Immersive Technologies To Disrupt Customer Service Training
Virtual Reality
Virtual Reality is one of the hottest trends in the eLearning industry. According to predictions by Goldman Sachs, the growth of VR education is estimated to $700 million by 2025. Companies worldwide are already experimenting with incorporating VR into their employee training program. Compared to other ways of training, VR offers an immersive environment free of distractions, real-life scenarios, and a personalized learning path. Trainees find it also attractive and fun.
With prices dropping for VR equipment and multiple VR platforms being developed, this form of educating employees or students can be also cost-effective and worth experimenting with. The value of VR and interaction within an artificial environment proved to be efficient in the customer service and sales industry. Employees can train their reactions to arguments of virtual clients.
Speech Analysis
History of speech recognition technology dates back to the 18th century when Wolfgang von Kempelen created the Acoustic-Mechanical Speech Machine. 200 years fast forward and the world uses speech recognition technology to search the internet and work with Virtual Assistants such as Siri, Alexa, or Cortana. Global tech giants, including Google, Apple, Microsoft and Amazon, and various startups still invest into developing speech analysis tools to provide even better service to their customers.
eLearning industry also benefits from this trend. Various tools use speech analysis and a certain degree of Artificial Intelligence to train employees in skills requiring interpersonal communication, such as customer support or sales. This approach makes training more effective and enjoyable. The trainee has to speak and interact with the tool as they would with a real person. In this way, they will be better prepared for the job.
Artificial Intelligence
Demand for AI solutions is increasing, and eLearning industry is not an exception. AI could lead to a higher level of learning path personalization, including detecting weak spots of a student’s knowledge and suggesting additional material. Analyzing data, evaluating it, and providing a unique learning experience are the main keys to the success of the AI systems. According to some predictions, future educators will need to acquire new skills and knowledge in the AI. Artificial Intelligence is still in its early stages and, for companies, it’s pretty costly to involve AI in their training process. It’s also common that companies confuse AI with chatbots.
Chatbots
It seems that chatbots are entering their golden era. They’ve proven to be efficient in customer support, as a marketing tool, and now they’re also finding their place in corporate eLearning. Various companies conducted research and tested chatbots within their teams to improve employee training.
MindCET magazine identified 3 main reasons that make chatbots so educationally rewarding. Students find communication with a machine liberating. There are no potential judgments coming from a chatbot, so the employees and students are not afraid to show lack of knowledge in certain areas and ask what could otherwise be an embarrassing question. Surprisingly, people also tend to be empathetic to a chatbot. Researchers from MindCET have seen students developing personal relationships with a chatbot. They curse it, apologize to it, and ask for advice. The third reason that makes chatbots so effective in eLearning, is the adrenaline. People are naturally scared of anything that resembles human and in fact is not a human. Freedom, empathy, and subtle fear make chatbots very effective.
How can you use chatbots for training your employees? You can set up a training program with reminders to prevent dropout, use it as an interactive FAQ when the employee is in doubt or let chatbots run quizzes.
Big Data
Big Data is all the data acquired during the learning process within a certain platform, including social sharing, drop out, amount of time needed to finish a module, or even search history. This information allows trainers and eLearning professionals to fine tune the experience and improve results. Big Data, in its essence, provides valuable feedback almost immediately.
From the customer service or sales perspective, Big Data helps the trainer to better understand customers’ challenges and problems. This information can be used in online training preparing employees to provide the best possible customer experience.
The eLearning industry is changing and the future seems to favor personalized and unique experiences, learning by doing automatization, and data-based solutions. The future of eLearning lays in effectivity and technologies.
