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RingCentral AIR Pro automates CX with agentic agents
RingCentral launched AIR Pro, an agentic AI platform to autonomously handle customer interactions with enterprise integrations, prebuilt agents and no-code tools.
LAS VEGAS -- RingCentral launched AI Representative Pro, an omnichannel, agentic version of its AI Receptionist platform, at Enterprise Connect.
AI Representative (AIR) Pro expands on the conversational capabilities of AI Receptionist with technologyI that enables AI agents to understand intent, determine next steps and take multi-step actions without human intervention. However, users can set boundaries for agents. AIR Pro includes a no-code agent builder, AIR Pro Studio, to enable teams to design, build and deploy their own voice and digital AI agents.
Additional features include multilingual support that enable customers to move between languages mid-conversation, integrations with over 100 enterprise systems and APIs, built-in analytics, and governance and security controls.
"When you talk about customer service, it's not just a one-shot thing," said John Finch, global vice president of product marketing at RingCentral.
A customer interaction or call is just the touchpoint. Automating behind-the-scenes customer service work with agentic AI enables human agents to focus on tasks more relevant to business and revenue growth, he said.
"People call in with a lot of questions, and those questions can be handled by AIR pretty easily," said Paul Rapier, vice president of IT at the Detroit Pistons. "AIR is pretty smooth, we've tested it a lot."
AIR Pro also supports vertical use cases with prebuilt agents, workflows and integrations, starting with healthcare. For example, healthcare organizations can deploy workflows for patient identity and verification, resolving billing inquiries, patient record management and post-visit follow-up.
RingCentral plans to release additional vertical-specific agents and workflows for industries including financial services, retail and professional services.
'Flywheel' approach to CX
AIR Pro ties into RingCentral's three-agent suite that includes AI Virtual Assistant (AVA) and AI Conversation Expert (ACE).
- AIR/AIR Pro. This agent handles initial customer interactions and answers questions based on the knowledge base. AIR Pro can transfer customers to human agents when it encounters knowledge gaps.
- AVA. Offering real-time support to human agents during customer interactions, AVA can provide contextual information and suggestions to help human agents handle calls more effectively.
- ACE. Formerly known as RingSense, ACE provides post-call analysis by listening to and transcribing conversations. It can identify where AI agents have knowledge gaps and automatically update the knowledge base and documentation.
Finch described a scenario where all three systems work together to improve the customer experience: A dental office opens a new location in Aurora, Colo., and a customer calls to make an appointment. However, information about the new location has not been updated in the knowledge base, and AIR Pro cannot autonomously handle the customer call.
AIR Pro hands the call off to a human agent, assisted by AVA, to make the appointment. Following the call, ACE reviews and transcribes the conversation, extracts relevant knowledge about the new location and updates the knowledge base. The update enables AIR Pro to schedule appointments for that location without needing to escalate to a human agent.
"We have this flywheel effect on how everything keeps data and information updated, so that you're bettering customer service," Finch said.
Katherine Finnell is senior site editor for TechTarget's unified communications site. She writes and edits articles on a variety of business communications technology topics, including unified communications as a service, video conferencing and collaboration.
