Let’s be real, there’s something a bit corny but exciting about putting down your predictions for th...
How did we go about it? We asked our COO, ...
Take a look below and rendez-vous in 12 months to see how we did… ...
Beyond the buzzwords: metaverse, Web3, AI, ChatGPT
Tom: Don’t get me started on the vacuous notion of the “metaverse” and “Web3”. If you tune into the IRIS Pod you know my thoughts on these concepts. Your NFTs are worthless, soz... But 2023 might be the year we finally see us moving beyond empty terms and truly explore the potential of virtual and augmented realities in a useful way… maybe....
Rob: With the support of immersive technologies and AI, we’ll finally see the rise of virtual workplaces where co-creation can take place without being in the same physical space. ...
Tom: Let the battle commence! A new battleground is here where we shall pit AI content generation tools (such as ChatGPT) against AI designed to identify where this content is being used and whether it is potentially malicious, spam, or impersonating a human. ChatGPT and the like have huge and powerful potential, but also concern me in how they can corrupt creativity and are seen as cheaper alternatives to human creatives. Huge potential, but huge risks....
Rob: As everyone embraces AI — coders, marketeers, testers, sales people, managers, musicians, artists, etc. — lines will blur between what is human-generated and AI-generated content....
Marketing: With ChatGPT and other Natural Language Processing tools blowing up, the interest in what AI can accomplish with speech and voice will be at its peak. It’s the perfect opportunity to showcase the power of voice isolation....
The business, customer, and employee trifecta
Marketing: If last year was about the employee being king and bringing people back into the office, this year will be about finding the optimal balance between business KPIs and agent wellbeing. The question is: how do you prioritise your business results (i.e. make money), care about your employees (i.e. keep them happy), and solve your customers’ problems (i.e. keep them satisfied)? Well… we’ve got something for that…...
Tom: I like working in an office, most of the time, but really value those ‘heads down’ days at home where I can just crunch through a list of tasks. 2023 will see a continued balancing act between home working, office returns, and hybrid setups. This will present both opportunities and challenges to how businesses operate, attract new staff, and keep current staff satisfied. Management needs to keep an open mind to the potential for flexible work patterns. My advice: embrace it, but build a strong company culture alongside it, else you’ll just have a bunch of nomad staff who are disconnected from the journey....
Voice & speech for the win
Rob: New breakthroughs in AI-based audio processing will take audio quality and speech to new levels of accuracy and intelligibility — with IRIS at the forefront....
Neil: The voice channel will be a key differentiator in any industry or sector that is fighting for market share and attention, particularly where customers may be contacting them from difficult, uncontrollable environments, e.g. breakdown services, emergency services, and retailers. If consumers feel they can't get consistent high quality when speaking to a brand, they won’t stick around! ...
Neil: We are already seeing interest in the obvious benefits of improving real time conversations. 2023 will see an added focus on post-call analysis, with an increased desire to implement speech analytics tools....
Tom: I love the frictionless way certain banks and other solutions are using voice as our identification. I’m lazy, ok? I don’t like typing (let alone remembering!) passwords. 2023 will see greater use of voice for security and for productivity. Will the audio quality be up to scratch to enable voice biometrics and AI? Probably not yet… but we’re getting closer....
Adapting to challenging times
Neil: As we enter into a period of economic downturn and uncertainty, there will be a clear focus on efficiency and doing more with less. Ensuring all conversations are uninterrupted, avoiding repetition on both sides of a call, and reducing the risk of having a second conversation on the same subject will ultimately ensure more calls can be handled by individual agents each day. This in turn reduces overhead costs and helps to maintain the service level customers expect....
Marketing: As the cost of living crisis increases, more customers will be in need of financial support and the Banking & Finance industry will require the best and most efficient tools to handle the additional influx of customer enquiries. ...
Conclusion
The value brought by real-time and post-call voice isolation will only increase in 2023 and beyond. ...
