WebexOne: CX Efforts Ramp Up as AI Takes Center Stage

CISCO WEBEXONE 2024 - Cisco at its annual collaboration technology showcase brought various artificial intelligence (AI) innovations to the forefront.

The vendor at its WebexOne 2024 event detailed offerings like the Webex AI Agent, which automates contact center inquiries leveraging conversational intelligence. 

Executives demoing the AI tool said it does not require any particular set of development skills to deploy. Moreover, the AI agent targets complex use cases. rather than only simple customer requests.

Craig Durr, chief analyst at The Collab Collective, said Cisco's contact center demo was "quite impressive," noting that "the ability for a real customer to interact with an AI agent was nearly indistinguishable from a human-to-human conversation."

Craig Durr

He offered an example that came up several times during the demo.

"The conversation not only pivoted on the topic discussed, but the human customer interrupted the AI agent, and they responded promptly and naturally," Durr told Channel Futures.

Webex also introduced its new Webex AI Agent, AI Agent Studio, and Cisco AI Assistant for Webex Contact Center, tools it says will "change how businesses interact with and support their customers."

More Webex Tools

The collaboration and contact center giant also launched Cisco Spatial Meetings, Ceiling Microphone Pro and a new Cisco AI Assistant for Webex.

Related:Microsoft Leads Gartner UCaaS Magic Quadrant, But There's a Catch

Regarding Cisco Spatial Meetings, the room bar produces an immersive studio leveraging Webex for Apple Vision Pro users, designed for product demos, remote training, education, etc. 

And there is Cisco's Ceiling Microphone Pro, a device that captures natural conversation from anywhere – no matter the workspace.

"This industry-first adaptive microphone uses AI to automatically adjust to speaker position and changes to room configuration," Cisco wrote in a statement. The device is comparable with various Cisco cameras and room systems. 

Further, there is Cisco's Workspace Designer, a tool that automates the design and customization of workspaces – extending a 3D view of audio and video coverage.

Its next product offer surrounds diagnostics and targets IT professionals. Deemed Smart Diagnostic in Control Hub, the feature identifies swift ways to resolve IT issues.

WebexOne, A Focus on Beefing Up Key Partnerships

Cisco is also leveraging its 2020 ThousandEye acquisition, integrating that firm's capabilities into its 9800 series desk phone and within its Webex Calling platform to monitor and troubleshoot, looking to reduce things such as downtime. 

Related:IBM: Generative AI Can Make Better Decisions than the Human Brain

Cisco also has partnered with ServiceNow, Salesforce and Zendesk for more workflow automation functionalities, in addition to letting users select the Large Language Model (LLM) that best fits their needs via Amazon Bedrock. 

Furthermore, Webex users can now share call summaries and recaps across third-party platforms such as Microsoft Outlook, Teams, Copilot and Slack.

WebexOne Shines Light on Partner Sentiment Toward AI

With such a large barrage of AI-fueled features, Cisco said it had partners front-of-mind, citing a recently commissioned partner study that found that partners believe that infrastructure, cybersecurity and customer experience are the "primary drivers of AI technology demand," ones that also present the "greatest revenue opportunities."

And 54% of Cisco partners surveyed said infrastructure, cybersecurity at 48% and customer experience at 30% remain "the top three drivers of AI technology demand in the coming years." 

Moreover on the sentiment partner front, more than a quarter of partners believe that between 76-100% of their revenue will stem from AI technologies over the next 4-5 years, hence the reason for such a massive push of AI features, many of which are set to become generally available during Q1 2025.

Related:Cisco Collaboration Unit Reshuffles Leadership Team Amid Restructuring

"If you've been a Cisco channel partner for a while, you've probably had challenges getting new customers to their contact-center-as-a-service (CCaaS) solutions as they're simply late to arrive," said Rob Dwyer, vice president of customer engagement and AI expert at Happitu.

Happitu's Rob Dwyer

"With a full suite of AI-enabled features and the security that Cisco is known for, they could make a dent in the CCaaS market," Dwyer added.

Dwyer shared that Cisco partners are likely excited to stem potential losses to other cloud providers, however.

"And they will likely have tempered excitement that this opens up new opportunities that wouldn't have considered Cisco before," the AI expert noted.

According to Dwyer, one question remains: "Will they be relevant outside their traditional customer base?"

"Perhaps as more and more cyber threats emerge, they can lean into that strength, but with long sales cycles, huge costs of migration, I am not [fully] convinced that they'll become a serious threat to existing cloud-native or at least early movers to cloud solutions," the AI expert remarked about Cisco's WebexOne offerings.

AI Is Reshaping Unified Comms and Contact Center

According to Durr, AI is reshaping UC/CC providers' product strategies for three reasons. First, he shared, "AI features like virtual agents and automated summaries boost agent productivity and customer experience."

He believes the second way relies on helping customers improve their scalability.

"The promise is that AI-powered self-service helps contact centers handle more inquiries without adding staff," he said.

There is a downside, as he sees things, as there is likely to be an increased risk of agent burnout. Durr cited Jay Patel, senior vice president and general manager of Cisco Webex, who emphasized the need to "Increase effectiveness, not just efficiency."

Cisco's Jay Patel

"And, of course, let's not forget that there is the promise that AI capabilities can help providers stand out in a competitive market," he said.

This last reason is a modern-day "land rush to claim mindshare for this novel technology," Durr told Channel Futures.

The implementation of this for partners means they will have both opportunities and challenges, as while AI-enhanced solutions can drive more sales and customer value, they may find their traditional operations disrupted by automation, Durr said.

If partners want to reap the full benefits of AI, they "must adapt their services and skills to support AI technologies," Durr said.

"And despite the potential short-term disruption, partners who embrace these changes should benefit long-term," the UC analyst said.