How Banks and Credit Unions are Improving Agent Productivity

Anyone working in customer service understands just how critical agent productivity is to a team’s success. When productivity is low, response and wait times inevitably increase, resulting in poor customer satisfaction. But the impact doesn’t stop there – low agent productivity often forces businesses to expand their teams and hire more staff, driving up costs and straining resources.

With a highly productive workforce, benefits are seen across the board – improved customer satisfaction, more efficient use of resources, and empowered agents who feel confident and fulfilled in their roles.

It’s no secret that AI is an essential tool to improve agent productivity today. But with so much chatter around this tech, the question is, what tools should you adopt, and how do they really increase agent productivity?

Sphere for Employees – The Agentic AI Copilot built for agent productivity

30% increase in employee productivity

Sphere for Employees is an industry-first agentic AI copilot designed to enhance the productivity of frontline staff in financial services. Built on the principles of autonomy, personalization, and seamless integration, Sphere helps employees work more efficiently by providing them with the tools, knowledge, and insights they need to deliver exceptional customer experiences – faster and more accurately.

Frontline employees – whether they’re contact center agents, bankers, tellers, or branch staff – are bogged down by fragmented systems, information overload, and inefficient workflows. They have one hand tied behind their back, forced to repeatedly toggle between multiple applications and hunt for data across different platforms, while judged on the speed and accuracy of their support.

This poor setup leads to longer response times, higher average handle times (AHT), and low customer satisfaction. As well as increasing agent productivity, it also damages staff morale which is a key factor in the industry’s high turnover rate. 

Sphere for Employees solves these challenges in two key ways to improve agent productivity:

1. Sphere consolidates all the essential tools, data, and systems frontline employees need into a single, intuitive platform. This gives employees immediate access to all the information they need without switching between systems.
2. Sphere provides real-time, proactive assistance to help frontline staff resolve queries more efficiently and accurately. Whether it’s retrieving customer data, offering step-by-step instructions for tasks, or suggesting personalized responses based on past interactions, Sphere continuously assists employees to automate manual tasks and speed up decision-making.

How to improve agent productivity – Sphere in action

Sphere for Employees is designed with a clear focus on making frontline agents more productive, allowing them to work faster, more accurately, and with greater confidence. Here’s how Sphere improves agent productivity, with some examples of it in action:

• Instant access to information

Sphere puts the information frontline agents need right at their fingertips. Instead of wasting time searching through multiple systems or databases, Sphere instantly pulls up the relevant information and answers for agents, allowing them to respond to queries more quickly. Whether it’s customer data, policies, or procedures, all the necessary information is accessible in a single interface.

This eliminates downtime spent searching for answers and empowers agents to confidently handle even the most complex queries. It also reduces training time by 50%. With an AI copilot at their side, new agents are supported with information and procedures to guide and train them.

• Unified interface for every tool

Sphere consolidates all the applications and systems agents need into one cohesive interface. Rather than juggling multiple tools—each with a different interface and functionality—agents can perform tasks and track customer requests within one unified platform. This dramatically increases agent productivity by speeding up response times. It also helps agents log, track, and manage customer interactions more efficiently, while ensuring information is kept up to date and accurate.

“At UCU, interface.ai’s Sphere… replaces 14-15 applications, enhancing our frontline operations’ efficiency by 10x.” – Estela Nagahashi, EVP, Chief Operating Officer, University Credit Union

• Seamless transactional support

Sphere integrates directly with core banking systems, meaning agents can complete transactions like fund transfers, account updates, and other financial services within the platform during the conversation with the customer. This eliminates the need for agents to switch between separate banking or CRM systems to process transactions, and helps drive higher first contact resolution (FCR) to improve agent productivity.

For example, if a customer asks about transferring funds or updating their account details, the agent can handle that request instantly during the conversation, without needing to navigate through multiple tools. Everything is accessible within the same platform, so agents can process transactions smoothly without interrupting the customer experience.

• Upsell and cross-sell guidance

Sphere goes beyond customer support by helping agents identify opportunities to upsell or cross-sell relevant products to customers. It provides insights into customer preferences, financial behaviors, and past interactions, suggesting the most appropriate products or services to offer, at the most opportune moment. Agents are empowered to offer value-added recommendations, enhancing the overall customer experience while driving revenue.

Wrap-up

Improving agent productivity is not just about reducing response times—it’s about empowering employees with the tools they need to work smarter, not harder. Sphere for Employees from interface.ai is a game-changer for frontline teams. By consolidating systems, streamlining workflows, and offering real-time, AI-driven assistance, Sphere enables agents to provide faster, more accurate, and more personalized service.

In today’s fast-paced customer service environment, AI solutions like Sphere are key to achieving greater efficiency, boosting morale, and lowering operational costs. By empowering agents with the right tools, businesses can unlock a more productive, satisfied workforce—leading to long-term success.

Ready to learn more? Let’s talk about how Sphere can help your institution improve agent productivity with the most advanced AI solutions.