Google has secured a series of impressive CCaaS wins, rubberstamping its credentials as a cloud contact center provider for the largest and most complex enterprises.
In an exclusive interview with CX Today, Amit Kumar, CCaaS Product Manager at Google, rattled off a long list of enterprise megadeals, including a 10,000-seat win in North America.
Yet, this is only one eye-catching example, with Google leveraging CCAI-P to displace legacy systems within many household name brands.
Those include the largest online retailer in Mexico, a prominent pharmaceutical vendor in Brazil, and a global insurance firm – each with several thousands of agents on Google’s platform.
Kumar promises much more, too, with a healthy pipeline brimming with businesses looking to expand their positive relationships with Google.
“We have lots of existing Google Cloud Platform (GCP) customers, looking to advance the relationship by adding CCAI-P in their environment,” he said.
If they use the CCAI suite – the platform’s predecessor – and are looking to replace their legacy vendor, we have consistently been automatically added to those evaluations and requests for proposals (RFPs).
Interestingly, Kumar also notes that the CCaaS solution has become a “door opener” for the tech juggernaut, highlighting three core business drivers:
- Its reliable, scalable, secure foundation
- Cloud-native, AI, and user-first design
- A focus on driving customer success
One look at the CCAI platform’s architecture underscores the first two drivers, with the underlying Google Kubernetes Engine (GKE) providing a powerful, cloud-native base.
First, that allows Google to innovate quickly, as it did so throughout 2023, releasing 100+ new CCaaS features in 16 release waves. The graphic below includes many of these capabilities.
However, the GKE groundwork also enables that all-important scalability, with Kumar sharing an example of a global enterprise scaling the solution – across various locations – for 3,000 agents in less than five months.
Such successful implementations are also thanks to Google’s multi-region capability, which powers the platform to run automatically and reliably in multiple locations around the world and across various clouds.
Its security-focused foundation is critical, too. After all, Google doesn’t store any data within the platform. Instead, it encrypts everything – at rest or in transit – and funnels it into the business’s system of record.
With concerns over reliability, security, and scale, most large enterprises have not yet switched to the cloud – sticking with their legacy premise-based platforms.
Typically, those platforms are Avaya, Cisco, and Genesys. Each has a CCaaS offering, yet Google has displaced each vendor in the enterprise – thanks primarily to these factors, suggests Kumar.
Yet, he also noted that its AI-friendly design is becoming another significant business driver as Google aspires to move the needle with AI in the enterprise.
For contact centers, it has so far released many new GenAI features, evolved its native conversational intelligence solution (CCAI Insights), and embedded its Magic Quadrant leading conversational AI into its platform’s core. Now, Kumar and his team strive to get on the front foot. He said:
With AI, we have a big advantage. While other vendors must wait for releases and integrations from third-party providers before assembling and furthering their roadmap, we have everything in-house. That’s invaluable and will allow us to bring exciting products to market much faster.
Its upcoming real-time translation tool for voice – set for release in early 2024 – is perhaps the best example of this original innovation. However, Kumar revealed that much more is to come – as Google senses a broader opportunity in the space.
But, it’s not only talking the CCaaS talk; it is walking the CCaaS walk. Indeed, Google is switching its global service operations to CCAI-P, hoping to show how the offering can flourish in one of the world’s biggest, most diverse service environments.
What’s Coming In 2024?
Google has promised to maintain its pace of CCaaS innovation in 2024 and – alongside its real-time translation tool – will soon release more AI-powered solutions for its Contact Center AI Platform.
Agent-proficiency-based routing – which takes performance data across intents to match the customer with the best-placed agent – is particularly exciting.
Meanwhile, other eye-catching AI-driven features in the works include a supervisor-assist application, new agent-assist features, and many more GenAI capabilities fueled by its in-house Gemini innovation.
Another critical focus for Kumar’s team will involve tailoring capabilities from across Google’s broad portfolio for contact center teams, driving fast, original feature development.
It has already done this by leveraging Workspace, Dialogflow, and Looker features. The latter has enabled Google to augment its CCAI Insights solution and the agent desktop, delivering performance insights on the fly.
Workspace is also fascinating, as Google has leveraged its channel capabilities – like video – bringing across features like screen recording and adding new functionality, such as co-browse.
In the coming months, the provider will add more channels – including Instagram – while also bolstering its native workforce engagement management (WEM) solutions.
Yet, all this is only a taster, as Kumar concludes:
It has been a great, successful year for us in CCaaS that has gone far beyond our expectations, and we’re going to keep that going, delivering new innovations at a rate of knots.
Finally, Google has also strengthened its partnerships with third-party providers – including Alvaria, NICE, and Verint – if businesses wish to integrate their existing WEM solutions.
Expect many more similar partnerships to come in 2024, alongside innovation.
Eager to learn more about the CCAI-P? If so, you can request info from a Google Cloud Specialist by visiting: cloud.google.com/contact/
