Is now the time to invest in AI?

Last fall, as AI reached the peak of its hype cycle, TTEC Digital asked contact center leaders how, where and why they planned to invest in AI. Research by Cisco returned similar results: Though many companies want to implement AI, few actually feel ready for it.  

Could these organizations be missing out on easy-entry, small effort opportunities with the potential to deliver big ROI? Technology providers like Cisco are working to ensure they won’t.

How Cisco is making AI more accessible

Cisco previously made AI available in a bring-your-own-AI model across UCCE, Webex Enterprise, and Webex Contact Center. Whether through Google, Amazon, Microsoft, or other third-party products, Cisco customers had the flexibility to choose from a variety of best-of-breed applications and AI tools, implementing the best option for their solution – or even using Universal Harness to unify AI services from multiple vendors.

As AI continues to evolve, some tools will soon come baked in. Webex Contact Center, Cisco’s newest CCaaS product, comes with native AI applications such as a bot designer and an application to help manage the agent experience. By evaluating agent performance, time on phone, and sentiment of recent conversations, this application can calculate when agents need to take a break to prevent overwhelm or burnout.

There’s more on the horizon. Recently, Cisco announced a $1 billion global investment into expanding and developing secure, reliable and trustworthy AI solutions that will very likely be integrated into future Cisco capabilities.

Expanding the availability of AI-powered CX transformation

By building AI directly into its contact center platforms, Cisco is ensuring that customers won’t miss out on the potential it brings to lower costs, increase productivity, and improve satisfaction — three value drivers that can be deeply enhanced by AI-powered CX transformation.

Still, the pace of change can be quick. Many TTEC Digital clients choose TTEC Digital’s SurroundCXTM Managed Services to help navigate new enhancements within Cisco’s platforms, and to ensure that all is integrating well across their broader CX tech stack.  By utilizing subject matter experts, test environments, and access to a full set of tools to test, TTEC Digital enables customers to experience the newest tech in a safe environment.

Whether you’ve been hesitant to invest too deeply in AI for your contact center, or you’ve found the perfect tools for your specific use case, now is the time to start reaping the benefits of Cisco’s investment in AI. As a Cisco customer, you’ll have the best of both worlds: the flexibility of third-party applications, plus new out-of-the-box capabilities and native AI features, all integrated into in a single, holistic solution.