Category: Contact Center

August 4, 2023

Sherril Hanson

Research Note

8×8 Announces Enhancements to Support Better CX and EX

Supervisor Workspace, Enhanced Analytics, and Improved Customer Journey Mapping are Among the Updates

Sherril Hanson, Senior Analyst at The Futurum Group, covers and assesses the 8x8 announcement of several new enhancements to its 8x8 xCaas platform, particularly those related to its contact center solution.

Contact Center, Customer Experience, Employee Experience

August 3, 2023

Keith Kirkpatrick

Research Note

ServiceNow Announces Expanded GenAI Tools

Service Management Vendor Also Announces New AI-Embedded SKUs for ITSM, CSM, and HRSD Offerings

Keith Kirkpatrick, Research Director at The Futurum Group shares his insights into ServiceNow’s AI product strategy, covering the announcement of two new generative AI tools for the Now Platform, as well as the forthcoming generative AI-infused premium SKUs to enhance its ISTM, CSM, and HRSD offerings.

AI, AI and Data Analytics, Cloud, Contact Center, Employee Experience, Enterprise Applications, Machine Learning, Personalization

July 31, 2023

Keith Kirkpatrick

Research Note

ServiceNow Announces AI Lighthouse Program to Fast-Track GenAI Adoption

New Program Combines an AI Front End, Development and Compute Resources, and AI Transformation Services

Keith Kirkpatrick, Research Director at The Futurum Group covers the announcement of AI Lighthouse, a program launched by ServiceNow, Nvidia, and Accenture, to help clients quickly develop and scale generative AI, and ponders whether this offering could be viewed as a “generative-AI-in-a-box” offering, albeit a complex and customizable one.

AI, AI and Data Analytics, Contact Center, Customer Experience, Digital Transformation, Employee Experience

July 31, 2023

Sherril Hanson

Research Note

NICE Reveals Two New AI Announcements

ElevateAI’s 1K Every Day and Enlighten Actions Industry Benchmarks Are Launched

Sherril Hanson, Senior Analyst at The Futurum Group shares her insights on two new AI-related announcements from NICE. One initiative will help broaden the usage of Elevate AI by offering 1,000 free transcriptions and CX insights daily and the other provides access to benchmarking data.

AI, AI and Data Analytics, Contact Center, Customer Experience

July 28, 2023

Keith Kirkpatrick

Research Note

Microsoft’s Zero-Upcharge Copilot Strategy May Elevate GenAI Adoption

Dynamics 3Enterprise and Premium Customers Can Access Copilot Within Their Existing Licenses

Keith Kirkpatrick, Research Director at The Futurum Group shares his insights into Microsoft’s decision to provide Copilot GPT features within the license terms of its Enterprise and Premium versions of the Dynamics 365 family of products, and discusses the benefits and challenges for the company and its customers.

AI and Data Analytics, Cloud, Contact Center, Employee Experience, Enterprise Applications, Machine Learning

July 27, 2023

Sherril Hanson

Research Note

eGain and Talkdesk Partnership Elevates Agent and Customer Experience

Knowledge Automation and Enhanced Digital Capabilities Integrations Are Offered

Sherril Hanson, Senior Analyst at The Futurum Group, reviews the latest partnership announcement from eGain, an integration with Talkdesk that will offer knowledge and digital capabilities to support agent productivity and workflow and provide a better customer experience.

Collaboration, Contact Center, Customer Experience

July 26, 2023

Sherril Hanson

Research Note

Balto’s Real-Time Index: Unveiling Contact Center Trends for Enhanced Customer Experiences

Balto Leverages Data From Its Own Guided Calls to Find Objection and Soft Skills Trends

Sherril Hanson, Senior Analyst at The Futurum Group shares her insights into Balto’s Real-Time Index, launched in 2022 by the company’s Conversation Excellence Lab. The index takes in data from Balto’s 200 million plus guided calls and turns it into actionable insights.

Contact Center, Customer Experience, Data Analytics

July 17, 2023

Keith Kirkpatrick

Research Note

Improving Contact Center Experiences via NLP, NLU, and Analytics-Focused AI

Partnership Between Twilio and Frame AI Helps Deliver Insights and Recommendations to Inform Critical Decisions

Keith Kirkpatrick, Research Director at The Futurum Group covers Twilio’s partnership with Frame AI, and discusses the continuing value being derived from non-generative AI technology, including NLP, NLG, and analytics-based AI.

AI, AI and Data Analytics, Contact Center, Customer Experience

July 10, 2023

Keith Kirkpatrick

Research Note

Study: Generative AI Is Most Helpful to Less-Skilled Contact Center Workers

Results From a Stanford/MIT Study Indicate Greater ROI From Generative AI When Workers’ Experience Level Is Low

Keith Kirkpatrick, Research Director at The Futurum Group, covers the results of an MIT Sloan/Stanford University study that found generative AI is most helpful to less-skilled contact center workers, and discusses whether applying generative AI tools to more complex data sets will enable more skilled workers to see similar benefits of the technology.

AI, Contact Center

July 5, 2023

Keith Kirkpatrick

Research Note

Webex Expands US Federal Government Contact Center and Calling Offerings

Keith Kirkpatrick, Research Director at The Futurum Group, covers Cisco’s announcement that Webex Contact Center for Government has gained FedRAMP authorization, and highlights the value of non-federal government agencies selecting software that has also gone through the FedRAMP authorization program.