NICE inContact CXone Adds First-of-its-Kind AI to Drive Higher CSAT and Lower Service Cost

NICE inContact, a NICE business (Nasdaq: NICE), today announced the Spring 2021 release of CXone, which adds first-of-its-kind artificial intelligence (AI) innovations with Real-Time Interaction Guidance for agents, expands self-service capabilities, extends its digital-first reach, and empowers highly effective work-from-anywhere teams.

With the Spring 2021 product release, organizations can now leverage cutting-edge, industry-first NICE Enlighten AI models to guide agents at the point-of-service on the most critical behaviors impacting the customer experience -- boosting customer satisfaction in real-time. In addition, CXone is enabling organizations to add custom apps as digital channels and redefine their self-service capabilities with a new “no-code” integration framework to “bring your own” market-leading virtual agents from Google and others. Also, with this release, new features in CXone Workforce Engagement provide agents with anytime, anywhere mobile scheduling and streamline coaching efforts.

The disruption brought on by COVID-19 has accelerated several key trends. The need to provide digital self-service and reduce the cost to serve has driven significant growth in the deployment of AI and chatbots, with 67 percent of consumers using AI for customer service – up from 46 percent in 2019, according to the 2020 NICE inContact Customer Experience (CX) Transformation Benchmark, Consumer Wave. Additionally, 84 percent of consumers indicate they are more willing to do business with companies that offer self-service options.

“By focusing on building in agility through four key pillars – AI, digital engagement, self-service, and agent empowerment – CXone is setting the standard for delivering the latest innovations that build customer relationships that last,” said Paul Jarman, NICE InContact CEO.

Enhancing customer experience with AI-driven agent assistance guidance

• NICE inContact CXone Real-Time Interaction Guidance uses NICE Enlighten AI to advise agents at point-of-service on critical behaviors statistically-proven to boost customer satisfaction. It elevates performance of hard-to-train soft-skills like active listening or taking ownership of issues by using Enlighten, the first comprehensive AI framework for customer engagement with out-of-the-box, CX-specific models pre-trained on billions of real-life consumer interactions. Unlike traditional ‘after-the-fact’ coaching, CXone Real-Time Interaction Guidance instantly scores agent behaviors that influence customer sentiment and guides agents on the most impactful soft-skill actions to build rapport and influence satisfaction in any topic.

Increasing self-service adoption with no-code bot integration and journey analytics

• CXone Virtual Agent Hub enables simple integration of pre-built third-party AI chatbots and voice bots, like Google Dialogflow, to be an embedded part of the customer journey. CXone’s unified platform unlocks rich content and provides flexibility and control to dynamically blend AI bots into interaction flows, including seamless transfer to agents.

• Organizations can increase containment and reduce customer effort with CXone Self-Service Analytics using key Interactive Voice Response (IVR) insights to identify patterns that impact call containment, such as call drop-offs and frequent agent transfers so contact center leaders can quickly uncover issues and make improvements.

Enabling custom digital channels, monitored in real-time

• Now, contact centers can use an open application programming interface (API) to implement custom channels, such as their mobile app, to appear just like a native digital channel within CXone. This new “bring your own channel” option extends digital reach, making it easy for businesses to add virtually any digital channel to their contact center to connect with customers in the way they prefer.
• Contact centers that use CXone Agent for Salesforce can now connect with their customers through more digital channels including WhatsApp, Instagram, Facebook Messenger, and Twitter, in addition to the existing advanced routing and true omnichannel with digital to voice elevation available with CXone embedded in the Salesforce agent workspace. These enhancements, along with the five integrated Workforce Engagement capabilities, make CXone one of the most comprehensive and flexible Salesforce contact center integrations available in the market.
• Real-time monitoring for digital channels gives supervisors a complete view of digital and voice channels as if they were standing right behind them, providing better coaching and feedback opportunities for both remote and in-office agents.

Scheduling automation boosts efficiency and ensures agent satisfaction

• The new CXone Engagement Manager mobile application improves staffing visibility a