Everyone is talking about AI. At Webex, we are actually doing it.
AI is the world’s shiny new toy, and most organizations around the globe are investing in it because everyone wants the latest and greatest technology. But AI for AI’s sake falls short in purpose and potential.
The Cisco AI Assistant for Webex, our most advanced generative AI-powered platform for hybrid work and customer experience (CX), is not just a technological marvel. It’s a testament to our people-first mission, purpose-built to cater to the unique needs of our customers.
We truly believe in our AI innovations, but what matters most is what customers get out of using our technology. Their feedback is invaluable to us, shaping and improving our products to better serve their needs. We recently surveyed over 1,000 customers about their experience using our AI Assistant for hybrid work and CX. The results were inspiring, serving as a testament to the real-world impact our innovations are having and the exciting possibilities they offer.
AI in the Webex Cloud Contact Center improves CX for Beta customers
The AI Assistant for the contact center is in Beta with customers, who have reported incredible early results and expectations for continued positive outcomes. Customers shared the following:
- 70% expect 3X or faster agent response times with Webex AI.
- 1 in 3 believe average handling times will be reduced by 10% or more with AI-generated summaries.
- 92% report agents will get up to speed faster and have more context with customer histories.
- 68% predict an increase in Net Promoter Scores
- 75% anticipate a reduction in customer churn rates.
- 65% expect customer lifetime value will increase
Over the last six months, we have launched many AI Assistant capabilities for Contact Center, including:
- Virtual agent summaries
- Dropped call summaries
- Suggested responses
- Wrap-up summaries
- Coaching highlights
- Topic analytics
- Automatic CSAT scores
- Agent wellbeing
The capabilities that are most exciting to me are:
- Virtual agent summaries are a critical aid for live agents when self-serve chatbots fail. Once an issue is escalated to a live agent, the agent automatically receives a summary of the self-serve interaction so they can catch up quickly and solve the problem. The best part is that customers never have to repeat themselves.
- Automatic CSAT scores are assigned by the AI Assistant after every interaction, so supervisors get feedback on 100% of interactions, which they can use for training and coaching. For comparison, today, only 2% of people complete customer surveys.
- Agent turnover is twice that of any other profession, and burnout accounts for about 50% of the churn rate in contact centers. With Agent wellbeing, we can automatically detect agent stress levels and prescribe action, like giving the agent a break or rerouting calls to another agent.
AI is transforming hybrid work and the employee experience
We have achieved tremendous momentum with the AI Assistant for Webex Suite, which is generally available for all Webex users. In our survey, customers shared the tangible and perceived benefits of our AI Assistant, including:
- 73% of IT Admins anticipate saving 2 to 8 hours each week with AI-powered search
- 75% saved time with message and meeting summarization
- 50%+ experienced improved brainstorming and idea sharing, as well as a reduction in communication barriers
- 70% of remote workers had more effective meetings with in-office meeting participants
- 85% experienced a reduction in fatigue and enhanced focus during meetings
Our AI Assistant works for you by providing the following functionalities:
- Catch me up
- Personalization
- Writing assistance
- Translations
- Summaries
- Finding answers
While we continue innovating, one of my favorite use cases is catch me up. Life happens, and sometimes, I need to step away from my desk or join a meeting after it has started. By prompting the AI Assistant to catch me up, I can quickly tell me what I’ve missed and capture any action items.
Customer feedback drives continuous improvements
Our incredible customers regularly provide feedback, which shapes our product strategy. We are not developing AI technology for the sake of it. Instead, we aim to purposefully provide solutions that profoundly improve experience because experience matters.
Our customers’ collaboration and candor are catalysts that help us reshape and reimagine the world of customer experience with leading technology.
These results show what happens when technology and innovation focus on people-first outcomes. We continue innovating to deliver technology for good, driven by our mission to provide exceptional experiences.
The power of the platform
Our single platform approach seamlessly integrates the industry-leading AI Assistant across our entire portfolio, ensuring a consistent, high-value experience for customers. And it’s all built on the foundation of Cisco’s Responsible AI framework, so customers can trust that their data is secure by design.
More from Webex at Cisco Live US 2024:
- Webex | Exceptional Experiences for Every Interaction
- An Industry-First in Workspace AI for IT
- The Power of the Cisco and Webex as a Single Vendor Solution
Citations
[1] The Changing Expectations of Customer Experience by The Futurum Group, February 2024
[2] Webex AI Early Users Survey, May 2024
About The Author
