Consumers are aware that companies offering cut-price, fast fashion have likely cut corners and abused their supply chain, with horrendous reports of manufacturers’ working conditions making headline news. Consumers increasingly vote with their wallets and deliberately make ethical choices when shopping online. Being an ethical clothing brand and doing so demonstrably is a win-win – it’s a massive competitive differentiator, consumers feel great about their chosen vendors, and workers in the supply chain don’t get exploited.

There remains another challenge, however. If a clothing brand (or indeed, any company) wants to act ethically in every aspect of its activities, it has to examine the ways it provides customer experience.

Creating a customer experience (CX) is a critical area for online companies today, and it hinges on providing personalised and helpful interactions between the seller and buyer. But for the vast majority of the world’s ethical brands, their ethical practice stops here. In previous articles here on Tech Wire Asia, we’ve discussed how many businesses collate third-party data belonging to customers and prospects and form largely inaccurate and privacy-invasive pictures of their customers and prospects. These are then used to create messaging for touch-points that are not only a waste of costly resources but actively alienate users.

Source: Wellbi

This happens when consumers feel that brands know too much about them (which is borderline creepy), are inaccurate (wasted messaging), or are accurate but irrelevant. The latter case is very common: a customer is tagged by third-party data as interested in golf, for example, and so all data-driven fashion suggestions for that customer comprise eye-watering colours.

As part of our exploration into how relevant information, given consensually by customers, can craft customer experiences and the massive advantages this offers, we spoke to Supreeth Kashyap of Wellbi, an ethical clothing brand operating in India. Wellbi carefully sources the hand-woven fabrics used in its range from artisans across the country, paying them a premium rate for their labour and guaranteeing them a consistent commission for their work.

Source: Wellbi

“Basically, I started with the with a vision of empowering rural artisans,” said Supreeth, the founder and CEO of Wellbi. “When I was criss crossing rural India, I found a group of artisans who were producing the finest fabrics, but they didn’t have a good market linkage for the product. They were earning less than three dollars [a day]. Textiles is the second largest employer in India, just after farming and agriculture. […] Before, they were getting work for only two to ten days in a month. Right now, they’re getting work for close to the entire month, 30 days. So now things have changed for them considerably.”

It’s a company that takes its ethical values into every aspect of its operations, including managing its customers’ identities, from which it can create a level of trust in the Wellbi brand that informs the customer experiences it creates.

Source: Wellbi

The concept embraced by Wellbi and many other brands that genuinely care for their customers is that of zero-party data – that’s information willingly exchanged by customers and prospects with the company in a way that ensures their privacy and security. Wellbi uses Holistic Identity Management powered by the Affinidi Trust Network (ATN). You can read more about the concepts of Holistic Identity Management and the ATN in previous articles we’ve published on this site.

By creating a customer experience based on consent-driven data, it formulates the critical description of each individual based on information relevant to the customer’s interactions with the brand. As trust and loyalty build, the picture gains detail, and the quality of CX improves in ways that are non-invasive, secure, and consensual.

Glenn Gore, CEO of Affinidi, told us, “It comes back to a community of like minded consumers working with like minded businesses – people who care about buying organic goods, they’re likely doing it across multiple facets of their life. They’re buying organic beauty products, they’re buying organic fashion. So I think part of [the Affinidi Trust Network] is just connecting brands and businesses that are very focused on that [ethos]. I think there’s a lot of ‘green washing’ out there in the industry for these things. So being able to have that trust network where […] you connect through, saying, ‘We’ve got consumers who want to spend money on these types of goods’. [Consumers] make a conscious decision about investing their money in these types of causes. Businesses act as a marketplace, as gateways that [provide] a discovery mechanism for these very small-batch products. I think is actually what consumers are looking for.”

The concept of zero-party data and the ATN mean that Wellbi can find new audiences that resonate with its ethical ethos and brand vision. With their permission, online shoppers whose personal preferences align with Wellbi can be offered opportunities with similar companies, safe in the knowledge that their personal data is treated ethically.

At present, it’s anomalous that companies that trade on their ethical stance still act unethically when it comes to customer information management, building ‘insights’ from data that they have no consent to use, on prospects and customers whose data is treated with little respect for the values held by the brand and the online citizen.

The poor click-through rate of ‘traditional’ platforms like Meta is around the 2-3% mark, which is indicative of how inaccurate most companies’ perceptions are of their users. With the Affinidi Trust Network, brands can develop CX according to information dictated by the customer, not privacy-invasive and inaccurate data. That promotes an immediate trust on which a meaningful CX can be created. “But there’s not many things we spend money on as businesses where a 98% failure rate is normal. […] You don’t need to shift that needle much. A 1% difference is actually a 50% improvement,” Glenn said.

To find out more about Wellbi and browse its ethical range of menswear, head over to its online store. You can read more about Affinidi Trust Network here and start to create an ethical and powerful customer experience that is truly and accurately personalised.

The post Ethical Threads: Transforming Fashion with Trust and Transparency appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

The lack of connectivity to the cloud is a core aspect of Enerlyf’s current vision for its CX. “Customers don’t need to share any data and they are still able to get their own personalised temperature and energy saving. That was one of the key things we identified in its popularity,” Chirag told us.

The company’s invention saves its customers up to 35% on their home cooling costs, enough that over two nights, the equivalent electricity could cover two rural households’ energy needs.

The lack of need for potentially privacy-invasive ‘smart home’ technologies comes at a time when data privacy is becoming increasingly central in many consumers’ minds. Data aggregated from multiple sources can be used to influence our behaviour in ways we find disturbing, and when those influences are traced back to a product purchase or service sign-up, the effects can easily negate any investment a brand has made in its CX.

That’s because, at present, there is an imbalance in our current concepts of CX, one that loses companies loyal customers and destroys trust carefully built over months and years.

The unevenly weighted scales

When buying a product or service, and in every interaction with an organisation, we expect a quality CX. It’s part of the reciprocal arrangement entered into at the point of purchase, with the standards of our expected experiences set high by global household names like Uber, Amazon, Rakuten and Ola.

But in addition to the quid pro quo, many companies will additionally monetise or even abuse the data they gain from every interaction. By piecing together information gathered with that from third parties, companies build detailed yet often irrelevant pictures of their buyers or users. Too often, their reasons for doing so have little to do with improving CX or the product now in the customer’s hands. Instead, data is used as a secondary revenue source, the benefits of which never reach the customer.

Source: Shutterstock

Digitisation without tears

Like every product, iterating on Enerlyf’s core designs is how it will improve. To achieve this, Chirag knows that user data can be incredibly helpful for each of his customers. “[We want to] add internet connectivity, IoT capabilities and AI to our systems, so that we can build to make greater systems. When we envisioned adding IoT [functions] and AI, that is where Affinidi came in and [our] mission and vision becomes much stronger,” he said.

Affinidi’s vision for how data can be shared anonymously is central to what Chirag perceives as the next generation of customer experience for Enerlyf customers. With zero-party data (first-party or user data whose source is not identifiable by a third party – see our previous articles here and here for more) the customer experience for Enerlyf’s products can give each customer advantages that will not compromise their personal information.

Initially, Chirag aims to produce personal and community value for Enerlyf users via the Affinidi Trust Network. “So say for example, if there is a community with 1000 apartments, and we have 200-500 users using our product, we wanted to offer access to a local weather station for them. […] For example, if parents want to take their children out, they can immediately check what is the air quality of that area? What is the outside temperature, humidity, so many other things. So that is a roadmap Enerlyf is connecting, like user-personalised profiles with community-level data.”

Affinidi’s CEO, Glenn Gore sees further benefits for Enerlyf user communities that are both empowered and protected by the Affinidi Trust Network (see here for more details): “Air con repair services could do reverse bidding, for example, saying, ‘We know you run your air conditioning for 300 hours, by giving it a service, it’s going to be more efficient, you’ll save some energy.’ These are new techniques that people could use, but while maintaining user anonymity.”

Customer experience at present goes little further than easy-to-use GUIs (graphical user interfaces) and personalised recommendations to buy more product (‘Hey [name], you bought [x], so why not buy [y]?’). What Enerlyf and Affinidi envisage is a CX where the ‘C’ for Customer is writ large – realisable benefits that come from anonymised, specific data deliberately released by individuals and companies to others, with both parties gaining.

Source: Shutterstock

National level advantages

The Indian government’s Green Credits scheme is an example of a nascent market that can be seized on by entrepreneurs like Chriag. He sees the users of Enerlyf products as being able to prove – without compromising their personal information or identities – exactly how much power their activities have saved and be able to ‘spend’ those credits elsewhere.

Glenn said, “There is value in consumers being able to say to brands, ‘Hey, I am taking actions in my own life.’ And brands can turn that into giving you savings or opportunities or preferences based on the decisions being made.”

New definitions of CX

End-users confident of their privacy are so much more likely to trade with brands they know are respectful of data security and anonymity. Customer experience on the Affinidi Trust Network is self-determined by the individual and goes far beyond our present concepts of CX. In 2024, CX is too often designed not for the benefit of the customer, but as a crude and often unwanted opportunity to cross-sell and upsell.

Instead of a reluctance to interact with a brand because of the potential for personal information misuse, brands can build trust with customers and prospects based on information that people approve for release to specific organisations.

As Enerlyf iterates on its energy-saving product line, it’s changing the way we think about personal well-being and energy-saving. With its cutting edge ClimateOS and state-of-the-art CX, Enerlyf allows households to reduce energy consumption and transform into fully-connected, distributed energy resources in the wider energy grid. Doing so offers the potential for enormous new markets and a more sustainable future for all of us.

The Affinidi Trust Network is the basis on which we will see this new data and energy economy built and the new definition of customer experience emerge. You can find out more about Affinidi Trust Network here.

The post Building trust in the data economy: Enerlyf and Affinidi redefine CX, privacy and energy efficiency appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

And while the majority of companies can only aspire to the same levels of market penetration, what’s apparent is that the quality of customer experience offered by the big players sets the standard by which all are judged.

It’s all too easy for any brand to mis-step in customer engagement, especially given that the journeys customers take with brands are long and, in an ideal world, continuous as companies seek to build loyalty and repeat business.

In previous articles we’ve covered the importance of unifying customer communications by using a CCM platform (customer communication management) to create a coherent, personalised experience at scale both with an existing customer base and prospects. If we take the need for such a solution as a given, choosing a CCM (or migrating to a new CCM platform) comes down to examining the fundamental capabilities of the offerings from different vendors and identifying the business impact the core strengths of each will have on an organisation in 2024.

Source: Shutterstock

The Quadrant Knowledge Solutions SPARK Matrix^™ breakdown of the leading vendors’ offerings in this regard is highly informative, describing the 11 fundamental capabilities that a CCM must offer and highlighting six key differentiators that are especially relevant in today’s business environment. In this article, we want to focus on two standout features that deliver significant competitive advantage for companies that embrace the concept of putting digital technologies and resources at the heart of customer experience building.

Enhanced CX and Personalisation

It’s essential that engagement with customers happens throughout the full lifecycle of the customer journey, and high-impact CX depends on two mutually connected factors: personalisation and channel preferences (the what and how). By giving customers control over which channels they communicate on (how) and ensuring each touchpoint comprises personalised and relevant content (what), brands create better relationships with each individual and establish trust that, in turn, encourages continuing business.

For that to take place, the CCM that oversees each engagement needs to be able to create individually customised content, offering different data in different ways. Blanket messaging down a limited number of favoured channels is a hit-and-miss approach that can easily alienate as many customers as it converts, with potential buyers or service-users looking to competing companies that they feel they have a stronger association with.

An unfocused messaging strategy also sparks fears in a user base that their data is not respected and that their privacy is being abused. Carefully personalised messaging through favoured channels also tells the customer that a brand’s data governance and security measures are in place and observed.

The right data AND the right messaging

Most companies actually use only a proportion of the information they have access to about customers and prospects. Their data sources can be, at best, only partially integrated with the central CCM. With a deeper integration of disparate data sources drawn from right across the business, communication professionals have a deeper insight into what makes each contact tick.

Today’s best CCM platforms draw from rich data sources, using AI tools to sanitise and normalise information to create more detailed pictures of the individual, better to tune messaging at every touchpoint. With a CCM platform like the market’s technology leader Quadient, data can be pulled into the central messaging platform from rich yet uncommonly-used data sources like member portals, helpdesk, or support databases like JIRA, SMS records and email.

Brands using InspireXpress migration technology, for example, get automatic ingestion of data, aided by AI algorithms, from legacy CCMs and templates. The same systems not only normalise all available information so it’s ready for use in communications but also can be used to propose rationalised CCM templates to increase a team’s efficiency and reduce duplicate content. A clear migration path and tools to enable it should be a priority when considering which CCM to deploy.

Source: Shutterstock

Yet whatever the data sources, every message – especially in highly regulated sectors like healthcare and finance – has to adhere to compliance standards to avoid fines and potentially disastrous reputational damage. The CCM platform is responsible for readying data for comms so it complies with evolving rule sets that keep the organisation on the right side of industry-specific governance.

An open and extensible approach to data allows the growth of a CCM over time, extending capabilities with differentiating elements, like BlueRush’s video capability to add enriched experiences to comms, or Salesforce integration for enhanced CRM-based capabilities.

With a host of potential third-party services in the cloud and drawn from a company’s existing IT stack, brands have the capability to go above and beyond their competitors’ offered customer experiences and turn customers into brand advocates.

Next steps

You can read the Quadrant Knowledge Solutions SPARK Matrix^™ report to dig deeper into the 11 fundamental capabilities of a CCM by following this link. The leader in all the paper’s measurements, Quadient, can be found here. If you need measurable business outcomes from your brand communications, you can start building using the best, host-anywhere (on-premise or cloud) solution today.

The post Next-gen CX is based on customer communication management systems. appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Source: Shutterstock

The conversation around data misuse extends further than generative AI. Consumers are arguably savvier about whom they give their information to and the permissions they grant. This is a consequence of organisational data misuse in the past – individuals are fed up with spam texts and calls. Significant data breaches also frequently make the mainstream news, and word quickly spreads, tarnishing brand reputations.

In recent years, data regulations have tightened to help protect consumers and their information. However, we are only at the start of this journey with AI. While laws are being introduced elsewhere in the world to regulate the technology, like the EU’s AI Act, the Australian government has yet to reach that stage. Saying that, in September, Canberra agreed to amend the Privacy Act to give individuals the right to greater transparency over how their personal data might be used in AI. The government has been put under pressure by business groups to prevent AI causing harm and, in June 2023, a paper was published exploring potential regulatory frameworks. However, at the moment, the onus is primarily on individual organisations to handle their AI technologies responsibly. This includes where the initial training data is sourced and how user data is stored.

Using untrustworthy public data to train algorithms does have consequences. These include so-called ‘hallucinations’, where the AI generates incorrect information presented in a manner that appears accurate. Toxicity can also be an issue, where results contain inappropriate language or biases that can be offensive or discriminatory. Air Canada was recently ordered to pay damages to a passenger for misleading advice given by its customer service chatbot, resulting in them paying nearly double for their plane tickets.

On the other hand, if an organisation uses its own customer data for AI system training, it faces a distinct set of risks. Improper handling can result in the violation of data protection regulations, leading to heavy fines or other legal action. In December 2023, researchers at Google managed to trick ChatGPT into revealing some of its training material, and OpenAI is currently facing a number of lawsuits in relation to the data used to train its chatbot. In January, another data breach exposed that the Midjourney AI image generator was trained on the works of over 16,000 artists without authorisation, which could lead to significant legal action.

Source: Shutterstock

Many core business technologies, like contact centres, utilise large volumes of data, and these are often one of the first targets in a digital transformation. Continuous modernisation of CX is essential to meet the rising expectations of customers. AI instils new levels of intelligence in the platforms used by organisations, for example, anticipating customer needs, making tailored recommendations and delivering more personalised services.

Organisations need to evaluate platforms that have processes in place to ensure they safeguard data and privacy, especially if leveraging AI. So-called ‘green flags’ include compliance with the Notifiable Data Breach (NBD) scheme and the PCI Data Security Standard (PCI-DSS). Enabling consumer trust and confidence in how their sensitive data and transaction history are leveraged and stored is essential. Adherence to relevant governance means organisations are reducing the risk of fraud and security breach by improving data security and bolstering authentication methods, to name just a couple of necessary measures.

It can be easy to get in hot water when embarking on a new venture without expert guidance, and AI journeys are no exception. Partnering with a reputable organisation which understands how the technology best fits in a business can be the difference between success and failure. With Nexon’s expertise, organisations have successfully leveraged a range of AI-powered solutions, from Agent Assist and Co-Pilot tools that streamline customer support workflows, to Predictive Web Engagement strategies that deliver personalised digital experiences and increase sales.

Nexon has forged a strategic partnership with Genesys, a global cloud leader in AI-powered experience orchestration, which prioritises ethical data sourcing and customer privacy. Genesys is committed to understanding and reducing bias in generative AI models, which it uses in its software to automatically summarise conversations for support agents and auto-generate email content for leads and prospects. This is achieved through ‘privacy by design’ principles enacted from the inception of its AI development, an emphasis on transparency into how the technology is applied and the use of tools to find and mitigate possible bias.

Genesys envisions a future where ethical considerations play a central role in all AI applications. Genesys AI brings together Conversational, Predictive and Generative AI into a single foundation to enable capabilities that make CX and EX smarter and more efficient and delivers meaningful personalised conversations (digital & voice) between people and brands.

The company’s customer-centric approach ensures that its cloud platform and AI solutions meet ongoing needs and adhere to strict data, privacy and security protocols.

Source: Shutterstock

As AI elements are introduced, they are tested rigorously to ensure they do not violate the protections that its cloud platform promises. Unlike other solutions, Genesys AI was built securely from its inception. Genesys provides users with control over AI use, providing understanding of its impact on experiences and enabling continual optimisation for better outcomes. Additionally, it provides a thorough exploration of the transformative potential of AI and how to responsibly leverage its capabilities for unparalleled customer experiences. You can read more into this subject in the white paper ‘Generative AI 101‘

Genesys has named Nexon a Partner of the Year twice in a row, thanks to its proven experience and expertise in delivering integrated digital CX solutions. This partnership solidifies the two companies’ collaborative efforts to provide organisations with innovative AI-driven solutions while upholding the highest standards of data ethics and customer privacy. Through this strategic alliance, organisations can navigate the complexities of AI technology, harnessing its transformative potential and drive growth and customer satisfaction responsibly and sustainably.

Contact Nexon today to discover how its AI expertise can drive superior customer interactions and streamline your business operations.

The post Ethical AI: The renewed importance of safeguarding data and customer privacy in Generative AI applications appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Source: Shutterstock

To understand how this situation arises, we need to distinguish between data types: first- and second-party data, for example. Plus, we should examine the concept of zero-party data. To help us demarcate data types and explore the implications of the relationship between customer experience and data, we spoke to Glenn Gore, CEO of Affinidi. (Read about the Affinidi Trust Network here and here for background.)

Defining data

Zero-party data is preference-based or intent-based and is held by the individual to represent the different online versions of themselves. Those different versions could be categorised, for instance, as an individual who is, depending on the context, an employee, a gamer, a charity worker, and a fitness fanatic.

This is the type of information that may help determine broad preferences for interaction with companies and brands. For example, someone who identifies as female in their zero-party data could be shown a women’s clothing line by default when they land on a clothing website.

First-party data is the information gathered by an organisation when an individual interacts with them. That could be a list of foodstuffs bought at a store. What’s interesting, Mr Gore told us, is that zero and first-party data are sometimes contradictory.

Source: Shutterstock

He said: “I say that I don’t want to eat sugary products; that’s zero-party data. But my shopping history says that’s an outright lie because I buy chocolate and fruit juice all the time! So now you can start seeing something really fascinating.”

In that context, a brand could show a message at checkout offering alternative, low-sugar products. That might lower their revenues, assuming diet alternatives are cheaper, but it would be a better customer experience and a net gain for the relationship.

Second-party data is information that’s shared, with approval, between the first party and another. “Let’s say I’ve engaged with a nutritionist and I’ve decided to help with the nutritional accuracy,” said Mr Gore. “I share what I buy at the supermarket. So, that data from the grocery store, which is first-party data, is shared with my new nutritionist.

“The difference here is that it’s with my consent, my knowledge. Nothing else is going to be shipped. The grocery store is not going to share the videotapes of how long I stood staring at the chocolates even though I didn’t buy any.”

Third-party data is the type of information that is collected and often sold and is “kind of the one that gets everyone in trouble.”

Mr Gore said: “This is where data that’s been collected about myself is aggregated with lots of other data sets combined and then sold without my consent, without my knowledge. To stay with that same example, my nutritionist says, ‘Well done, Glenn, you’re buying kale, you’re eating lots of healthy things. But I see that you’re not going to the gym?’ How do you know I’m not going to the gym? I never gave you access to my gym membership! I’m not going to be very happy about that. That’s the invasion of privacy that occurs.”

As awareness of data privacy among consumers grows and increasingly strict laws about data governance fall into place, third-party data not only begins to look less attractive as a concept for the individuals it’s describing but as a potential destroyer of trust and, therefore, customer experience. It’s also a burden of responsibility on organisations that hold it, as it also represents an attractive target for bad actors and legislators.

Consenting data exchange

The key to better customer experiences, and ones that are truly personalised, is the combination of zero and first-party data, which combines intent with action. Then, multiple second-party data instances form a network of consensual data sharing, building mutual trust between the consumer and other organisations.

Mr Gore sees the future of what we now call the ‘data economy’ as one where consumers can join or create their own versions of trust networks, parties with whom they consensually share and receive value in return.

The Affinidi Trust Network is the system that Affinidi is building, comprising a “duality of innovation, the two sides of the same coin.” Developers can already build the components of the Trust Network into vendors’ and service-creators’ offerings. For end-users, the arbiters of their own data, Mr Gore envisages services that will help with the minutiae of zero-party data interactions.

“They will be custodial hub managers of your data,” he said. “These custodial holders who manage how you represent and manage yourself will help you do this on your behalf. That app will be driven by a personal AI capable of sifting the many digital interactions that take place online for each user every day and remove much of the detail of personal data management which is cumbersome.

“You don’t want to wake up every morning with an app saying, ‘We just found another 60 pieces of information about yourself out there on the internet. Do you mind just cataloging those 60?’ Personal AIs will help you with cataloging on your behalf.

Source: Shutterstock

“The worst they may do is to ask about instances where there’s some conflict resolution needed. For example, ‘I’ve automatically organised these 180 different things for you, but these two look like they’re in conflict’, or ‘I know that you might be in the process of changing how you think about this. Can you just help guide me?'”

As personal data privacy issues accelerate and big tech companies work actively to discourage privacy-focused tools – Google’s intended ban on Chrome ad-blockers later this year is a fine example – solutions like the Affinidi Trust Network and the concept of Holistic Identity make increasing sense.

Consumers don’t have to subscribe to every aspect of Rana Foroohar’s ‘Don’t Be Evil‘ to feel that information about them is being misused. That’s already apparent in so-called customer experience platforms that present personalised interactions that are too all-knowing. Representations of prospects and customers derived from bought, aggregated third-party data produce ‘personalisation’ that’s inaccurate because every individual presents multiple versions of themselves online according to context.

Allowing individual users to consensually share relevant information with trusted organisations and brands is the way to build a relationship and establish trust. Those are the relationships that will endure and will produce long-term results for commercial entities. The move to consensual (and profitable) provision of customer experiences begins with becoming part of the Affinidi Trust Network, and you can read more here.

The post Data ownership and control at the heart of tomorrow’s CX appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Yet there’s a delicate balance between digital innovation and human interaction: the human part of the equation will always be critical. AI solutions can handle routine queries where human interaction isn’t essential, while human expertise is necessary for those requiring empathy.

The need for a seamless omnichannel experience

Customers today expect organisations to understand their needs and preferences and offer help, support, and solutions (or just a friendly ear) across all channels. Text, voice, messaging – each carries the company’s brand, so each is to be valued.

Research shows, however, that the transition between customer service channels still creates pain points for customers. A seamless omnichannel CX is imperative, and this can be achieved with a state-of-the-art cloud solution.

Centralised data storage means that regardless of the channel the customer chooses, the right information is there for the agent or automated system. When there’s a need or a preference to switch channels, the customer’s experience never drops in quality.

The role of AI in enhancing CX

AI technologies (natural language processing, large language models, cognitive algorithms and so on) can decipher complex queries, understand emotional tone through sentiment analysis, and recognise intent.

Source: Shutterstock

This additional context enables agents to accurately anticipate the customer’s needs and tailor their responses accordingly, perhaps by directing them to a more suitable resource. Issues are ultimately addressed more quickly, leading to improved CX and loyalty, but inimitable human empathy is retained.

Making it better, all the time

The nature of AI is that it learns continuously, so the sooner contact centres begin their AI journey, the better their CX will be. Smart algorithms learn the patterns of interactions, get to know the sentiments expressed at every touchpoint, and can find faster ways to resolve issues.

Most contact centre solutions in this space will come pre-trained to some degree. But it’s after the embedding of an AI-powered system that the real results start to appear. Today’s omnichannel contact centre solutions with AI at their heart help brands’ operations at the point of contact by:

– Sorting and prioritising according to need.

– Allocating the right solution, be that human or ‘bot’.

– Freeing up agents to tackle both the challenging and the interesting.

– Handling the day-to-day problems that would otherwise waste skilled agents’ abilities.

Furthermore, many users of AI in this critical role, central to the brand, will find several other pluses that positively impact elsewhere in the business. That happens when machine learning helps with the following:

– Building impactful data on customers, their behaviours, and preferences.

– Taking more and more repetitive work from human agents.

– Helping skilled workers forge new careers working with AI technology.

– Driving down staff churn by offering engaging and interesting work to employees.

Leading CX solutions for 2024

Two suppliers have emerged as leaders in this field: Nexon Asia Pacific and Genesys. Nexon Asia Pacific (Nexon) offers comprehensive digital solutions plus a critically important consultative service.

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Nexon leverages the technology from Genesys, a global cloud leader in AI-powered experience orchestration, so organisations can seamlessly coordinate technology, interactions, and touchpoints and deliver superior end-to-end customer and employee experiences at scale. By utilising the all-in-one platform Genesys Cloud, organisations can coordinate experiences for customers and employees through a single cloud contact centre platform.

Nexon Asia Pacific

Navigating a successful digital journey toward next-generation technology is a collaborative endeavour. Many Australian organisations use Nexon to consult, deliver, and manage their integrated CX strategy and solution.

Working closely with clients, Nexon’s solution architects begin by thoroughly understanding their current position in their CX journey and identifying their desired destination. They then identify a potential future state and map out the complete solution from start to finish. The team is adept at recommending and deploying cutting-edge technologies that propel clients ahead of the competition, providing full visibility into all operations to harness valuable insights.

Throughout the implementation process, Nexon’s solution architects offer consistent guidance, ensuring clients remain informed and empowered while the project team delivers solutions with rapid time-to-value.

AI is proven to enhance customer journeys and provide predictive insights, providing significant infrastructure cost reductions, and a host of other wins in productivity and operations. By harnessing the power of AI, Nexon enables continuous, personalised engagements across the entire customer journey. This approach enhances customer and employee experiences, driving efficiency and overall business performance.

The partnership between Nexon and Genesys offers clients customised CX solutions for their environment, with ongoing support as organisations evolve.

To explore further about Nexon’s delivered Genesys Cloud CX solution, empowered by AI, please click here.

Genesys – AI-powered experience orchestration platform

Through Genesys Cloud, the number one AI-powered experience orchestration platform, Genesys delivers the future of CX to organisations of all sizes so they can provide empathetic, personalised experiences at scale. As the trusted, all-in-one platform born in the cloud, Genesys Cloud accelerates growth for organisations by enabling them to differentiate with the right customer experience at the right time, while driving stronger workforce engagement, efficiency, and operational improvements.

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It has forged a strategic partnership with Nexon Asia Pacific and names it a trusted MSP (managed service provider) of its own contact centre.

Boasting performance metrics like a 94 per cent average response rate, 90 per cent first-call resolution and a 20 per cent increase in agent productivity, Genesys Cloud sets businesses up to deliver faster, fully personalised customer interactions.

Genesys Cloud has an intuitive, user-friendly design, AI-augmented tools, and a modular architecture that scales to the needs of businesses as they grow.

The platform complies with rigorous security regulations, offering unparalleled protection through TLS encryption for secure traffic and encryption for data at rest with 256-bit AES technology.

Read more on Tech Wire Asia about Security Bank and healthcare provider Maxicare and the benefits their businesses experienced after implementing Genesys Cloud.

The post The future of exceptional personalised CX: Unveiling leading solutions for 2024 and beyond appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

Many organisations have also felt challenges in hiring support agents, with 95 per cent of contact centre leaders having staff churn stay the same or increase in the last year. The bar for CX has been raised, and customers now demand the ability to use their preferred communication channels and engage with tailored content. As a result, businesses are putting more focus on their customer experiences, and the demand for agents has grown. However, this has not been met with an increase in applicants. The lack of a clear career path, poor hiring practices and a shortage of experienced employees in the workforce have meant this gap in supply and demand has not shrunk.

Source: Shutterstock

Nevertheless, establishing clear and effective outbound communications has become vital to maintaining customer engagement, trust and loyalty in 2024. To help them do this, many businesses have employed a Customer Communications Management (CCM) platform. These unified systems provide centralised management of all communications, allowing personnel to quickly create, approve and deliver the personalised omnichannel messaging that customers have come to expect.

For industries with stringent regulatory requirements, such as insurance or financial services, compliance personnel can efficiently manage communications, ensuring that content adheres to the necessary standards. Content blocks can also be locked down to meet these requirements, mitigating compliance risks. Other industries, like healthcare and utilities, can benefit from CCM, too, through improved coordination of communications with clients, employers and customers.

With standardised communication templates and content management, businesses using CCM can ensure that every communication aligns with their brand identity. The speed and ease with which these templates can be updated at scale with the system also facilitates a better employee experience. With support agents able to deliver consistent and personalised interactions, they will feel their performance improve and pressure to hit KPIs lessen, ultimately contributing to a more engaged and satisfied workforce.

CCM platforms are designed to integrate easily with existing IT infrastructure, enabling businesses to swiftly adapt to the evolving communication landscape. They also eliminate the need for multiple siloed teams, empowering business users to make content changes and significantly reducing the strain on IT resources. Faster review and approval processes contribute to a more agile communication infrastructure.

CCM is often confused with Marketing Automation Platforms (MAPs), which can also be a valuable communications tool. But, while MAPs can automate the simple communications that nurture the customer through the buying phase of their journey, they are less valuable after the sale is made. At that stage, communications shift from generalised marketing messages to targeted and tailored content, which is where CCM shines due to complex variable data.

Best-in-class CCM software has not shied away from the AI boom, choosing instead to incorporate it. AI provides the systems with a greater understanding of content through, for example, improved sentiment analysis, allowing companies to discern nuanced emotions within customer interactions and tailor responses with greater empathy. AI can also get a better grasp of reviewing content readability and brand compliance.

AI-augmented understanding of content allows CCM platforms to suggest more useful improvements. This could manifest as summaries, translations, or even complete rewrites that are more accurate than before.

With customer and employee experiences so integral to today’s business operations, it is crucial to have tools available to create a comprehensive and efficient communications strategy. Tech Wire Asia takes a closer look at three leading pieces of software to consider adding to your CX toolbox: Quadient Inspire for personalised communication management, OpenText for enterprise information management, and Twilio for versatile cloud communications integration.

Quadient Inspire – CCM

Quadient Inspire, positioned as a leader in Cloud CCM by analysts like IDC and Aspire, is a cornerstone in enterprises globally, notably in the Asia Pacific region. Deployed for high-volume batch or on-demand communications, Inspire is recognised for its prowess in rationalising, simplifying and automating customer interactions.

At the forefront of its capabilities is the integration of AI, augmenting its competitive edge. The AI engine not only comprehends content intricacies, such as sentiment, tone and readability, but actively contributes to content improvement. It suggests alternatives, enhances readability and even provides language translation, ensuring personalised and compliant communications.

Source: Shutterstock

Quadient Inspire excels in omnichannel communications through the cloud or over any premise deployment, delivering a consistent customer experience across print, e-delivery, email, SMS, web and mobile. Its efficiency in managing high-volume essential communications, including reports, promotions, eStatements, bills and forms, positions it as a game changer for organisations seeking streamlined and effective customer engagement.

Through multichannel capabilities and personalised content, Quadient Inspire puts the power at customers’ fingertips by allowing them to access information and interact with a brand on their terms. Discover more about the Inspire CCM on the Quadient website.

OpenText – Information management

OpenText is a leading Information Management platform that enables organizations to manage, analyze, and leverage large amounts of enterprise content. By bridging gaps and facilitating information exchange, the system helps companies establish efficient communication channels, fostering a more interconnected and responsive work environment.

It plays a pivotal role in managing outgoing content that powers personalized omnichannel experiences. Businesses can leverage OpenText to curate, organize, and deliver relevant content, ultimately creating a more satisfying and tailored journey for customers and employees.

For example, its Extended ECM allows organizations to manage content directly in familiar environments such as SAP, Microsoft 365, and Salesforce. This capability enhances efficiency by eliminating the need for users to switch between platforms, ensuring a more cohesive content management experience. OpenText’s Smart View facilitates the presentation of data in dynamic and easy-on-the-eye dashboards, which customers can benefit from, when, say, tracking order histories or monitoring account activities. OpenText addresses the critical aspects of security and protection, offering multiple layers of defense against threats. This ensures the integrity and confidentiality of the data involved in communication and CX processes. By providing developers with cloud API services, OpenText also contributes to faster application development, reducing costs and improving time-to-market.

Twilio – Cloud communications

Twilio is a cloud communications platform that integrates communication features in diverse applications with a suite of versatile APIs. These include voice, SMS, and video, offering real-time and personalized customer interactions. For example, Twilio SendGrid Email API guarantees 99.99 percent uptime for efficient email delivery, while Voice API provides calling integration with the CustomerAI Perception Engine to give valuable insights to agents. With these APIs, users can create tailored communication workflows that align with unique business needs and are delivered through customers’ preferred channels.

Source: Shutterstock

Twilio’s comprehensive suite also facilitates the delivery of timely notifications, authentication processes, and interactive support, contributing to a cohesive and satisfying customer journey. For example, Twilio Verify ensures secure multichannel user verification, blocking millions of SMS fraud attempts. Furthermore, Twilio Notify allows businesses to send messages across multiple channels, including SMS, push notifications, and email, enabling them to reach their audience in real-time with important alerts and updates. Twilio has spent over a decade perfecting its tools that empower organizations to engage their customers and gain valuable insights from interactions, and continues to reshape the future of customer-centric communication solutions.

*Some of the institutions featured in this article are commercial partners of Tech Wire Asia

The post Employing CCM effectively and putting the power at your customers’ fingertips appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

This month, OCBC Bank, following a six-month trial, introduced OCBC ChatGPT, making it the first bank globally to embrace generative AI on a large scale. The bank’s head of group data office, Donald MacDonald, said OCBC is deploying the chatbot for 30,000 staff across 19 countries. The chatbot, created in collaboration with Microsoft Azure, is set to assist employees at the bank’s 420 branches and offices worldwide in tasks such as writing, research, and ideation starting this month. 

While OCBC ChatGPT is just one part of the bank’s overall effort involving generative AI, OCBC is said to be using or piloting four other functions. These are broadly categorized as: “Wingman,” which helps its team of coders write code; “Whisper,” which transcribes voice calls and makes summaries for its contact centers; “Buddy,” which pulls out information from 150,000 pages of company documents and records meetings for staff; and “Document AI,” which summarizes documents such as financial reports.

The Singapore-headquartered bank wants to use generative AI to personalize customer interactions, propose stock buys, and detect fraud and suspicious transactions for the bank. According to MacDonald, AI already makes more than four million daily decisions on risk management, customer service, and sales for the bank. Ultimately, he expects that number to surge to 10 million by 2025 when generative AI takes over more functions.

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But behind all of these capabilities is a platform that enables it all.

OCBC and Cloudera’s AI collaboration

The challenge for enterprises in embracing generative AI lies in the fact that organizations must grant third-party AI tools access to their specialized knowledge and exclusive data for a model to provide precise outputs. However, there’s a risk of exposing confidential data without proper precautions.

Remus Lim, VP Asia Pacific and Japan, Cloudera

This emphasizes the importance of optimal hybrid data management for organizations utilizing third-party AI solutions alongside proprietary data. At OCBC, a hybrid cloud platform like Cloudera’s has been helping the bank gain value from AI and ML for years. “Their [OCBC] success got us excited. I don’t think we expected that. Those guys used our platform, tore it apart, pushed it to a limit, integrated with other ecosystems, and created their platform,” Remus Lim, Cloudera’s VP of Asia Pacific and Japan, told Tech Wire Asia on the sidelines of Evolve, New York.

Lim explained how, before generative AI became the talk of the town, OCBC was already working on it as early as a few years ago. A check on Cloudera’s blog shows that in 2015, OCBC began a multi-phased initiative with Cloudera, focused on giving customers access to its banking services through an easy, convenient user interface that delivered targeted and tailored products and services. 

“They started five years back, setting up AI Lab and recruiting the right people. Today, they have about 200 data scientists,” Lim noted. OCBC eventually migrated to the Cloudera data platform (CDP) and CDP machine learning in 2022, to power several solutions that have increased operational efficiency, enabled new revenue streams, and improved risk management. 

“One of the key things OCBC has emphasized is that it doesn’t use Open API, because it can’t control what goes out and what users key in. That means the OCBC GPT is confined within a very secure and controlled on-premises environment. And that sits on our platform, the CDP, and our machine learning,” Lim told TWA. 

According to Cloudera, what OCBC did was build a single entry point for all its LLM use cases: a hybrid framework that could seamlessly integrate multiple data sources, including inputs from thousands of customers and a private cloud data lake that would keep customer data safe, to get real-time insights customized to its company standards.

The bank built prompt microservices for accessing LLMs stored on its on-premises servers as well as LLMs available in the public cloud: a cost-effective model that allowed it both to use public cloud LLMs and to host open-source LLMs, depending on the functionality and customization it needed. By deploying and hosting its code assistant, scaled for 2,000 users, OCBC saved 80% of the cost of using SaaS solutions.

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The platform integrates with the bank’s ML operations pipelines and fits into its larger ML engineering ecosystem. This cloud-based ML-powered platform lets OCBC build its applications and use the tools and frameworks its data scientists choose. OCBC could also, with ML models, send over 100 different personalized nudges on its mobile banking app, notifying customers about financial opportunities, including eligibility for a new credit card or loan—achieving up to 50% click-through rates.  

The initiative has led to a more personalized customer experience, higher campaign conversion rates, faster transactions, reduced downtime for data centers, and an additional SGD 100 million (US$75 million) in revenue a year.

The post How Cloudera empowers OCBC to integrate AI at scale appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

The problem with hasty digitisation

However, despite emerging from a desire to remain agile and competitive, the result of the initiatives has not been as intended for many businesses. New technologies and digital processes, like channels used by customers to communicate with brands, tend to operate independently, creating a fractured and inconsistent experience. Only 18 percent of businesses in the APAC region have connected the technology and data needed to create an end-to-end customer journey.

How the banking sector avoids the problem

The banking sector in particular is attempting to combine the adoption of technological innovations with an increased focus on customer experience during transactions. This means that businesses are prioritising a seamless customer journey when it comes to deploying new initiatives.

One solution gaining momentum in the industry is the CCaaS (Contact Centre as a Service) solution, which offers omnichannel customer engagement and does away with the limitations of legacy IT infrastructure. Banks that adopt CCaaS solutions can pave the way for omnichannel experiences and avoid the fractured customer journeys that other industries in the APAC region have no choice but to offer.

Source: Shutterstock

Synergy of Security Bank and Genesys Cloud CX™

Security Bank, a full-spectrum universal bank based in the Philippines, leverages the Genesys Cloud CX™ contact centre application from Genesys – a global leader in AI-powered experience orchestration. The bank has found particular success since handing over the management of inquiries from external customers to this CCaaS solution.

Lucose Eralil, the company’s Head of Enterprise Technology and Operations, said: “We have integrated [Genesys Cloud CX™] all the way from the call centre to CRM to ensure that we can provide both an effective tool with which the call centre manages customers that call in and…an effective [customer] experience.”

Mr Eralil notes that banking in Southeast Asia has become more customer-centric quicker than in other regions because of its “interconnected economy”.

“You can do seamless transactions that span countries across Southeast Asia,” he said. “The whole approach to banking has evolved in the last eight to ten years, and the advent of fintech [companies] and digital banks have only sped that up. What that has done is actually make traditional banks also up their game in the whole digital space.

“It’s about moving from a brick-and-mortar approach of traditional banking to being more omnichannel. That is a combination of the digital channels, the physical channels, and, most importantly, the experience that connects all the channels together.”

Security Bank has not been an exception to the movement towards a customer-focused future. The company decided to switch to the Genesys platform in May 2020, when its workforce had to suddenly start working from home, and its existing platform could not support the transition.

Mr Eralil said: “Genesys had a product that offered a rapid response program that allowed us to migrate all our contact centres to work from home in a three to four-week timeline. This was one of the key things that made us move towards Genesys.”

Genesys Cloud CX™ applications can be installed in a matter of days and then continually evolve through upgrades deployed centrally on a weekly basis. Its intuitive interface also makes it easy for employees to start helping customers as it comes with a minimal learning curve.

The applications come with a Workforce Engagement Management (WEM) feature, which helps enhance customer experiences through streamlined contact centre operations. With capabilities including call and screen recording, quality management, speech & text analytics, and performance-based metrics, businesses can enhance their agent performance and, subsequently, customer satisfaction.

The WEM feature also includes web surveys to gather valuable feedback from customers and workforce management tools to efficiently manage scheduling and real-time monitoring. It has been found to boost agent productivity by 20 percent by visualising KPIs and improving communication between managers and agents.

“The product not only had decades of experience building solutions and embedding customer experience at its core, but also could actually drive an omnichannel contact centre that ensured we could turn calls, emails, and chat into a single conversation and a seamless customer dialogue,” Mr Eralil added.

“If you look at the channels through which you operate as a consumer, you’ve got […] mobile and […] online banking, you’ve got the ATM, you’ve got the branch, you’ve got the contact centre. Now, as a customer, irrespective of which channel you operate from, you want to ensure the journeys are efficient and that, from an experiential aspect, they are consistent and effective.

“What is very important for us is to be able to have customer journeys that realign themselves depending on the channel that people interact with. They should have the same philosophy and the same design approach, even though they get delivered on different channels.”

Source: Shutterstock

Personalised CX

With Genesys Cloud CX™, agents receive both real-time customer interactions, like voice calls and chats, and asynchronous ones, like text messages, emails and social media messages, in a single and consistent interface. They are therefore provided all the context they need to deliver personalised customer experiences. That’s been important for Security Bank.

Mr Eralil said: “The product having excellent CX allows us to manage the external customer experience, and the Workforce Engagement Manager feature allows us to give a much better experience to our internal organisation, the internal customer.

“It definitely is one of the key contributing factors that allows us to drive towards that vision of being the most customer-centric bank in the Philippines.”

Source: Shutterstock

Simple integration

Another thing which attracted Mr Eralil to the Genesys Cloud CX™ product suite was its integration capabilities. The cloud-native architecture allows IT teams to mix and match only the necessary components to their platforms with minimal disruption. This frees up development resources for high-impact projects.

“It has a microservices-based multi-tenant cloud architecture that allows us big flexibility,” said Mr Eralil. “The APIs allow us to have a much better integration with the various systems that drive customer experience, like the CRM and our marketing solutions. Contact centre agents get better and quicker visibility on things like our next best offer.”

Data security

While seamless customer experiences and simple integration are both important, they would arguably be redundant if the technology itself did not have high data security standards. Genesys Cloud CX™ robust encryption, adherence to industry certifications, and support for regulatory requirements ensure that businesses do not compromise on data privacy and security.

“The most important thing, when we look at security, is that it’s HIPAA and PCI compliant. It ensures interactions are seamlessly and securely supported,” said Mr Eralil.

“Trust plays a big part in customer experience, and customers can trust us with the data that they share with us. That’s why the security framework which Genesys Cloud CX™ runs is one of the key things that attracted us towards Genesys.”

Source: Shutterstock

The digital future of the Philippines

Mr Eralil refers to the Philippines as “one of the last frontiers of digital transformation in Southeast Asia”. He says that Security Bank has made significant technological investments to position itself as a digital leader in the country.

He explained: “In today’s digital age, the changing generation is driving banking-as-a-service and banking-as-a-platform onto mobiles and tablets. It’s very important to have a technology stack that allows us to be proactive to customer needs. For us at Security Bank, technology is what underpins the strategy and our targets, both from a revenue and a customer experience perspective. The future that we see in the Philippines and at Security Bank is driven very much by technology.”

The Genesys Cloud CX™ platform is a seamless, all-in-one contact centre solution that allows companies to power deeply connected experiences. Click here to learn how Genesys cloud technology orchestrates banking customer experiences across all channels.

The post Transitioning to CCaaS solutions in the cloud era: How the APAC banking sector avoids a disjointed customer experience appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.

As organisations strive to harness the power of this data, the relationship between customer experience, data security, and IT infrastructure has come to the forefront. Healthcare organisations especially must employ a framework that has security integrated at each exposed layer on top of capabilities for data analysis to provide outstanding patient experiences.

Tech Wire Asia spoke to Mr Christian Argos, the CEO of healthcare provider Maxicare, about the importance of having a contact centre that safeguards patient data and offers sophisticated data analysis features, as well as what a more digitised future will mean for the sector.

“When you look at healthcare and our business, that’s the most personal and sensitive of all information, so we take data governance seriously,” he said.

Healthcare providers acquire swathes of patient data

Maxicare is the largest private payer in the Philippines, covering about two million Filipinos. Hundreds of patients reach out to claim on their cover every day, but the company’s role is far more than simply approving those requests.

Mr Argos said: “Healthcare is a journey and we are our clients’ navigators. You don’t just wait for someone to call or send your request on a piece of paper, but you engage patients from the start of that journey.

“The industry is trying to build the discipline of advising patients and being more proactive in telling them what they need, who they should see, and what their options are. It’s more bidirectional in terms of engagement – being more proactive and focusing more on preventive care.

“So, for example, if you’re a hypertensive patient – you have high blood pressure or you’re pre-diabetic – there are predefined care pathways that we can execute for you to avoid deterioration in your health or, even better, to pull back your blood pressure to normal levels.”

Maxicare helps patients find their way through the entire medical system, from finding the correct doctor for their initial appointment, all the way to post-surgery care. Therefore staff must always be available to them through whatever channel they prefer, whether that be email, phone call or instant messaging.

Moving to Genesys

As Maxicare evolved and the scale of patient contact increased, the company eventually decided to expand its contact centre offering through Genesys, a global cloud leader in AI-powered experience orchestration.

Mr Argos said: “Since this was not our comfort zone – technology is not really in the realm of healthcare, especially here in the Philippines – we tried the cheap and cheerful, open-source platforms first.

“But after going through two different vendors over the past five years, we just said we need to go best in class, we need to go enterprise-grade because our demands are the same as the biggest customer interaction firms in the world.

Source: Shutterstock

“At that point, we decided to transition to Genesys. The transition happened very rapidly and the experience has been beyond expectations. There is a reason why companies that have customer interaction as their lifeblood rely on folks like Genesys.”

Maxicare integrated the Genesys Voice Platform last October and saw “immediate improvement” in service levels and customer experience.

“Before, we couldn’t figure out why people sounded like robots on the line and calls kept getting dropped!” said Mr Argos.

However, the company’s vision is to deploy an omnichannel platform where all successive patient interactions, whether through a phone call, email, or social media message, are linked. These platforms allow agents to deliver proactive and contextual interactions, ensuring a consistent customer experience. By eliminating operational silos and gaining the ability to monitor customer journeys across channels, they provide personalised solutions that cater to individual preferences and needs.

Making use of patient data, securely

Healthcare generates a lot of data points, said Mr Argos, so streamlining interactions at a data level is essential for ensuring that agents have access to all available patient information. Otherwise, valuable data is scattered, hindering the ability to gain comprehensive insights and deliver personalised care. The same goes for interactions with doctors, hospitals, and clinics.

“It’s impossible to keep track of that without leveraging technology,” he said.

“We have to communicate with doctors, we have to communicate with patients – and you can’t do that with just the phone and a notebook and reminding yourself ‘I need to make this call’.

“The challenge is really building the set of tools and the capability to take data from many different sources, making sure it’s accurate, timely, and reliable, and then putting that in front of decision-makers.

“But now that we have a better view of patients and providers, we’re able to match a patient with the best provider to solve their health concern.”

Source: Shutterstock

Having access to all the data on a single omnichannel platform allows the company to keep track of its KPIs. It is moving away from metrics like average call handling time towards more patient-centric indicators, like the percentage that ends up in a Maxicare clinic.

“We’re building a set of dashboards that measure these and include the information we get from our electronic medical record platform and some data which tracks spending.

“Genesys […] plays a role in helping us reach KPIs because, eventually, as a journey moves from an initial call to chat to e-mail, we’ll have visibility of all of it.”

The future is AI

Looking to the future, Mr Argos thinks that AI will play a more significant role in communications between agents, patients, and physicians through Maxicare, which could be facilitated through the contact centre.

The company already uses AI on certain types of medical imaging, highlighting possible areas of interest before the results get passed to the doctor. They are also testing a tool that improves the legibility of doctors’ notes by correcting spelling.

“I think maybe there will be the opportunity to use machine learning to better detect fraud and abuse,” said Mr Argos, highlighting one of the more powerful uses of AI: anomaly detection.

An increase in remote consultations will also place more reliance on the contact centre platform, while creating more data points during a patient’s healthcare journey has the potential to raise the risk of data compliance issues.

“Our approach is that we try to understand what kind of information we need to deliver our contractual obligations to our clients,” said Mr Argos.

“We minimise the risk by understanding exactly what you as an individual have access to, and we [are building] the tools and guardrails to enforce that.

Source: Shutterstock

“That’s a combination of policy and technology, and, moving forward, we will lean heavily on technology to really enforce these rules and restrictions and make sure that data governance is executed well.

‘We’re at the start of the journey; a lot of what I’ve said we now have to scale and execute, and that’s why Genesys moving very fast is helping us move even faster.”

Healthcare is not the only sector which cannot afford to compromise on data privacy in their contact centres. The imperative of securing sensitive information harmoniously with seamless customer experiences underscores the need for robust solutions in multiple sectors.

Embracing this challenge, Genesys Cloud CX not only meets modern security standards but surpasses them. The all-in-one contact centre platform is built in the cloud to ensure it complies with the most rigorous industry regulations. It offers unparalleled protection through TLS encryption for secure cloud traffic and employs the 256-bit Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) algorithms to safeguard customer data.

Learn more about the compliance and assurance standards Genesys employs today.

The post Contact centres in healthcare: The synergy of patient experience and data privacy appeared first on Tech Wire Asia.