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Contact Centers are Changing – Get to Know Our New AI-Assisted Customer Experience (CX) Platform

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TCI now offers Mitel CX, a new AI-assisted customer experience platform, which provides AI-driven agent and supervisor experiences. It also provides operational control, reliability, and security to mitigate business continuity risks.

Contact Centers: From Cost Reduction to Strategic Growth

Decades ago, businesses pursued cost reductions by offshoring customer service. These resource-heavy operations relied on lower-skilled workers to deliver a minimum viable customer experience.

More recently, a wave of transformation has seen businesses adopt Contact Center as a Service (CCaaS), which outsources technology management to third-party providers.

While these strategies achieve cost savings, they often overlook the most critical element: the customer. There’s a better way…

Mitel CX: Redefining the Future of Customer Engagement

Mitel CX offers a holistic approach, enabling organizations to deliver faster, personalized service while boosting employee productivity. This all-in-one platform supports omnichannel, AI-powered interactions with virtual assistants, voice, video, chat, and social media. It also includes a workforce management suite, outbound contact capabilities, advanced analytics, and comprehensive administration tools.

Key Generative AI Capabilities

  • AI Chat Virtual Assistant – Powered by generative AI and large language models (LLMs), Mitel CX Virtual Assistants automate up to 88% of customer queries with accurate, human-like responses.
  • AI-Enhanced Live Chat – Integrated ted directly into Mitel CX clients, this feature boosts agent performance with real-time response suggestions, next-step guidance, and internal-facing virtual assistants.
  • AI Assistant Builder – Enables businesses to create and manage databases for Generative AI to assess customer interactions, analyze company data, and generate precise responses.
  • AI-Driven Transcription and Sentiment Analysis – Automatically transcribes customer interactions for seamless CRM integration and assesses real-time sentiment using keyword and emotional language analysis.
  • AI-Powered Language Translation – Facilitates near real-time multilingual communication, enabling agents to engage customers in their preferred language.
  • AI-Driven Supervisor Tools – Equips supervisors with tools to coach, assess, and manage agent teams effectively, driving optimal customer experiences.
  • AI-Powered Analytics – Delivers deep insights through advanced analytics and reporting, empowering MiContact Center Business and Enterprise users to continually improve CX, operational efficiency, and performance.

Designed for Simplicity and Scalability

Mitel CX’s “single pane of glass” interface allows CX managers to customize user layouts through drop-in widgets. Agents can manage omnichannel interactions, integrate with their preferred meetings platform, and collaborate seamlessly. Supervisors gain additional tools like whisper coaching and barge-in capabilities to support teams in the moment.

Flexible Deployments

Hybrid flexibility makes Mitel CX an ideal alternative for organizations considering a move to CCaaS or perhaps re-evaluating prior CCaaS purchases, providing them with modern CX capabilities while maintaining control over their communication infrastructure.

For customers seeking a CCaaS-like approach, Mitel CX can be deployed in the public cloud with the scalability to support as many tenants as needed. It offers robust features and integrations to drive business success, delivered as a fully managed subscription offering.

Talk to a local TCI CX expert to learn more about this exciting technology… Contact us at (703) 321-3030 or info@tcicomm.com.

 

What Does AI Have in Store for UC This Year?

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Strategic AI Deployments in Business are Happening

A Gartner survey indicates that 60% of organizations have integrated AI into their operations, with many using it to enhance decision-making and customer experiences using AI-enabled tools like virtual assistants.

Many business leaders are focused on identifying strategic AI use cases that support their organizational goals. AI, particularly generative AI, is poised to significantly transform unified communications (UC) in 2024 and in the years ahead. Consider the following key areas where AI can enhance your communication strategies:

  • AI Integration and Automation: AI will become more deeply embedded in UC platforms, offering features such as intelligent virtual assistants, predictive analytics, and advanced automation. These capabilities are expected to enhance efficiency by providing actionable insights, automating task creation, and streamlining scheduling processes.
  • Generative AI Applications: Generative AI will expand its role beyond simple tasks like meeting summaries and predictive text. It will be used to analyze real-time conversations, extract key data points, and provide actionable insights to decision-makers, thereby facilitating quicker and more informed decision-making.
  • Enhanced Security Measures: As cyber threats evolve, UC platforms will implement more sophisticated security measures, including advanced encryption methods and threat detection capabilities, to protect sensitive business communications.
  • Increased Use of Video Communication: With the rise of remote work, video communication will become even more critical. UC providers will enhance video conferencing capabilities, offering higher-quality video and audio, better connectivity, and more collaborative features.
  • Integration with IoT: The Internet of Things (IoT) will become more integrated with UC platforms, enabling new levels of connectivity and data sharing across devices. This integration will support remote monitoring, automation, and data-driven decision-making.
  • Data-Centric Communication Strategies: AI and data analytics will become central to UC strategies, shifting the focus from traditional communication channels to more data-driven approaches. This will enable more informed, agile, and responsive operations.

These advancements highlight the transformative potential of AI in Unified Communications, promising to make interactions more meaningful and workflows more efficient.

Embracing AI advancements will enable organizations to remain competitive and responsive in an evolving digital landscape. Start thinking about your potential use cases and fostering a culture that is open to integrating AI to enhance human capabilities and drive business outcomes.

Thinking about adding new technology and capabilities to get more from your UC platform? Talk to your local experts. Contact us today: (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.
 



How Modern Unified Communications Elevate the Hospitality Industry

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As hospitality leaders gear up for the busy summer season, plenty of technological tools are available to streamline operations and provide an overall improved and immersive guest experience.

Whether it’s enabling multimodal technology for frontline workers, AI-powered tools, or hybrid cloud solutions, investing in modern UC solutions is something every property manager should take time to consider.

Enabling Hospitality Staff with Modern Tech

Hospitality thrives on exceeding guest’s needs and expectations, and modern technology infrastructure plays an integral role in attaining that outcome. In today’s environment, guests expect quick, personalized, and effortless communication, which can put a lot of pressure on frontline hospitality employees.

Modern UC solutions allow properties to combine frontline, back office, and vertical workflows, ensuring the entire workforce is on the same page. Whether working on-site or remotely, multimodal technology allows staff to collaborate seamlessly on guest requests through the best medium for the situation – voice, video, chat, SMS, or a combination.

For example, an on-the-go property manager can carry a wireless DECT handset, which offers a reliable signal anywhere on a property. Fully integrated into the property’s communications solution, it ensures secure access to voice calls, interactive messaging, and critical alerts from colleagues at the front desk or an off-site contact center.

Frontline hospitality staff are essential to delivering memorable experiences. They often provide a guest’s first and last impression of a property. By giving them the right communication tools for their job, you empower them to do their best work while boosting the customer experience. This builds a property’s reputation as both a fulfilling place to work and an enjoyable place to stay.

AI and Unified Communications in Hospitality

Artificial intelligence (AI) is a popular topic today, but it is important to look beyond the hype and pinpoint its real-world value. That’s why it is essential to focus on opportunities to deliberately deploy AI to better serve guests. With modern UC solutions, this can be done through simple, integrated experiences built for the hospitality space.

Generative AI (GenAI) chatbots and voice bots can help streamline on-site customer service requests during busy and demanding times by handling simple but time-consuming tasks that would otherwise fall to frontline staff. If the bot cannot resolve the issue, an AI-powered agent assistant can smoothly transfer the call to a live agent along with call notes, ensuring the guest does not need to repeat information.

Besides streamlining workflows, the valuable data collected through AI interactions with customers can enhance the guest experience. For instance, when integrated into contact center platforms, AI can instantly transcribe and summarize calls and provide detailed call trends to supervisors. AI integration can also identify and track caller sentiment, which can be used to train staff for specific situations.

Augmenting UC solutions with AI is about more than finding efficiencies. It’s about quickly tapping into unique guest insights to deliver better personalization, ultimately leading to higher customer satisfaction.

Hybrid Cloud Solutions for Hospitality

For many properties, the decision between relying on legacy on-prem infrastructure that still delivers value and embracing the flexibility of the cloud is a real challenge. That is why hybrid cloud-based solutions are increasingly becoming the chosen route, as they are tailored and scaled to fit specific needs with size and budget in mind.

Hybrid cloud solutions are ideal for hoteliers who are not entirely ready to ditch their legacy infrastructure. They allow security and flexibility and offer a proven mix of private cloud, public cloud, and on-premises solutions. Hybrid cloud solutions are reliable and provide robust security features, data privacy, and regulatory compliance to ensure hospitality organizations protect themselves while streamlining communication. With the proper guidance from a trusted, vertical-focused UC provider, property managers can choose the best path for their needs.

Migrating to the cloud goes beyond a mere destination. It involves implementing solutions that offer maximum flexibility and ensuring that each property has the right communication tools to effectively support its customers, staff, and stakeholders now and in the future.

Let’s talk about new ways to elevate your property and serve guests better in your evolving marketplace. TCI hospitality experts are here to help: (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.
 

Expert Insights: 2023 Unified Communications Predictions

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Today, unified communications (UC) technology is more than just IP phones and simple features like live chat. You’ll want to partner with a local provider who can help guide you toward the right mix of today’s solutions and evolve with you in the future.

TCI has been supporting the DC Metro Region for 40 years and we’re here to help. As we look toward the new year, we know many organizations will be modernizing their communications systems to streamline operations and keep employees and customers connected.

Our strategic technology partner, Mitel has weighed in on what UC will look like in 2023. Here are their predictions.

Generative AI will take off.

Generative AI can create content automatically. It has the potential to revolutionize certain aspects of business, specifically when it comes to content marketing and contact center communications.

The technology can improve the chatbot experience on websites and provide personalized content to customers based on their history. In the contact center, Generative AI can produce content for agent coaching. It can also document and summarize interactions between agents and customers, creating content that can be used for training and development.

Organizations and UC providers need to stay on top of the role Generative AI will begin to play and be able to incorporate the content produced by it into their UC technology stacks.

CISOs will focus on recruiting employees to play a bigger role in preventing attacks and securing edge devices.  

Phishing attacks rose in 2022 and organizations are concerned about unauthorized access or leaks of their proprietary information. Business leaders need to raise employee education and vigilance in avoiding ransomware, phishing, and other threats coming in email, texts, and social media.

Another challenge is securing a rapidly expanding universe of edge devices, both professional and personal. Most employees work on multiple devices, and you can’t protect what you don’t know about, so auditing and securing a widely dispersed infrastructure will be essential.

Mitel and TCI offer a software assurance (SWA) subscription that keeps your UC up to date on the latest software, security fixes, and compliance requirements.

A one-size-fits-all approach to delivering UC will no longer work. Organizations are demanding customized solutions.  

Customers have many communication technology choices today, and many use a mix of infrastructures. In 2023, the world’s business communications will occur across a panorama of on-prem, private cloud, hybrid, and UCaaS systems.

Currently, deployed on-premises solutions lead the pack, but Mitel’s survey found that over 40% of enterprises are combining their on-premises solutions with a cloud solution, and almost half are either evaluating or currently moving their on-premises communications to the cloud.

UC providers need to fully embrace Customer Lifecycle Management as organizations look for the right communications solution to deliver long-term value for both the customer and employee experience.

With so many choices regarding technologies and deployment options, organizations need more than just a drop-ship phone provider. They need a local partner who can support them on-site and guide them toward solutions that support shared workspaces, file and screen sharing, and a mobile-first design. Businesses are looking for a quick and sustainable ROI that empowers their customers to collaborate and complete tasks from anywhere.

Our local team of experts is ready to advise you on the best path forward as you implement your 2023 plans. Contact us at (703) 321-3030 or GetHelp@tcicomm.com.