Cisco Webex can now tell if a contact center employee is burnt out

Cisco Webex AI tools
(Image credit: Cisco)

In a bid to revolutionize online collaboration, Cisco has unveiled a series of new AI-powered features across its Webex video conferencing portfolio.

The most eye-catching feature, currently in beta testing, is an agent burnout detection capability, which uses artificial intelligence to identify signs of fatigue among contact center workers.

Cisco AI Assistant for Webex Contact Center also includes summarization for interactions, including those with virtual agents, as well as automatically generated customer satisfaction scores and topic analytics capabilities.

Cisco’s AI will help you look after your call center agents

Anurag Dhingra, SVP, CTO and Head of Engineering, Collaboration at Cisco, spoke about the new burnout detection with VentureBeat: “This is where we’re applying AI to predict when an agent is getting burned out and that is starting to affect the quality of interactions that they’re delivering to customers.”

Cisco envisions artificial intelligence helping managers recognize burnt-out workers and give them breaks, boosting their mood and productivity and improving customer experiences.

At the same time, Cisco revealed more AI-powered tools in a bid to keep up with rivals like Microsoft Teams, Google Meet, and Zoom.

More broadly, Cisco has enhanced its AI Assistant for Webex with real-time message translation across chat spaces and messaging channels, with support for more than 100 languages.

Despite its efforts to protect overworked agents, the company jointly announced with Ford on the same day that it would be bringing Webex to certain newer Ford and Lincoln models, including AI-powered background noise reduction, in order to let workers be even more connected with colleagues.

This comes a month after the video conferencing tool made its way into new Mercedes E-Class models, and illustrates a broader trend toward constant connectivity – Tesla owners have been able to use the Zoom app in some models for even longer.

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Craig Hale

With several years’ experience freelancing in tech and automotive circles, Craig’s specific interests lie in technology that is designed to better our lives, including AI and ML, productivity aids, and smart fitness. He is also passionate about cars and the decarbonisation of personal transportation. As an avid bargain-hunter, you can be sure that any deal Craig finds is top value!