
Customer service is on the precipice of a new level of intelligence. AI is finding the contact center fertile ground for early adopters. A space littered with innovative startups is evolving from ideation to business impact.
AI-enabled voice technology firm Replicant announced a successful round of funding as well as the addition of an industry veteran to its leadership. Replicant reports an influx of $ 7 million from Norwest Venture Partners, Costanoa Ventures, Bloomberg Beta and Atomic, and the industry vet; none other than former Talkdesk COO, Gadi Shamia.
The AI tech company reports the “Thinking Machine,” its future forward innovation, is more than capable of revolutionizing the way the call center addresses call flows, and in appropriate instances escalate callers to speak with human agents.
“Agents are frustrated by answering the same questions 100 times a day. Callers suffer from long wait times and inconsistent service while companies find it hard to control costs and scale without impacting customer satisfaction,” said Shamia, Replicant’s CEO. “Our AI solution lessens those pain points while improving customer service.”
In short, the “Thinking Machine” comprehends language in real time – in complete sentences. From there, it makes decisions, responds rapidly and manages a caller’s query. Basic issues like refunds or a change of address the “Thinking Machine” handles the matter lickety split but if it’s a more complicated matter the platform will put together a summary for a human agent and transfer the caller with context.
“AI can power long-running voice conversations between smart virtual agents and customers to solve real problems at scale,” said Scott Beechuk, Partner at Norwest Venture Partners. “Replicant is leading this new wave of automation and is far ahead of any competing product with bots that sound and feel amazingly real.”
AI is on the rise. The bots are coming, but don’t fret they are here to help.
What do you know about the Future of Work?
Edited by
Maurice Nagle