Customer engagement software provider Verint rolled out new customer self-service capabilities earlier this week, including intelligent virtual assistants (IVAs) and enterprise chatbots powered by an open, modular artificial intelligence (AI) engine. It was the first AI product announcement that the company has made since acquiring AI technology provider Next IT late last year.
In a blog post following the acquisition, Verint vice president of marketing Greg Sherry talked about the potential opportunity behind implementing AI for customer service. “Ongoing innovation in artificial intelligence technologies—such as machine learning, robotics and natural language processing—positions companies for accelerated growth by helping them modernize their customer engagement operations through greater automation,” he wrote.
The move to acquire Next IT enabled Verint to expand its customer engagement automation capabilities and offerings, and the vendor is now delivering solutions to that end. Verint’s slew of new virtual assistants and chatbots will be delivered via a modular AI platform, which connects to and powers Verint’s entire suite of self-service solutions. The flexibility of the platform eliminates the walled-garden nature of typical AI solutions and allows users to tailor and mold solutions to fit their needs.
According to Gartner, by 2022, 64 percent of customer service interactions will be based in self-service, and an additional 21 percent will include some level of agent-assisted self-service. Consumers increasingly expect to be able to solve most issues on their own, without having to reach out to a brand for support, and Verint is helping brands meet these expectations.
Michael Southworth, general manager of intelligent self-service at Verint, said in a statement that the capabilities would enhance collaboration and decision making:
“[Verint offers] solutions to simplify, modernize and automate customer engagement, including strong AI-based self-service solutions across both voice and digital channels. Our offerings provide real-time shared intelligence across self-service, assisted-service and the broader enterprise, powering collaboration and enabling smarter, faster decisions that drive better customer and business outcomes.”