From multi-million dollar investments to Apple Airplay integration, here are extracts from popular stories this week.
Google Launches New Contact Center AI Platform
Google has launched a new CX platform which it says is an “out-of-box, end-to-end solution for the contact center”.
Google Cloud Contact Center AI Platform is an expansion of Google’s existing Contact Center AI (CCAI) technology.
Google said the new CCaaS offering tightly integrates AI and cloud scalability with customer relationship management software, to unify sales, marketing and support teams.
Yariv Adan, Director of Product Management, Cloud Conversational AI at Google Cloud, said: “Adding to our Contact Center AI capabilities, Contact Center AI Platform is purpose-built for customer relationship management, extending your ability to offer personalized customer experiences that are consistent across your brand, whether delivered through a virtual agent, a human agent, or a combination of both.
“It eliminates many long-running pain points, from managing data fragmentation to replacing rigid customer experience flows with more engaging, personalized, and flexible support.”
Google said that CCAI Platform is designed to offer a personalised customer experience delivered by virtual or human agents.
RingCentral and Zoom Invest in Theta Lake
RingCentral and Zoom have taken part in a $50m funding round for Theta Lake.
Theta Lake specialises in security and compliance for unified communications platforms and has raised more than $70m, with Cisco among the existing investors to take part in this latest round.
Devin Redmond, CEO and Co-founder of Theta Lake, said: “At Theta Lake, we are rearchitecting compliance with integrated security for the modern communication and information sharing platforms of today’s workforce.
“We have seen tremendous adoption of our platform, and it is inspiring to see customers using our solutions to unlock more collaboration and productivity for their end-users. Modern compliance and security should be a strategic enabler, and we are proving that it can be.
“The addition of Battery Ventures, along with so many of our strategic integration partners, coupled with our existing investors, will drive our ability to innovate and deliver value to our customers at even a more global scale.”
Theta Lake said the latest cash injection validates its platform, which uses machine learning to capture, archive and surface risks across video, voice, chat and text.
Its solution is compatible with products from a number of vendors, including Cisco, Microsoft, RingCentral, Salesforce and Zoom.
Apple Airplay Coming Soon to Webex
The integration of Apple Airplay is one of a series of updates and new partnerships which Webex has announced.
Apple Airplay, which will enable users to wirelessly share content from their Apple devices, will be globally supported on Webex devices from June 2022.
Webex’s latest changes aim to improve the hybrid working experience on its platform, including an industry-first partnership with Ford, which paves the way for Webex Meetings in vehicles.
Jeetu Patel, EVP and GM, Cisco Security and Collaboration, said: “We’re amid one of the biggest shifts of how we work in decades. To attract and retain prized workers, organizations must better align with workers’ desires and values including how, where and when to work.”
“As we march toward our vision of powering a hybrid work experience that is inclusive and empowering for everyone, our new Webex innovations best position our customers to put their people first.”
Another noteworthy change is Webex Go’s release to facilitate cloud calling on your mobile phone. Webex Connect has also been integrated with Webex Contact Centre, enabling communications channels like Whatsapp and Facebook Messenger.
Vidcast has several new features, and there is lots of news surrounding embedded apps; Notion, StandOut, Miro, MURAL, Slido, InVision, and more.
Crestron to Acquire Video and Camera Technology
Crestron has today announced its intention to acquire 1 Beyond’s intelligent video and camera technology, with a closing date expected around the beginning of Q2.
1 Beyond’s automatic multi-camera solution enables individual speaker and full room views to provide a more comprehensive picture for participants.
The camera tracking technology also allows users to harness intelligent video via group tracking , dual camera tracking, and presenter tracking.
1 Beyond’s technology is designed to work in rooms of all shapes and sizes, from lecture halls to corporate and multi-use spaces. This makes it possible to quickly transform a collaboration space into a hybrid meeting room.
Crestron President and CEO Dan Feldstein, said: “To enable productive and effective hybrid meetings, the modern workplace requires technology that provides an equitable experience between the in-room participants and the remote participants.”
“Intelligent video should be pervasive in the workplace, expanding the benefits from the large unique spaces to more mainstream collaboration rooms, and by integrating 1 Beyond products into our portfolio, Crestron is uniquely positioned to make that a reality.”
“With the additional expertise and extensive resources of Crestron behind it, we see the 1 Beyond technology becoming the foundation for future camera and intelligent video solutions that will drive the industry forward.”
The acquisition will strengthen Crestron’s endpoint solutions, as well as improve its overall home automation offering and unified communications experience.
Neat Gets Microsoft Teams Certification
Neat is now certified for Teams having revealed its partnership with Microsoft last year.
Neat’s Board, Bar and Pad now natively run Teams and Microsoft Teams Rooms for Android, with Neat Frame and Bar Pro set to follow with certification.
Simen Teigre, Neat CEO, said:
“Neat for Microsoft Teams opens our unique devices and experiences to a broader market globally, giving customers greater flexibility for their hybrid work environments.
“Working with Microsoft, we look forward to continuing to solve customers’ challenges in the meeting space and help unlock the creative potential of hybrid teams.”
The vendor revealed plans to join the Teams ecosystem of partners last June, having previously only supported Zoom.
Zoom is an investor in Neat, having pumped in an extra $30m last September to take its total investment in the hardware vendor to $41m.
