Nearshore Americas
automation customer service

As Covid-19 Restricts Travel, Businesses Seek to Automate Customer Service

Robotic automation software vendors reportedly see a sudden surge in demand for their service, as businesses around the world struggle to stay connected with their customers amidst the travel restrictions imposed in response to the rapidly-growing coronavirus.

One of the software that businesses are eager to deploy is Amazon’s Connect, a cloud-based platform that automates customer service with the help of the company’s digital assistant Alexa.

“The companies contacting Amazon include everyone from airlines struggling to respond to customers canceling reservations to health care providers that need help answering questions about medical bills,” reported The Information citing unnamed sources.

Some tech startups offering robotic automation services are also seeing a surge in inquiries from factories and restaurants, according to the report. The publication says it is too early to tell whether all the queries would translate into actual sales.

The news comes at a time the Philippines-based call centers are struggling to continue their service amidst the stringent social distancing measures imposed in the Asian country.

Australian fruit grading and packing technology vendor GP Graders has stated that “it’s time to automate and take the labor out of the equation.”

“If a machine does a better job than a person, then buy the machine, it’s simple,” Stuart Payne, Director of GP Graders, has told news portal Fruitnet.

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Automation has long been predicted to kill millions of jobs in the customer services industry. Analysts say the current situation brought about by the pandemic will undoubtedly speed up automation.

Narayan Ammachchi

News Editor for Nearshore Americas, Narayan Ammachchi is a career journalist with a decade of experience in politics and international business. He works out of his base in the Indian Silicon City of Bangalore.

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