of supervisors think that employee access to contact centre software from mobile devices is desirable or essential for the agent to provide better customer experiences.

Aspect Mila uses conversational SMS, desktop chat, other text channels or IVR to remotely enable employees to complete workforce optimisation tasks when they need to and in a way that’s natural for them.

Aspect Mila benefits include:

* Administrative efficiencies – Providing employee self-service from an anytime mobile access platform, reduces administrative costs and increases intra-day staffing accuracies.

* Decreased agent attrition – The flexible, mobile solution improves work-life balance for agents by making it easier for them to do their jobs.

* Increased productivity – Omni-channel self-service capabilities empower workers to complete workforce tasks at a time and in a manner that is convenient for them.