Leading cloud communication and contact center solutions provider, 8×8 Inc., has unveiled an enhancement to its Intelligent Customer Assistant platform, introducing voice-powered conversational AI. This addition augments the already robust conversational AI self-service capabilities of 8×8’s platform, enabling businesses to seamlessly deliver both straightforward and intricate experiences through digital and voice channels.
Recognizing the value of conversational AI in enhancing customer support, Sheila McGee-Smith, founder and principal analyst at McGee-Smith Analytics, noted, “Conversational AI is a real and cost-effective choice to improve self-service and productivity in contact centers to better support customers.” She emphasized that the integration of voice conversational AI by 8×8 is a significant advancement, providing comprehensive orchestration of customer interactions across various communication channels.
Key attributes of the new voice self-service capability in 8×8 Intelligent Customer Assistant encompass the streamlining of workflows, ensuring smooth transitions from automated voice self-service interactions to live agent assistance, while reducing manual data collection. The feature also guarantees complete customer context preservation, preventing blind transfers by providing agents with pertinent voicebot interaction information upon engagement, leading to more tailored and frictionless experiences.
This innovation further offers rapid bot creation and deployment through intuitive graphical scripting tools, making it possible to deploy a single bot across channels such as voice, WhatsApp, SMS, and web chat. Built-in comprehensive analytics deliver insights for advanced customer journey visibility, while turnkey integration options with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) systems enable customization for a personalized customer experience.
The strategic implementation of AI-powered technologies was praised by Thomas Rocharz, Director of Contact Centers and Reservations at Cape Air, who emphasized the importance of intelligent tools in providing seamless customer experiences, especially for industries like airlines that handle high volumes of interactions.
Hunter Middleton, Chief Product Officer at 8×8, Inc., expressed excitement about the positive feedback received since the launch of Intelligent Customer Assistant, highlighting how customers have benefited from quicker resolution times and the ability to manage a significant portion of customer interactions without relying on agents. The integration of voice conversational AI complements the growing importance of voice communication and offers even more possibilities for customer engagement.
8×8 Intelligent Customer Assistant is seamlessly integrated into the 8×8 XCaaS (eXperience Communications as a Service™) platform, which combines cloud contact center, business phone, video meetings, team chat, and SMS capabilities. This integrated solution assures reliability, security, and compliance, backed by a platform-wide 99.999 percent uptime SLA (Service Level Agreement).
