Voice solutions for customer support have come a long way since we started spending so much of our time shouting simple responses into the phone only to be told our response wasn’t recognized. For starters, technology has brought these AI-driven voice automation solutions far forward with natural language capabilities that can understand even complex human speech. Additionally, these automation solutions are more likely to work across contact channels, including digital ones.
Cloud contact center and unified communications company 8x8 Inc. recently announced the availability of voice conversational AI in 8x8 Intelligent Customer Assistant. The addition of voice expands 8x8 Intelligent Customer Assistant’s user-friendly conversational AI self-service capabilities that enable businesses to create simple to complex experiences across digital and voice channels.
In a statement, 8x8 noted that customers using an early version of the voice conversation AI have seen it easily reduce resolution times for simple inquiries as well as be able to handle a significant portion of customer interactions without requiring an agent.
“Additionally, the delivery of fast and easy deployments is noteworthy in how quickly our customers are able to see the value,” said Hunter Middleton, Chief Product Officer at 8x8. “As voice remains an increasingly relevant and preferred channel of communication, we are continuing the momentum we've already seen with the introduction of a conversational AI voice self-service option and look forward to allowing 8x8 customers to design more channels, deploy additional use cases, and exceed their organization's customer experience targets.”
The new features of the release include streamlined workflows, the ability to eliminate blind transfers by including relevant context for the conversation, rapid deployment, automated conversation insights and turnkey integration options.
“Whether a contact center has thousands of agents or less than 100, organizations are recognizing that conversational AI is a real and cost-effective choice to improve self-service and productivity in contact centers to better support customers,” said Sheila McGee-Smith, founder and principal analyst at McGee-Smith Analytics, commenting on the new release. “Starting with digital self-service in March, 8x8 is now making their voice conversational AI capabilities available to its customers as a fully integrated part of their contact center solution to provide full orchestration of customer journeys across voice and digital channels.”
Edited by
Greg Tavarez
