When I think of the contact centers I visited in the 1990s, I remember walking into an open area where the agents worked. I noticed all the brightly colored sticky notes that dotted their workspaces. At the time, I thought it looked like chaos. But, in reality, that is how contact centers managed information and tasks. They used manual processes that were linear and analog.
And for the most part, it worked. Consumer demands were very different in the 1990s. E-commerce and mobile technologies were in their infant stages. Customer demands were more predictable. Basic information for things like password resets was not always available. Most businesses viewed the contact center as a cost of doing business. The contact center wasn't an important aspect of a company's brand.
Physical sticky notes of the past became "virtual" sticky notes within the IP-enabled network. Customer service centers operate faster today, using networks to communicate, gather, and send information. They collaborate with more people to solve issues that aren't easily remedied online or in an app.
Cisco has led the transition in contact centers, but there is still much to do. Through artificial intelligence (AI) technology, we move from digital and fast to intelligent and agile. To date, AI has been limited to a few pockets of customer care. As a leader in the contact center market, we bring advances in intelligent care to our customers. We do this by adopting AI solutions to enhance the Cisco customer journey. With this, the contact center will evolve from a cost center to a strategic asset.
AI is embedded in our product strategy. Here are some examples:
As announced earlier this week, we are proud to collaborate with Google and its new Contact Center AI service. With this integration, agents don't have to search through many systems and knowledge bases to find a response to a customer request. The "intelligent agent assist" feature automates the process, increasing agent effectiveness and efficiency. It ensures that your agents can always give customers the best possible response to their queries.
Here's how the Google solution works:
Learn more about how DevNet, Cisco's resource center for all things developer, is driving innovation forward with artificial intelligence and with Google.
Existing customers using our premises-based platforms do not need to wait 12 months for the next release. Cisco is building cloud-based services that overlay on our premises-based contact center platforms. We are bringing cloud-speed innovation to our customer base.
In summary, this is just the beginning. With our open platforms, a global and extensive partner footprint, and massive customer base, we have the ecosystem strength to turn our vision into reality. This week's Google announcement lays the foundation for a future of broader autonomy where the service can fully automate responses to certain customer inquiries. And we are very excited about the possibilities that lie ahead by using artificial intelligence and machine learning across our entire suite.
See how we plan to help companies deliver exceptional service in the age of the digital consumer. Explore our customer care product portfolio. We are excited to get started with this technology and we invite our Cisco contact center customers to pilot the integration. Contact us for more information on the pilot program.