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For one national retailer, a common phrase that was heard hundreds of times a day in their customer service center was ... “I’m sorry, I need to put you on hold while I find that information” because customer service representatives (CSRs) were navigating through multiple systems—Order Management System (OMS), CRM, and warehouse dashboards—just to answer basic questions like:
“Where is my order?”
“Can I cancel before it ships?”
“Can you apply my coupon after checkout?”
Each call took over five minutes on average, leaving customers frustrated, CSRs stressed, and the business at risk of losing loyalty and revenue.
The Challenge: Unlocking OMS Data for Real-Time Service
The retailer’s Order Management System was an important source of truth for order details but accessing that data quickly—and acting on it—was the problem. Customer service representatives (CSRs) faced:
Slow, manual lookups across OMS, CRM, and fulfillment systems
Inconsistent answers due to fragmented data sources
High average handle time (AHT) and long customer wait times
The Solution: AI-Enabled Next Gen Call Center in IBM Sterling OMS
To solve this, the retailer deployed IBM’s AI-enabled Next Gen Call Center capabilities inside Sterling Order Management—powered by Agentic AI patterns that blend reasoning, automation, and policy enforcement.
Key AI patterns used to build OMS agents included:
Retrieval-Augmented Generation (RAG): Instantly searching OMS, CRM, and fulfillment data for accurate answers
Reason + React (Re-Act) Agents: Taking direct actions—like cancelling an order or applying a coupon—based on real-time policy validation
Runbook Planner: Offering consistent, policy-compliant appeasement recommendations for service recovery
Hierarchical Supervision: Ensuring all agent actions align with business rules and contractual SLAs
With these AI-enabled OMS agents, CSRs could:
Retrieve real-time order status using just a customer name or phone number
Cancel eligible orders instantly before fulfillment
Deliver consistent appeasements without supervisor escalation
Why It Works for Firms Using OMS
AI-enabled call center functions in IBM Sterling Order Management directly drive firm a CSR’s individual performance by:
Task automation - Reduces operational costs
Accurate and fast responses – Improves customer satisfaction and loyalty
Protecting revenue by preventing order errors and ensuring policy compliance
Final Takeaway
Firms investing in AI-driven OMS capabilities like IBM’s Next Gen Call Center gain more than just CSR productivity and efficiency—they gain a sustained competitive advantage. By enabling CSRs to act faster, more accurately, and in line with business policies, these tools deliver measurable results in productivity, customer satisfaction, and overall firm performance.
👉 Learn more about IBM Sterling Order Management AI Agents and how they can help improve your firm’s performance.
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