A new Verint study reveals only 10 percent of contact center leaders believe telephony will have an impact on CX automation over the next 12 months while 53 percent indicated artificial intelligence (AI) and 23 percent said digital channels will be the driving forces behind their CX automation efforts.

The survey of 300 contact center leaders in the U.S., U.K., Australia and New Zealand, was conducted by Verint^® and sheds light on current and emerging contact center challenges. The report specifically looks at the critical role of openness, automation and AI in addressing how brands need to do more with less while simultaneously elevating CX. It evaluates the use of Contact Center as a Service (CaaS) solutions and their effectiveness in an era where AI is playing a starring role in customer engagement transformation.

The survey shows that first-generation, telephony centric CCaaS solutions are failing to create a more efficient contact center and under perform in three ways: 1) poor support for omnichannel engagement; 2) no effective mechanism for reducing administrative burdens on the contact center; and 3) engagement data isn’t leveraged or optimized.

In addition, 75 percent of survey respondents said they leverage CCaaS solutions for customer engagement. However, the survey results show that many leaders are not satisfied with the performance of their CCaaS solutions. For example, 80 percent of those surveyed felt that using AI, automation and bots for self-service and agent-assisted tasks are important features but less than half (41%) are satisfied with their current solutions. Along the same lines, 82 percent feel easy integration into third-party systems is important, but only 46 percent are satisfied with this capability in their organization.

“Our research underscores the imperative for contact centers to embrace openness in their technology platforms,” says Verint’s Jenni Palocsik, vice president, marketing insights, experience and enablement. “The shift from telephony-first to AI-driven solutions is evident, and organizations that prioritize flexibility and innovation will lead the way in delivering exceptional customer experiences now and in the future.”

Verint delivers an open CX automation platform for agile, scalable omnichannel customer engagement with data and AI at its core. The platform enables businesses to choose applications based on their needs, access comprehensive engagement data, and augment their human workforce with specialized AI-powered bots. This approach enhances agent and customer experiences by unifying engagement data, ensuring continuous AI training, and augmenting the human workforce with specialized AI-powered bots.

Ahead of The Big Game kick-off on Sunday, February 11, Discover will unveil a new commercial from the “Especially for Everyone” brand campaign starring award-winning actress Jennifer Coolidge. In the ad, titled “Robots,” Coolidge finds herself in a relatable situation, calling customer service and expecting to only interact with a robot.

“Robots” uses Coolidge’s comedic performance to highlight what can be an irritating expectation consumers have when calling customer service. According to a recent Discover and Dynata survey, 95% of Americans prefer engaging with a live customer service agent instead of a customer service bot.

See the full 30 second “Robots” ad here.

“It might have been a lucky coincidence that this commercial subject happens to be the bane of my existence,” said Jennifer Coolidge. “I don't remember telling anyone at Discover about my daily battles with technology--the day starts with my phone and purchasing things online; airline tickets, clothing, and anything else I need quickly. When I need quick, customer-service help with something I will make it to a certain point working with a robot and then I get caught in this maze unable to get out. And then I get sent back to the beginning which makes me crazy. It’s usually something a human being could fix in two seconds.”

“Great customer service is becoming increasingly hard to find, but Discover customers can talk to a live US-based agent 24 hours a day, 7 days a week,” said Discover Chief Marketing Officer, Jennifer Murillo. “Jennifer Coolidge brings her comic genius to our latest ad, this time to bring to life a refreshingly great experience we create every day for our customers.”

“We were able to tap into a human truth that an overwhelming majority of people crave to be recognized and valued, which includes talking to real people when trying to reach customer service,” said Kirsten Rutherford, Executive Creative Director at TBWA\Chiat\Day LA. “Jennifer Coolidge brought this truth to life in a way only her comedic experience could. The ‘Especially for Everyone’ brand platform is all about how Discover products and services ensure all customers feel valued and challenges the old notion that the best experiences are reserved for a select few.”

Updated digital watermarks deliver greater security, adaptability, imperceptibility, performance, and control

Digimarc Corporation, the pioneer and global leader in digital watermarking technologies, today announced the availability of its next-generation digital watermarks featuring more advanced security and greater access control. Digimarc’s next-generation digital watermarks have also been optimized to efficiently address multiple use cases while simultaneously delivering pronounced improvements in both imperceptibility and performance. 

“Drawing on Digimarc’s three decades of expertise and intellectual property, our next-generation digital watermarks deliver dramatic improvements across multiple key areas critical to our core use cases – the identification and the authentication of physical and digital items,” said Ken Sickles, Chief Product Officer at Digimarc. “Our latest digital watermarks are the most sophisticated we have developed and represent a step change in state-of-the-art digital watermarking.”

The latest improvements include:

Advanced Security

Digimarc digital watermarks leverage enhanced encryption techniques requiring an authorized private key to detect and decode, strengthening data security by ensuring information is protected in transit to and from the Digimarc Illuminate platform (cloud or edge server).

Greater Control

Powerful new data access controls allow companies to provide different audiences with different information for different purposes. Access to the data associated with the digital watermarks can also be limited, revoked, or changed at any point and in real time.

In addition to greater control of data, companies can also limit detection of the digital watermark to specific devices or individuals (e.g., authorized brand inspectors), enabling product authentication without revealing to counterfeiters or the public that the item is protected.

With this greater control, companies can now deploy digital watermarks well ahead of activation, unlike other data carriers, making it easier to benefit from packaging refreshes, regional rollouts, and future product digitization initiatives.

Improved Adaptability

Digimarc digital watermarks retrieve dynamic data from the Digimarc Illuminate platform (cloud or edge server), unlocking the power to deliver specific information based on context, purpose, and permissions. This adaptability also allows the same digital watermark to support all identifiers or data structures and seamlessly power multiple use cases.

Increased Imperceptibility

Our latest advancements in digital watermarking technology deliver increased covertness and more robust reading performance without sacrificing the power of unlimited data granularity.

Extended Distance Detection

Digimarc digital watermarks are optimized to leverage improvements in machine vision and inspection camera technology to dramatically increase distance reading. Recent testing by Digimarc shows the ability to read digital watermarks consistently and accurately up to 10 feet away with widely-available cameras, an important milestone that enables next-generation checkout and inventory management, in-store and throughout the supply chain.

Importantly, these improvements do not impact Digimarc digital watermarks’ unique applicability to both physical and digital assets, delivering the same capabilities whether used on products and packaging or digital images and multimedia. Digimarc’s ability to traverse both physical and digital domains unlocks unrivaled capabilities and reveals never-before-seen data critical in today’s omnichannel world.

Digimarc digital watermarks also continue to deliver incomparable reliability and accuracy under harsh or unfavorable conditions (including high-speed motion, occlusion, and damaged or manipulated items), ensuring the robustness and redundancy of Digimarc’s digital watermarks remain unmatched by other data carriers.

In a strategic move that marks a significant milestone in the product management landscape, Beamer has announced a merger with Userflow. This partnership reinforces both companies' positions as leading providers of no-code product adoption and engagement platforms and expands their combined capabilities by offering a consolidated toolkit for leading product-led growth (PLG) teams across the world. The combined company intends to be a major player in the Digital Adoption Platform space.

The combined company provides Product teams focused on driving product-led growth (PLG) with a robust toolkit that enables product adoption and engagement. Beamer's best-in-class product communication and feedback tools complement Userflow's innovative no-code flow user onboarding and product adoption tools, and with both companies being product-led themselves, Beamer and Userflow remain easy to adopt, easy to purchase, and easy to scale. 

Satya Ganni, CEO of Beamer, adds "User onboarding, in-app communication and more tooling to drive product adoption are highly sought-after features among Beamer customers and prospects, making up almost 40% of asks. Merging with Userflow is a huge win for our customer base and will give them access to a truly all-in-one growth toolkit."

Beamer is a leading platform for PLG teams looking to build better products and improve user engagement. The company's Changelog, NPS, and Feedback products serve as intuitive tools that facilitate direct communication and feedback between product teams and their end-users, ultimately helping to increase engagement and reduce churn.

Userflow has distinguished itself in the global SaaS community with its innovative no-code guide builder, enabling businesses to be more product-led. Founded in 2019, the company has reached significant scale without any external funding by implementing PLG best practices themselves.

Satya Ganni, CEO of Beamer, expressed his excitement about the merger, "We are thrilled to welcome Userflow to the Beamer team. The talent and innovation that Sebastian and Esben have displayed in building Userflow is tremendous, and their no-code builder for in-app onboarding experiences complements Beamer's mission to help companies build better products. We are also deeply grateful for the support and partnership from Camber Partners and Arsenal Growth, who have been instrumental in this journey."

The newly combined company services thousands of growing SaaS businesses across the globe and totals more than 200M monthly active users with a shared vision to offer a two-way communication channel between product teams and their end-users. Profitable and growing, the company intends to add key headcount and build additional product lines to supplement both platforms and reinforce value to customers.

Esben Friis-Jensen, Co-founder and CGO of Userflow, reflected on the journey, "Joining forces with Beamer heralds a new era for product teams worldwide. We're impressed with Beamer's comprehensive toolkit and excited about the combined potential to serve our global customer base even better."

Beamer's merger with Userflow is timely, as many analysts have proclaimed that we are in a Golden Age of Product Management. The accelerated pace of technology development and adoption, the increase in digital transformation initiatives, consumer-like expectations for software products, and data-driven decision-making are all key trends that have resulted in the rise of the product function, as well as the demand for best-in-class software tools that serve these teams' needs. The markets for Digital Adoption and Product Engagement suites are forecasted to grow from $700M to $3.7B by 2030 according to Dataintelo.

Seedtag, the leading global contextual advertising company, announced today the appointment of Kartal Goksel as the company's Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Goksel brings over two decades of expertise in the AdTech industry to Seedtag, where he will drive the company's technological direction and spearhead innovation efforts.

Goksel's extensive experience in the ad tech industry includes roles at CNET, CBS Interactive, Pubmatic, and Kargo. At Kargo, he served as the Chief Technology Officer, leading the development of the company's SSP. Goksel's deep understanding of the publisher's perspective, coupled with his expertise in performance marketing, will be invaluable as Seedtag continues to innovate and evolve.

"Kartal Goksel is an invaluable addition to our leadership team," said Jorge Poyatos, Co-CEO & Co-Founder of Seedtag. "His wealth of experience and deep understanding of the ad tech industry make him the ideal candidate to lead our technology efforts. We are confident that under Kartal's guidance, Seedtag will continue to lead privacy-first advertising supporting the transition to a better internet."

As the new CTO, Goksel will assume the responsibilities previously held by Paul Goldbaum, Seedtag's former CTO. Goksel will be based in both New York City and Madrid, and will be responsible for leading the research and development of new technologies, managing Seedtag's technical teams, and implementing technology standards and practices. Additionally, Goksel will play a vital role in shaping the company's future strategies and decision-making processes. With a successful track record in launching innovative products and building high-performing technology teams, Goksel is primed to help Seedtag maintain its position as the industry's leading contextual advertising provider.

"I am grateful for the opportunities I've had in my career thus far, but joining Seedtag feels like the most impactful step I've taken," said Goksel. "The industry is undergoing an unprecedented transformation, with the retirement of third-party cookies and the rise of privacy-centric solutions. Seedtag's contextual-first ethos positions us perfectly to thrive in this evolving landscape. I'm eager to collaborate with Seedtag's data science team to develop groundbreaking solutions and drive the company forward in its next chapter of success."

"After nearly a decade at Seedtag, it felt like the right time to pass the torch," said Paul Goldbaum, Seedtag's former CTO. "I'm thrilled to have Kartal taking on the role as Seedtag's new Chief Technology Officer. His proven track record building technology solutions in the AdTech space will be crucial in continuing to fuel Seedtag's growth in the ever-evolving advertising landscape and new market opportunities. With his leadership, I am confident that the Seedtag team will reach new heights, and I eagerly anticipate seeing their accomplishments."

Mesh, the modern provider of real-time professional license verification trusted by leading marketplaces, today announced the launch of its Multi-Factor Business Identity solution for marketplaces, ecommerce, and vendor & contractor compliance. Co-founded by ex-Amazon executives, Diego Asenjo (CEO) and Tony Bryan (CTO), and following a $5.7 million seed round led by Greycroft, Mesh now helps companies seamlessly verify, onboard, and monitor any legitimate U.S. business – along with their registration, licensing, insurance, and background information – with industry-leading 99%+ satisfaction reported by verified SMBs and sole-proprietors.

An overwhelming majority of companies with business onboarding, trust and safety, and vendor compliance needs depend on manual reviews. Advisory firm Liminal found that 98% of surveyed companies require some manual review, with nearly 60% relying on manual reviews for at least a quarter of their business verifications. Their findings among financial institutions echo Mesh’s insights on buyer and seller onboarding in ecommerce, marketplace trust, and vendor compliance.

To solve this problem, mid-size and large companies often deploy teams across product, engineering, data science, and operations, and a stack of vendors to get the necessary business signals and increase coverage. Still, these companies require tens to hundreds of manual operators to review small and micro businesses that are partially or fully “invisible” to their vendors and annually see millions of dollars lost to customer friction, regulatory non-compliance, and fraud.

With Mesh, there is a better way. Mesh’s Business and Entity Verification (BEV) solution combines privacy-centric data collection, hundreds of proprietary integrations with primary sources and real-time government data, an ecosystem of data partners, and identity lifecycle workflows to offer unmatched accuracy, data freshness, and non-compliance detection – while delivering high automation, conversion, and SMB satisfaction.

"Mesh has effectively addressed the challenges of establishing business trust and navigating compliance with their innovative Business and Entity Verification solution. We are thrilled with Mesh’s expertise and vision in bringing an accurate and seamless solution for companies,” said Elaine Russell, Operating Partner at Greycroft.

"Mesh's extensive integrations into disparate data sources give them the ability to automate the vast majority of business identity verification, relieving customers of painstaking manual review processes and bringing a frictionless user experience that consumers have grown accustomed to in the B2B world," said Ruth Foxe Blader, General Partner at Foxe Capital.

Introducing Multi-Factor Business Identity Verification

Mesh introduced the next evolution in its verification platform, offering:

• Multiple Signals: Mesh delivers signals including, but not limited to, business user identity, licenses, insurance, tax information, business risk, end-user risk, and documentary evidence through a single API.
• Dynamic Data Capture: Mesh dynamically adapts its data capture experience to customers’ order parameters, end-user inputs, and real-time risk signals, ensuring a radically simple and tailored user-friendly experience.
• Real-Time Data: Mesh triangulates real-time verifications with hundreds of governments, third-party data, and partner networks, and delivers unmatched data freshness with risk labels for customers to automate decisions.
• Enterprise Platform: Mesh makes its data collection frictionless and transparent, tailored to customers' needs with multiple fast-start options. Mesh is already trusted by multi-billion dollar marketplaces.
• Privacy by Design: Mesh secures data collected from SMBs with bank-level encryption and only shares it with their consent. Mesh is proudly SOC2 Type II Certified.

Mesh’s journey from License Verification to a Business and Entity Verification (BEV) solution signifies an evolution into a complete, end-to-end business identity platform.

Diego Asenjo, CEO of Mesh, said, “The status quo is frustrating. Business verification processes can take a day or more in 30%+ of cases, and often, small businesses are simply invisible to single-point solution providers. Companies must also integrate and triangulate with multiple disparate single-point solution providers for business, license, insurance, and other data – which is time-consuming to implement, customize, and maintain across platforms. And despite their efforts, companies suffer losses stemming from incomplete coverage and stale data. Companies love Mesh’s comprehensive identity platform because of our uncompromising commitment to delightful data capture experiences, accuracy, and in-depth coverage with real-time data with a single multi-factor API that is a no-brainer. Legitimate small businesses and sole proprietors love that getting verified with Mesh’s custom-branded building blocks feels safe, quick, and easy.”

“The response to verifications by Mesh from our community has been very positive, and we’re pleased with the increased engagement we’ve seen from verification. Homeowners see the verification badge, which increases their trust and the likelihood of a connection. Our Verified Pros see higher quality leads and get more business. We’ve created a healthier ecosystem for our customers. Everyone wins here,” said John Mannelly, Senior Product Manager from Houzz.

Expanded Leadership

With 30+ years of senior Amazon experience, Diego Asenjo (CEO), Tony Bryan (CTO), and founding engineers rounded out their leadership team with industry veterans. They are Mike Nelson (CRO), who founded the identity verification (IDV) business at Mitek and led revenue at BehavioSec (acquired by LexisNexis Risk Solutions) as the company’s CRO; and Andres Benvenuto (VP of Partnerships & Data), with 20+ years of experience in data businesses like Socure, Dun & Bradstreet, and Creditsafe.

New experimentation and event tagging capabilities help teams intuitively track and optimize web activity

Amplitude, Inc. today announced the expansion of its Digital Analytics Platform to include Session Replay, new experimentation capabilities, and simplified event tagging. With Session Replay, Amplitude now combines qualitative and quantitative data to help companies understand the “why” behind user behavior. New Experiment capabilities help teams build more personalized websites and campaigns. Visual tag editor lowers the barrier to entry for companies getting started with data collection and instrumentation. Alongside redesigned pricing options to meet the needs of organizations of all sizes, these new capabilities help companies see everything their customers do, understand what drives growth, and build better products—all in one platform. 

In today’s market, the experience a customer has with a digital product or website directly impacts the success of that business. That's why organizations need to have a clear and connected understanding of customer behavior. These insights are the foundation for creating personalized experiences that allow organizations to attract, engage, and retain customers.

The new features of Amplitude’s platform include:

• Session Replay: Session Replay helps companies visualize the user journey through the product, showing what customers like and where they get stuck. Integrated with Amplitude Analytics, organizations gain access to both qualitative and quantitative insights to fix issues, drive greater conversion, and ultimately, improve the customer experience. Session Replay is generally available today.
• Experiment for web: Deliver personalized experiences with new web experimentation capabilities. Easily test multiple landing pages to optimize web and campaign performance. Paired with Amplitude Analytics, teams gain a holistic understanding of what impacts customer behavior and how to deliver experiences that drive growth. Experiment for web will be generally available in the first half of 2024.
• Visual tag editor: Visual tag editor automates the data collection and instrumentation process to help teams intuitively track website or app activity. Visual tag editor will be generally available in the first half of 2024.

“Understanding customer behavior is the key to building successful products and enabling businesses to thrive," said Francois Ajenstat, Amplitude’s Chief Product Officer. "With these new capabilities, we’re bringing the next generation of digital analytics to market, combining qualitative and quantitative insights and simplifying how companies get started with Amplitude. With a single platform that is easy to use and easy to scale, every company can deliver better customer experiences that drive growth.”

“We needed a centralized platform that made data visible to everyone in our organization, even if they had no previous experience with analytics. With Amplitude, we got that and more,” said Leia Schultz, Product Manager at Homebot, a real estate finance education portal. “Amplitude has put data at the center of our decision-making process. We can analyze behavior, make iterative changes, and quickly communicate the impact of our design changes, ultimately giving us confidence in our decision-making.”

With plans for organizations of all sizes, companies can get all the tools they need at once or start small and scale as their business grows. Plans include:

• Free: Easily discover and report on user behavior insights to make smarter product decisions with the Free plan.
• Plus: Answer questions, experiment, and deliver personalized experiences faster with a powerful suite of products—without the forced add-ons.
• Growth: Drive results and revenue with advanced analytics, custom metrics, and dedicated customer support.
• Enterprise: Leverage trusted data at scale with enterprise-grade security features for companies with complex needs and controls.

Amagi ADS PLUS, the premium CTV advertising marketplace from the global SaaS technology leader for Connected TV and Free Ad-Supported Streaming TV (FAST) services, Amagi, today has announced a strategic partnership with ShowHeroes, a prominent player in the global digital advertising space. This collaboration marks a significant milestone for Amagi ADS PLUS as it further solidifies its presence and expands its reach within the European market.

ShowHeroes, known for its innovative and engaging advertising solutions, has been a trailblazer in the EU, creating unique opportunities for brands to connect with their audiences. The partnership with Amagi ADS PLUS will enhance ShowHeroes' capabilities, offering advertisers advanced solutions and an extended reach across the European region, with an emphasis on Germany, Spain, France, and the UK.

Amagi has been at the forefront of technological advancements, pioneering the Commitment to Certification and higher standards in advertising Transparency and Consent Framework (TCF). This commitment ensures that advertisers leveraging Amagi ADS PLUS benefit from a brand-safe advertising environment, where user data is protected. The TCF aligns with industry standards, promoting a higher level of trust and accountability in the advertising ecosystem.

James Smith, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Amagi ADS PLUS, said, "We are excited about our collaboration with ShowHeroes, a company that shares our passion for innovation and excellence in CTV advertising. This partnership not only strengthens our position in the European market but showcases unique native ad formats and the impact of long-form creative."

Sarah Lewis, ShowHeroes Global Director of CTV, said, "The partnership with Amagi ADS PLUS is a significant step forward in our mission to deliver cutting-edge advertising solutions to our clients. By joining forces with Amagi ADS PLUS and embracing the TCF standards, we are upholding a new benchmark for quality and transparency in digital advertising. This collaboration will undoubtedly elevate the advertising experience for brands and audiences alike."

This strategic alliance between Amagi ADS PLUS and ShowHeroes not only signifies a major business milestone but also demonstrates a shared commitment to excellence, innovation, and the highest standards in the rapidly evolving world of digital advertising.

Amagi ADS PLUS and the FAST Deals marketplace are built on the foundation of Amagi's industry-leading FAST platform, which currently facilitates content creation, distribution, and ad insertion across more than 110 million hours of viewing and more than 1 billion ad impressions. ADS PLUS leverages Amagi's extensive relationships with premium CTV content owners to establish an advertising marketplace that bridges the gap between content creators and leading advertisers.