From more contact center GenAI innovation to CCaaS milestones, here are some extracts from our most popular news stories over the last seven days.
Google Gives Its CCaaS Platform a GenAI Makeover, Launches an Alternative Contact Center Solution
Google has announced three new GenAI-driven features for its Contact Center AI Platform: Knowledge Assist w/ LLMs, Summarizations for Calls & Chats, and Generative FAQs.
These features – as showcased during this week’s Google Cloud Next event – bolster the agent-assist and conversational intelligence features already within the CCaaS solution.
1. Knowledge Assist w/ LLMs
First, consider Knowledge Assist w/ LLMs – which is now in preview. The feature automates information retrieval for agents from the knowledge base, guides, and run books.
The solution then uses generative AI to spotlight snippets of information agents can use in their responses – across many channels.
As Shantanu Misra, Group Product Manager at Google Cloud, summarized:
Think of it as the info bot for your agents… It provides them with answers as the conversation is going on, so they don’t need to search for it.
Misra suggests that possible benefits of the solution include lower handling times, better agent responses, and increased customer satisfaction with agent effectiveness.
2. Summarizations for Calls & Chats
Now generally available, this solution automates post-contact summaries for agents, which they then upload to their CRM system.
As a result, agents don’t have to manually type contact summaries, which ensures a uniform format, circumvents the risk of human error, and – perhaps most crucially – saves time. (Read on...).
Salesforce on the Potential of Further Layoffs, GenAI In Customer Service, & More
Salesforce has revealed its Q2 results, enjoying revenue growth of 11 percent year-over-year (YoY).
While sharing such figures, the CRM leader raised its sales forecasts to amplify its optimism for the next six months.
The optimism comes after a prolonged focus on driving profitability and activist investor pressure – which may have contributed to layoffs, incentives to bring staff back to the office, and price hikes.
The benefits of these initiatives are now seemingly coming to life. However, is Salesforce out of the woods yet?
For now, that’s impossible to say. Yet, there are many fascinating threads to pull at from its earnings call – which share insight into the vendor’s future direction.
Here are five highlights from the call.
Benioff on Layoffs: We Hope That Is Behind Us
As Salesforce’s recent price hikes continue its push toward profitability, additional large-scale layoffs appear to be on the back burner.
Indeed, CEO Marc Benioff stated:
We’re not planning any other major restructuring efforts in the company today like what we saw earlier this year. We hope that that is one and done and behind us.
Benioff also noted how the company is now welcoming back many former employees and is investing in growing its headcount “in AI”.
However, he did warn of "normalized attrition" and noted that he wasn’t sure if layoffs had yet bottomed out.
Already, Salesforce’s employee base is down 11 percent from the start of the year. (Read on...).
Five9 Teases New AI Knowledge Distiller Solution, Showcases Its AI Insights Dashboard
Two weeks ago, Five9 celebrated its three-day CX Summit in Las Vegas.