We live in a time when technology is one of the most used words in our language.

Tech has quickly worked its way into almost every part of our daily lives, as well as work and school environments. And it can be easy to hand off responsibility to new tech innovations—many times, it’s beneficial to all involved. Collecting and analyzing data can lead to important discoveries about industries, even turning generally accepted notions on their heads.

Whether it’s figuring out the way to advertise in order to reach consumers, or analyzing phone calls to identify common issues with customer service, the use of technology and data analysis in the workplace can be a welcome addition.

But that doesn’t mean we should lose the human element of decision making entirely. When we look to the past, it’s clear to see that new technology sometimes blinded people to risks or gave them too much confidence in the technology itself.

Decisions made with too much faith in technology sometimes have a way of backfiring when that faith turns out to be misplaced. The Titanic was a modern marvel. Unsinkable. Well, we all know how that turned out.

The tech that you use in your contact center isn’t the Titanic, granted.

But it is important to remember that all the useful data and innovative technology advances in the world don’t replace good decision making from people who are competent and engaged in their work. The data gives you the ability to make good decision and set the right course for the future, it doesn’t guarantee that you will.

And when it comes to customer service, the human element is still quite important for customer satisfaction. Even with the rise of self-service options for customers, the satisfaction of being able to connect with a real person is irreplaceable.

Think about the frustration that people feel when they call customer service and get a completely automated reception. “Press 1 for questions about…” It’s a commonly-used setup in commercials that are advertising the quality of their customer service.

“At So-and-So, you can talk to a real person.”

And we take this as a sign that the company is making an effort to provide better customer service, because you can talk to an agent who can listen to your problem, make decisions autonomously, and quickly react to different information.

At the end of the day, while technology is great at streamlining processes and providing data for major decisions, it still doesn’t have that human element that makes for a satisfying interaction. And it certainly can’t make management decisions for you.

But it’s not all dire warnings when it comes to innovative technology for your contact center. If you’d like to read more about how new, beneficial tech in the customer service industry can help you out, then try our article, “How The Right Technology Can Make You A Better Manager.”