No Jitter Roll: Avaya AI Updates; CCaaS, WFM PartnershipNo Jitter Roll: Avaya AI Updates; CCaaS, WFM Partnership

This week we share announcements around enhanced virtual agents, a CCaaS and workforce management (WFM) partnership, collaboration performance management (CPM) software, funding for an audio-first messaging platform, and the WebRTC standard.

Avaya Taps Google Dialogflow CX

In the latest move to bring more AI into the contact center via integration with Google Cloud’s Contact Center AI, Avaya this week introduced updated human-like automation capabilities for its OneCloud CCaaS and CPaaS portfolios. The expanded conversational AI capability, called AI Virtual Agent Enhanced, uses Google’s advanced conversational AI technology, Dialogflow CX, which became generally available this week.

As Google product leads shared this week in a post, Dialogflow CX can “switch between topics, handle supplemental questions, and operate across multiple channels to minimize live agent interventions. Google Cloud designed Dialogflow CX for large-scale, high-complexity contact center environments, they wrote.

8x8, Verint Merge Cloud and Contact Center

Cloud communications platform provider 8x8 and customer engagement platform provider Verint this week partnered to deliver their respective contact center and WFM applications to mid-market businesses and enterprises. Specifically, the companies said, 8x8 Contact Center will offer an integration to Verint’s Workforce Management, allowing the ability to sync up of historical and real-time interaction data and agent information from the contact center and WFM platforms out of the box.

Vyopta Releases Intelligent Monitoring Engine

UCC monitoring and analytics provider Vyopta this week unveiled the Intelligent Monitoring Engine, available as part of its Collaboration Performance Management (CPM) suite. Intelligent Monitoring Engine offers integration into existing service-desk, ticketing, and messaging operations workflows, advanced event logic to create actionable alerts, ability to set thresholds and triggers, and live status and configuration views, along with over 60 metrics and 350 filters, Vyopta said. The goal is not only to allow customers to make data-driven decisions, but also to “notify them on issues that matter without increasing alert noise,” Jonathan Sass, Vyopta VP of product management, said in a prepared statement.

Voice Messaging Startup Yac Raises New Funding

Digital voice messaging service platform provider Yac this week announced that it raised $7.5 million in venture funding, led by GGV Capital with participation from Slack Fund. Yac, which is developing an voice messaging platform for remote teams, said it expects to use the funding toward product development and growth.

WebRTC Earns Official Standard Title

The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) and Internet Engineering Task Force this week named Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC) as an “official standard,” enabling voice and video communications “anywhere on the Web,” W3C said. WebRTC includes a JavaScript API that allows any connected device on any network to be a potential communication endpoint, already making this a “cornerstone of online communication and collaboration services," W3C added.