8X8 UNVEILS AI UPGRADES TO CONTACT CENTRE PLATFORM BUT SUFFERS FEATURE ROLLOUT DELAYS

8×8 has introduced AI-enhanced features to its contact centre platform that elevate the customer experience and raise customer satisfaction. However, the integrated cloud contact centre  and unified communications platform provider faces challenges with delayed feature rollouts, potentially impacting its market reputation and competitive edge, according to  GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Gregg Willsky, principal analyst, enterprise technology and services at GlobalData, comments: “Since the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic, contact centres   have become permeated with AI, and 8×8’s latest group of enhancements reflects that trend. AI is leveraged to provide a customer experience marked by the provision of self-service capabilities and the proactive recognition of customer needs to resolve issues within their preferred channels of engagement. AI also feeds the agent experience, reserving agents’ time for addressing complex customer inquiries and equipping them with the knowledge required to fulfil those inquiries.”

Profound transformation

Through the enhancements, 8×8 is capitalizing on a second fundamental contact centre trend. Contact centres have been undergoing a profound transformation. In that regard, the concept of a ‘contact centre’ is yielding to the broader concept of ‘customer experience.’

Willsky continues: “Contact centres   are converting from agent-centric to also including self-service, from reactive to proactive, from transaction-oriented to relationship-oriented, and from generic to deeply personalized. Vendors such as 8×8 have introduced a range of capabilities to help organizations make the transition.”

Differentiation

Although jointly the new features mark a meaningful step forward for 8×8’s AI contact centre capabilities, they provide limited competitive differentiation. Rivals have either already introduced the same features or list them on their near-term roadmaps. In addition, 8×8 has stumbled on its own timeline regarding two features. Voice support for 8×8 Intelligent Customer Assistant was slated for the third quarter of 2023, making its arrival now roughly one year overdue. Integrations with customer relationship management (CRM) systems that aid contact centre   agents were introduced in 2023, thus making the launch of a capability to access call summaries within CRM systems far from prompt.

Willsky concludes: “Missed introduction dates are to be expected periodically but 8×8 has missed the mark by such a wide margin on those features that it risks damage to its reputation in the market. When CEO Samuel Wilson came onboard at the end of 2022, he set out to implement a ‘contact centre-first’ approach and lead with contact centre by cross-selling into the unified communications base. 8×8 will need to execute more quickly if it is to satisfy that vision.”