Earlier this month, NICE launched the "world’s first and only CX-aware AI platform": NICE Mpower.
Heaping praise on the solution, one NICE exec referred to it as the "Holy Grail" of CX.
Yet, that messaging is a little confusing. After all, the announcement actually marks the bundling of NICE CXone and Enlighten, the vendor’s AI suite.
That’s it. There’s no new platform for CX nerds like me to drool over; it’s a new offering.
The bundle will cost $249 per agent per month, pairing the full capabilities of CXone with Enlighten, NICE’s AI platform, which includes Enlighten Actions, Autopilot, and Copilot.
Enlighten XM is another notable feature, as that's what makes the offering "CX-aware".
The XM solution – added to the Enlighten platform in March – helps integrate conversation data, metadata, and analytics from the contact center ecosystem.
With this, service teams may better understand each customer’s journey and preferences, allowing them to build better customer profiles.
Moreover, it enables businesses to create a unique memory graph for each customer. That memory graph informs the LLM behind each contact center GenAI use case to bolster and personalize its outputs.
By pulling this solution into the fold, NICE underlines its prowess and contact center innovation.
Yet, the contact center is only one part of the customer experience, and – for most brands – their CCaaS offering isn't their central CX solution.
As Simon Harrison, Founder & CEO of Actionary, says in an upcoming BIG CX News Update:
CCaaS is a technology that the c-suite wishes it never needed to buy, staff wish they never had to engage with, and customers wish they never had to use.
In this sense, labeling a CCaaS offering – albeit a highly proficient one - as the "Holy Grail of CX" is perhaps a little misleading. Similarly, branding Mpower as a "platform" when it's a bundle is confusing.
Nevertheless, NICE is excellent at delivering CCaaS technology. Just read the relevant Gartner Magic Quadrant or Forrester Wave reports.
Moreover, NICE Mpower will support contact centers in simplifying their CCaaS and AI expenditures.
In hindsight, that’s perhaps a more compelling message to share with the C-suites that NICE wants to engage with.
NICE Is Addressing the CCaaS Pricing Challenge
Until now, NICE offered six packages for CXone. Its most comprehensive – the "Complete Suite" – costs $209 per agent per month.
Yet, users of that suite may have also leveraged elements of Enlighten à la carte, pushing up prices even higher.
The problem with this à la carte model is that many contact centers – every so often – add a new AI feature to their operations. After three or four additions, prices surge and CIOs despair about how much they're paying for a CCaaS offering.
Thankfully, MPower can simplify AI procurement and make the costs much more predictable.
That said, alongside the $249 per agent per seat pricing plan for Mpower, there is an additional usage-based charge for every Autopilot or Copilot session.
Nevertheless, the pricing model still promises greater cost predictability for contact centers.
With this new model, NICE follows in the footsteps of fellow its CCaaS stalwart Genesys, which recently released a token-based AI pricing strategy.
Making this observation, Rebecca Wetteman, CEO & Principal Analyst at Valoir, stated:
All these folks are looking at: how do I bundle this packaging so I can get people to try AI, without tying it to agents in seats?
"After all, those seats aren’t going to drive the volume of workflows moving forward."
As such, NICE is getting ahead of the curve, ensuring not only cost predictability for customers but also sustainability for its business.
Expect many more similar pricing plans from other CCaaS providers in the coming months, with this AI pricing conversation still in its infancy.
The Potential Problem: Are Contact Centers Ready?
NICE has earned its reputation as a CCaaS visionary and leader. That’s again evident in the Enlighten XM element of the Mpower offering, alongside the new pricing strategy.
The potential problem with this release is that most enterprise contact centers are far behind NICE’s innovation curve.