How AI Enhanced Customer Experience at Umpqua Bank

Few financial institutions have evolved so mightily as Umpqua Bank. Founded in 1953 with just six employees, the company quickly grew into one of the most prominent banks in the Pacific Northwest. Today, they have over $50 billion in assets and more than 350 locations across seven states, making Umpqua Bank the largest headquartered in the Northwest of the United States of America. With over 5,000 or so associates, about 450 are contact center agents. Operating such a large contact center can be exceptionally challenging, especially since Umpqua is in the middle of a migration from on-premises operations to Webex Calling. Webex has been working with Umpqua for about two years, with Webex Connect and Webex Contact Center.

How did Umpqua Bank get here? Like many financial institutions, Umpqua Bank’s growth can be attributed to a series of mergers and acquisitions. But, according to Cameron Mitchell, Telephony Services Manager at Umpqua Bank, this continuous growth can also lead to unprecedented challenges—particularly when it comes to customer experience.

After merging with Columbia Bank in 2021, Mitchell soon realized Umpqua Bank had a challenge to overcome. Both institutions were using a smaller contact center solution that wasn’t scalable enough for their large user base.

“In a combined organization, it would not suffice,” Mitchell explained. “It’s just much too small for us. So, we went shopping for a bigger contact center solution.”

At the same time, Umpqua decided it was the perfect time for a cloud migration. Previously, the bank relied on an on-premise system, but this wouldn’t be practical for such an expansive workforce. So, it set off in search of a new and improved platform for the entire organization.

Umpqua Bank’s path to the cloud

According to Mitchell, he and his team evaluated several vendors before deciding on a solution.

“We met with our business units to find out what their needs were—not just today, but 5 or 10 years down the road,” he said. “When we met with different competitors, we posed questions to see if they could meet those needs. Webex Contact Center came out on top.”

Ultimately, Mitchell’s colleagues were impressed by the platform’s low-code environment, which allows them to orchestrate customer journeys across digital channels in a centralized manner.

It was also important that Webex Contact Center could seamlessly integrate with Umpqua’s core banking platform. This enabled customer data to carry over from one system to another, making it easier for associates to access information.

Having finalized the decision, Mitchell didn’t waste any time getting his contact center off the ground and into the cloud. In fact, as he explained, his team had a tight deadline to make it happen.

“We had to do it in six months, and we ended up doing it in five,” he said. Despite the quick timeline, the Umpqua Bank and Webex were able to get the job done right.

“The migration was successful because of the time we took and the hours we put in,” Mitchell added. “We had a great Cisco team that helped us along the way, and that’s really what got us to the finish line on time.”

Orchestrating a better customer experience

You might expect a little pushback when rolling out a brand-new technology. Fortunately, Umpqua Bank employees embraced Webex Contact Center.

“Our associates really like the new platform,” Mitchell claimed. “Moving to Webex Contact Center’s agent desktop allows them to have much more customization within their space. They can move widgets around and make it their own.”

Plus, he added, agents can view more information about their call before even taking it. In other words, associates can quickly identify who’s calling and pull up the data necessary to better answer their questions. Umpqua associates are especially enjoying Webex Contact Center’s new visual workflow designer, too. This feature enables contact center agents to easily coordinate the customer experience they want to deliver. Software development teams can also use it in combination with application programming interfaces (APIs) to create more advanced applications based on their needs.

“Being able to graphically see the whole life of the call from start to finish allows them to trace and view anywhere within the call system where a caller might have an issue,” Mitchell said.

Using AI Tools in the Contact Center 

Recognizing the efficiency capabilities of artificial intelligence (AI), but also the learning curve it may bring, Umpqua decided to use Cisco AI Assistant for Webex Contact Center internally before enhancing customer-facing services. Empowering contact center agents to utilize AI tools that enable them to serve customers faster was an early step in Umpqua’s AI adoption.

Umpqua has been using the Dropped Call Summaries feature so customers don’t have to repeat themselves if a call drops or if they’re transferred to another associate. Customers often find such instances tedious, and this can reduce customer satisfaction. Furthermore, Umpqua has benefitted from the Topic Analytics feature, which allows contact center managers and agents to see what customers are calling about and organize and sort these calls, cataloging the most frequent issues.

Mitchell said Topic Analytics has been invaluable. “It lets us analyze call groupings to understand what customers are calling about and how agents handle those calls. For example, we found that around 20% of our general questions are about loans and need to be transferred [to another department].”

This information has led Umpqua to adapt how they use other Webex features, such as interactive voice response (IVR). With the data they mined, Michell explained, “We can adjust our IVR system to direct customers to the right place the first time, avoiding unnecessary holds and transfers.” This cuts down on how much time callers need to invest to achieve a resolution. “We’re also looking at enhancing our IVR with natural language processing,” Mitchell added. “This data will help us fine-tune trigger words to route customers more efficiently.”

Best Practices and Lessons Learned

When asked for advice for other organizations starting their AI journeys, Mitchell was clear: Start now. “It took us a while to get going … many companies need to figure out best practices, how to store data, and establish governance around AI. We had to determine what AI was being used, how it was being used, and what customer data was involved.” Mitchell went on to say, “It took about three or four months before we could even start discussions on implementing these AI features. So, the sooner you can start, the sooner you’ll see the benefits of AI.”

But while starting as soon as possible is the best strategy, that doesn’t mean rushing into AI without care. Umpqua benefitted by beginning with a targeted rollout and then gradually scaling up. This helped Umpqua refine processes and comply with all regulations, of which there are many in the banking sector.

Mitchell finished this point by sharing how the partnership with Cisco helped: “Although our review process took about three months … Cisco’s Trust Center and Responsible AI policies were instrumental in easing this process. Every time we needed more information, the Webex team was incredibly supportive.”

So, what is Umpqua looking to do with AI in the future? Mitchell pointed to conversational AI agents that can act as a front door for a human-like experience for customers. Predictive analytics intrigue Mitchell, too, as do “Webex Connect and sending SMS summaries of calls, account information, transaction history … this way, customers can see what was discussed.”

The Future

Although he hasn’t quite integrated Webex Contact Center’s full capabilities, Mitchell said he looks forward to rolling out new features in the future. He’s especially excited about introducing AI-powered self-service options to improve the customer experience. Through Webex Contact Center, customers will be able to authenticate within the IVR, check their account balance, open a fraud inquiry, and even schedule a meeting with a loan officer, all without having to speak with an agent.

Mitigating long wait times is also important for a bank as big as Umpqua. As Mitchell explained, their agents receive an enormous amount of calls on a regular basis.

“We receive about 10,000 calls a day, and we need a system that can handle that type of volume,” he said. “Webex Contact Center gave us the tools to service all of our customers. We’ve received a lot of good feedback from customers that say they’ve never had any downtime or issues getting through to our agents.” Beyond reliable uptime, Webex Contact Center has helped the bank get within striking distance of its key business objectives, such as improving its containment rate.

“Currently, we sit at about 40%, but we’re trying to get that closer to 80%,” he said. “Webex Contact Center gives us the power to offer self-service or help customers reach an agent much faster than before.” Overall, the Umpqua’s collaboration with Webex has produced tangible results, both inside and outside the organization. Not only are customers happy, but employees can do their jobs more effectively, too. As Mitchell said, Webex will continue playing an important role in this process moving forward.

“Cisco has a long-standing history in the industry, as well as the support to back up all of their products,” he said. “I truly believe Webex Contact Center and the whole Webex Suite can really take Umpqua Bank into the future.”

Get in touch with our team today to learn more about how Webex can improve collaboration and customer experience at your organization.