With the advent of the novel Coronavirus, remote working has become the new normal for most people on the planet. You’ll find both positive and negative feedback from workers on this new style of working. Overall, it proves that though it is somewhat difficult to get used to, remote working is no longer an alternative, but a necessity.
While in the beginning, most companies were hesitant about taking up this idea and had simply decided to close shop for a few days in order to tackle the pandemic. The realization soon after, however, was this is going to be a long-standing struggle. And although the work once again began from the closed quarters of each worker’s home, there were some things that just couldn’t be overlooked.
Employee experience became equally as important as the customer’s and that is where Artificial Intelligence found its opening to step in the scenario in its entirety.
So, the question is…
How Is AI Making Waves In WFH Culture?
As aforementioned, working remotely has a plethora of benefits from enhanced sustainability and productivity to access to a greater talent pool and employee retention. However, there are several more advantages that come with the use of Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based tools so as to ensure smooth functioning in this modern way of working.
Real-time Support
When faced with a problem in regards to your product or service, who can your customer get in touch with for an instant solution? If you’re going to reply with the words “call center”, we request you to think again. After all, it is no more a far-off thought that the center might be inoperable, thanks to the pandemic.
For real-time support, automated chatbots prove to be of immense help as even without a human’s presence, they can engage in a helpful conversation and might even be able to solve common customer queries. That is, many frequently occurring issues can be pre-programmed in chatbots to ensure a pleasurable experience talking to customer care. MongoDB’s Drift Bot and Amtrak’s customer service bot, Julie are some examples of this kind of automation.
These tools are commendable when it comes to providing first-on-scene assistance to the incoming customer. Furthermore, if the problem shared is something that the bot cannot successfully answer, it can direct the customer to a human representative. A representative can get in touch with them within a stipulated period, such as 24 hours.
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Back-End Tasks
Work From Home may sound easy but tends to come with its own set of challenges which oftentimes can cramp an employee’s time and creativity. And on top of that, if they are required to perform some simple yet mundane tasks day-in and day-out like basic administrative jobs of marking attendance for each worker manually or maintaining the company’s records, that time and creativity may be further hampered.
AI-tools, in such cases, therefore may be considered no less than a boon as they help businesses in freeing up their personnel’s essential time and decreasing their workload by handling such small tasks by themselves through some simple programming. This also means that the workforce is now free to focus on the core activities of their job and even brainstorm about how to provide a better experience to the existing as well as potential customers.
Increased Security
With every pro, crops a con and that is just as true in the case of remote working. While on the one hand, telecommuting is much simpler and more comfortable than the office environment. On the other hand, there are more chances of a security breach when working remotely.
Situations like a hacker tearing down your firewall or a virus creeping into your system through an Internet of Things (IoT) device are highly conceivable on an insecure network.
But there are various steps that you can take to protect this confidential company information. These include training your employees in data security and using AI tools like Symantec’s Targeted Attack Analytics Tool and Vectra’s Cognito that are now available in the market. Understanding Software-defined Perimeter and using it optimally can also be a vital move towards enhanced cybersecurity.
Team Collaboration
Coming together and working on a single project is much simpler in the conventional office setting when compared to doing the same online.
Although a lot of companies have taken up daily video calls to successfully communicate and comprehend each other’s messages accurately, there is still a high volume of interaction that takes place through messages and emails. This correspondence can include instructions on a task, an analysis of a test run, or even a report on the overall functioning of a product or service.
Notably, while understanding each other in person is easier due to the non-verbal cues we receive, reaching the same interpretations can be difficult over text messaging. AI-powered tools like Grammarly and Boomerang can help. These help you by not just checking up on your grammar but also your tone and clarity before you send any kind of text, thus easing the comprehension process and ensuring everyone’s on the same page.
Wrapping Up
In today’s digital era, where the entire planet is transforming into one big workplace with no boundaries, it is crucial that you are familiar with the usage of AI-based tools designed to improve remote work.
There are several tools already on the market that can help you tackle the issues you’re facing while working remotely, and these tools just might be the key to continued growth during the pandemic and beyond.
About the Writer
Gaurav Belani is a senior SEO and content marketing analyst at Growfusely, a content marketing agency that specializes in data-driven SEO. He has more than seven years of experience in digital marketing and loves writing about education technology, AI, machine learning, data science, and other emerging technologies. In his spare time, he enjoys watching movies and listening to music. Connect with him on Twitter at @belanigaurav.
The post Artificial Intelligence: Paving An Easier Path For Remote Working first appeared on IEEE Computer Society.
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