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How to create a contact centre loved by customers

Long holds on the line, slow responses on chat, unhelpful and unempathetic operators lacking the necessary knowledge – these are just a few of the major issues plaguing company contact centres today and causing headaches for customers. On top of that, inefficient communication and outdated technology add to the frustration. So, how can these issues be resolved to ensure contact centres truly serve their purpose and don’t lose customers? These are the questions for our business consultant Marcel Vejmelka.

Why should companies focus on enhancing customer experience?

Improving customer experience is not just a trend, it’s a key factor affecting a company’s long-term success. Data shows that around three-quarters of positive customer experiences lead to repeat purchases. On the other hand, 55% of consumers are willing to switch brands following a negative experience, even if they had been loyal before. Over 72% of them also prefer to communicate through their favourite channels, which nowadays includes phone calls, as well as digital channels like WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, and others. Modern communication is becoming an essential part of interacting with customers, especially for younger generations.

How can technology reduce customer dissatisfaction from unresolved requests?

Technology plays a crucial role in improving customer experience and reducing consumer frustration. No one wants to repeatedly provide their identification details on a customer service call or deal with a useless bot. These issues should be resolved by Artificial Intelligence (AI) deployed in contact centres. AI should be programmed so that customers don’t have to repeat the same information unnecessarily, and it should only be used for cases where it makes sense.

It’s also important that contact centres offer various communication channels preferred by the people. For example, if young people primarily communicate through WhatsApp, this channel should be included in the contact centre’s offering. Another key element is technology that facilitates efficient communication between operators and the company’s back office. If an operator encounters a problem, they should be able to immediately ask an expert for help, providing real-time answers to the customer.

Can technology enhance operator effectiveness?

Operators in contact centres often face high stress and frustration due to a fragmented working environment and the psychological burden of dealing with frequently dissatisfied customers. Operators must juggle many different applications on their screens, constantly switching between them, which is not only inefficient but also highly stressful. The situation gets even worse when customers switch between communication channels, for example from chat to phone calls, and the operator doesn’t have access to the information previously communicated via another channel. This often extends the interaction and increases the risk of errors.

A well-chosen technology can solve these problems. Firstly, operators should have a balanced working environment integrating various communication channels – voice, chat, email – while allowing them to work from anywhere, including from home. Our solution enables operators to work from home or from the contact centre with the same working environment. All that’s required is an internet connection and a phone.

Another key requirement is that operators have access to all the information necessary for servicing customers in a single place.

What role does communication with the back-office play?

Communication between the operator and the company’s back office is another key element of a successful contact centre. This communication can be integrated into the operator’s working environment using tools like Microsoft Teams or Webex Communicator. For example, searching for relevant information can be made easier with the Agent Assist – an AI-powered tool that helps the operator during a call by listening in to the conversation, creating a real-time transcript, and offering relevant information and facts from the company’s knowledge base.

How should artificial intelligence be implemented?

It’s worth noting that poorly implemented AI can have the opposite effect and worsen rather than improve the situation. When utilising AI, we recommend the “universal harness” approach, which allows companies to use multiple AI systems as needed. This means a company can combine different technologies, such as IBM Watson, Google Dialogflow, or Microsoft Copilot, ensuring effective chatbot, voicebot, or analytics operations. AI implementation permeates the entire contact centre’s technology and should always reflect the specific needs of the company and its customers.

What do companies usually expect from AI implementation in contact centres?

Many companies still think that AI implementation is a simple process, where a bot is deployed, and it solves everything. However, this is a misconception. To effectively implement AI, it’s crucial to first understand in detail what AI is expected to do in the company. This requires close collaboration between the company and the vendor, who must be familiar with the business processes and specific customer communication needs. Only then can AI be implemented in a way that benefits both the company and its customers.

How can this be achieved? Is advanced programming knowledge required?

Many might think that implementing a modern contact centre requires complex programming. The communication platform should be easy to use. That’s why we use Webex Connect, a cloud-based Communications Platform as a Service (CPaaS) developed by Cisco. It’s a tool that allows companies to automate and improve communication with customers across various digital channels. It is positioned above the omnichannel, as it includes multiple functionalities.

Setting up rules on this platform is very intuitive, similar to creating algorithms using visual tools, where individual elements are pieced together. Therefore, no coding experience is required to set up the policies and operating and principles.

How does Webex Connect ensure security?

Security is extremely important, especially for financial institutions. Webex Connect fully complies with standard compliance requirements and encrypts all transmissions and handled content. To provide reliable and secure services, it must meet a range of security standards and regulations.

Which is better for a contact centre – an on-premise or cloud-based solution?

When choosing between on-premise and cloud-based solutions for contact centres, the decision largely depends on the specific needs of the company. Both options have their pros and cons, which should be carefully considered.

On-premise solutions are installed directly within the company, offering greater control over integration with corporate systems. This option may be more suitable for companies with specific security or operational requirements. On the other hand, cloud-based solutions offer lower upfront costs, easier maintenance, faster innovation cycles, and the ability to scale the system according to the company’s current needs – for example, from a small installation for a handful of operators to a system for hundreds of users. The cloud also allows for faster implementation of new features and technologies without the need for complex updates required for the on-premise solutions.

Companies often hesitate to transition to new technologies due to concerns that it might negatively impact their business-critical processes. However, cloud-based solutions offer a significant advantage, as they allow contact centres to be deployed as a service, with updates, security, and new features managed by an external provider, such as Cisco. Unlike on-premise solutions, where each new functionality or module requires more complex integration and additional IT resources, cloud-based solutions significantly reduce this burden.

Who are cloud contact centres suitable for?

Cloud-based solutions are ideal for companies with prior experience operating cloud services or applications. With these experiences, the transition to the cloud will not be anything new for the company, and they will be better prepared to enjoy the benefits of this model. Cloud is also the optimal choice for companies considering the deployment of AI, as AI technologies are much more efficient and easier to implement in the cloud. Another key factor is the speed of the innovation cycle– companies looking to respond quickly to market changes and add new communication channels based on customer demands will appreciate the flexibility of cloud solutions.

What do companies expect from a cloud-based contact centre?

Many companies, especially large organisations such as banks, operate different systems for different business purposes. These systems often include transaction notifications, payment management, or contract handling. Companies expect new communication platforms, like Webex Connect, to integrate and unify communication across these systems, without the need to create separate communication channels for each one. Cloud-based solutions like Webex Connect act as intermediaries between business systems and customers, simplifying communication management and enabling rapid adaptation to new trends.

Currently, there are as many as 16 different digital communication channels, ranging from SMS to modern platforms like Instagram, which can all be integrated into a single contact centre. This integration allows not only for the sending of text messages, but also the transfer of data, videos, or forms, which significantly enhances the customer experience. So why not take advantage of it?

What role does the system integrator play in contact centre deployment?

A crucial one. When deploying a complex system such as Webex Connect, the integrator not only ensures the technical implementation, but also provides consultation on business processes. Successful deployment requires a deep understanding of the organisation’s needs and those of its customers. Often, these are critical systems that must be highly reliable and secure. The integrator is responsible for creating a unified communication environment that enhances customer service while ensuring compliance with the company’s security requirements. Only then it is possible to integrate a functional, reliable, and customer-focused contact centre that will ultimately be loved by the customers.

Deploying AI in a contact centre benefits customers, operators and business

The deployment of artificial intelligence in contact centres is often narrowly understood as implementing a chatbot or voicebot that handles part of the customer communication on behalf of human operators. While voice or text services are the most “visible” part, they are only the tip of the iceberg in terms of AI’s capabilities. Harnessing the potential of AI in the contact centre brings dozens of plus points to operators’ work, customer satisfaction and business results.

Let’s be honest, the monotonous loop of a fruitless dialogue with a chatbot is discouraging rather than uplifting for clients. Ineffective communication is also a source of frustration for human operators who remain a crucial part of contact centres and will continue to be for a long time to come. A skilled implementer can use AI tools in a communication centre to eliminate this fundamental problem and deliver several groups of benefits through AI:

Reduce fatigue and burnout among human operators, which naturally leads to lower turnover rates;
Improve the quality of customer interactions, naturally resulting in happier and more loyal clients;
Enhance team efficiency, leading to increased sales and revenue.

But how does AI achieve this? It’s not necessarily smarter, but it is faster. AI can extract necessary data from thousands of internal and external sources, summarize, contextualize, and suggest the next steps based on that information. Additionally, it can monitor and analyse the interaction between the operator and the customer in real time and offer data, solutions or suggest next steps in this context.

Here the prompting is allowed

According to various sources, contact centre operators spend about 17% of their working time searching for the right answer to a customer’s query. Put yourself in this situation: on one side, an impatient customer sighing, huffing, and rolling their eyes. On the other, a nervous operator frantically searching for information while also watching the clock, waiting for their shift to end. So, an uncomfortable situation on both sides of the line. If AI is properly implemented into the process, it can eliminate such moments. It can either help the operator by quickly finding (and displaying) the necessary information or even directly compose a response and offer it for use.

This greatly increases the operator’s efficiency and eliminates the delays associated with physically searching for the required data. Another even more important benefit is the communication consistency. The company’s answer to the same question is uniform for all clients, regardless if it is Lenka’s or Honza’s shift today. In this deployment, AI becomes an assistant to the operator, hence the terms Agent Assist or Power Agent.

Catch and hold on

There’s a higher level of AI integration that goes beyond simply solving a current issue or business case. It also looks ahead, paving the way for higher sales or profits.

Experienced sales professionals know that the hardest part is often making the initial contact with a (potential) customer. However, in a contact centre, the operator has often already made that first step. The client reaches out on their own, looking to resolve a problem. Ideally, AI can not only handle the current customer request but also add value and expand the transaction through cross-selling or upselling. While the operator and the customer are conversing, AI quickly responds in real-time, identifying related or complementary products, services, or solutions and offering them to the operator as recommendations (next steps). For example, if a client is flying to Malaysia for vacation, AI can detect that they have inadequate travel insurance, prompting the operator to offer a better policy with higher coverage. Similarly, when purchasing a car, AI can schedule and book a service appointment at a partner garage or suggest windshield insurance.

Another area where AI can provide value is in monitoring the status of customer contracts and managing their renewals or updates. This can help companies move away from the unpopular practice of automatic contract renewals, common in industries like energy companies or building societies, which often leaves customers surprised and upset.

The sum of these upgrades or add-ons that AI can elegantly attach to the main offer through so-called indirect assistance can ultimately become a significant source of additional revenue for the company or at least boost customer satisfaction.

Know your operator

A significant persistent challenge in contact centres is the workload and stress of operators. When the stress exceeds manageable levels, it first leads to a decline in the quality of communication with customers and eventually results in staff leaving altogether. High agent turnover is a nightmare for companies because onboarding and training new staff is extremely costly.

AI can analyse operator interactions and evaluate them in terms of knowledge, efficiency, and even workload. The insights generated by AI can serve as a foundation for the further coaching of agents, aimed at improving their knowledge and qualifications.

Equally important is monitoring and managing an operator’s workload. The data summarized by AI can help identify potential burnout risks among agents, which can then be used as a basis for modifying the work schedules or the planning of vacations and time off. AI can also reduce the amount of work placed on operators by generating communication summaries and reports for them, and assisting them in retrieving necessary information. Happier agents then have fewer reasons to seek new jobs.

AI is definitely not a superhero that could completely replace humans in the contact centre. On the contrary, at the beginning of its deployment, artificial intelligence is like a newborn that needs to be taught everything. However, an experienced implementer can combine the strengths of both machines and humans to the benefit of all: the company, the customer, and the operator.

AI has the potential to transform communication in contact centres

Thousands of people have most likely experienced disillusionment with AI. The AI’s response to a question or task was unsatisfactory, vague, or even wrong. The fault lies not with the AI, but with the human, who asked the wrong question or misunderstood the capabilities and limitations of artificial intelligence. The same applies to AI in contact centres.

Various analyses are competing to offer optimistic predictions and superlatives about how groundbreaking AI is for the functioning of contact centres and business-customer interactions. It is estimated that three quarters of contact centres are already using some form of AI. Analysts at Genesys predict that up to 85% of customer interactions will be virtual. Indeed, artificial intelligence has the potential to change the way contact centres operate on several levels. AI can help streamline processes, automate routine tasks, and enhance the personalization of customer interactions. It has the ability to process large amounts of data in real time, allowing for faster and more accurate responses to customer inquiries.

However, there is one big “BUT”. Just as a chatbot is ineffective if given a poor prompt, AI in a contact centre will be only half as effective without proper deployment. The biggest weakness of AI is, in fact, the human element.

Do you speak VietCzech?

A practical example of misunderstanding AI’s role can be illustrated with a case study. One of Soitron’s clients wanted to deploy a voicebot for initial customer contact in their contact centre. However, during discussions with the client, it became clear that more than half of their orders came from Vietnamese merchants. Deploying a voicebot to service these customers would have ended in disaster. Simply because there is no language model in the world that would be trained on Czech with a specific Vietnamese accent, nor is it likely to in the future. Attempting to deploy a voicebot on this language-specific group of Czech residents would not only lead to frustration among Vietnamese customers, but also among human operators who would have to subsequently iron out the consequences of a poorly executed AI deployment.

Held hostage by technology

Many companies in the Czech Republic have historically relied on AI solutions from local suppliers. While these solutions may have offered benefits in the past by catering to the specific needs of the “Czech pond,” they are no longer sufficient. Today, the leading role in AI has been taken over by major global platforms such as Google, Microsoft, IBM, and Amazon, which have managed to overcome previous shortcomings in customization. For this reason, we recommend considering the systems of these global giants as the foundational AI technology in your contact centre.

Many local companies still use multiple local AI providers, arguing that each excels in something else. This often results in a single contact centre employing a chatbot from one provider and a voicebot from another. Soitron also uses various technologies within the same process, but ultimately, the customer has a single AI provider, and that provider is Soitron.

So, the technology is important, but it is not a panacea. When you compare cars like Audi, Mercedes, and BMW, you’ll find that they offer drivers much the same basic features. The same is true for different AI platforms. The real quality comes from how AI is integrated into company processes and the contact centre.

So that AI is not left out in the cold

The right approach to leveraging AI’s potential is to integrate it throughout the contact centre, into communication processes, and into interactions between the company and its customers. The most important part of the work happens before even considering the best platforms or implementation.

Soitron and its consultants must first correctly identify and analyse the processes that the customer wants to automate with AI. Only then can specific implementation and utilization scenarios be developed. These might involve chatbots, voicebots, support for human operators, synthetic voice identification, processing large volumes of data, or any of the thousands of other possibilities.

Sensor AI has a role not only in industry, but also in sectors such as medicine and consumer electronics

Corporate artificial intelligence and robotics are no longer just futuristic concepts but are becoming an integral part of everyday business operations. They enable companies to improve efficiency, productivity, and responsiveness to change. They also help with product innovation. One of the key aspects of this integration is the use of sensor AI, which allows for data collection and analysis using a variety of sensors and devices.

Let’s take a look at some examples of how sensory AI can transform various industries and innovate businesses. The following examples illustrate practices already in use today:

• Industrial automation: In industrial automation, sensor AI is used to monitor and control manufacturing processes. Sensors can monitor essential parameters such as temperature, pressure, or humidity, but also detect microscopic changes in the environment that could signal potential issues. For example, sensors detecting changes in air pressure can warn of impending equipment failure, allowing maintenance to be carried out before the problem becomes serious.

• Medicine: Sensors enable the monitoring of heart rate, blood pressure or glucose levels. This data can be analysed by artificial intelligence, for example to diagnose and monitor health conditions or to predict the future course of a disease or a patient’s response to treatment. Sensory AI detects patterns of changes in blood pressure that may predict when the next hypertensive crisis will occur and warn the doctor or patient well in advance.

• Autonomous vehicles: Sensors are crucial for collecting data about the surrounding environment. In addition to traditional sensors such as lidar, radar and cameras, modern vehicles often use other advanced sensors such as ultrasonic sensors to detect obstacles in the vicinity of the vehicle or sensors to measure road quality. This information is essential for the proper functioning of autonomous systems, which must be able to quickly and accurately respond to various situations on the road to ensure safe driving.

• Smart cities: Sensor AI in smart cities is used to monitor traffic, air quality, noise levels, and other factors affecting the environment. Modern sensors measure essential parameters and identify specific pollution or problems in public infrastructure. For example, a sensor network in a city can detect gas leaks in the distribution network and automatically alert the relevant authorities, enabling rapid action.

• Wearables: Sensors in electronics such as smart watches or fitness bracelets collect data on movement, heart rate and other physiological parameters. This information is not only used for personal monitoring and improving the health of users but can also be shared in the form of anonymised data with research institutions or public health organisations to analyse and predict epidemics or to track population health trends.

Why don’t Czech companies use AI?

Despite all these potential benefits, many Czech companies are still hesitant to implement AI into their processes. There are several reasons for that.

Firstly, there is a shortage of qualified experts in the Czech Republic, who would be able to design and implement AI systems into corporate infrastructure.

According to RSM, a local IT consulting firm, 48% of companies have the technical conditions for rapid implementation of AI, but the development is hindered by both managers and legislation. According to the analysis, specific challenges such as managers’ low willingness to bear the risks associated with pioneering phases of AI implementation, including legislative and security aspects (e.g., personal data protection), are obstacles. It may be difficult to agree across the company on how the corporate AI should work. Moreover, significant revisions of existing legislation and updates to the national AI strategy are needed, a process that is still in its early stages.

Some companies don’t have a clear idea on how to use AI to improve their processes or innovate products and services. This lack of awareness may lead to a lack of motivation for investment in AI technologies.

However, organisations should not resist this trend. In countries such as Japan and the US, AI is already widely used, including in autonomous taxis. Once Czech companies overcome their concerns and embrace AI as an essential part of their operations, they can enjoy higher efficiency, innovation, and a competitive advantage. There is hardly any company that cannot benefit from what AI has to offer, be it from small things such as data processing and analysis, to process automation, automated car control, to fully autonomous factory or shop floor operation.

The age of semantic automation

The combination of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and Artificial Intelligence (AI) creates a powerful symbiosis that can elevate business productivity and efficiency to a new level. Semantic automation, based on generative artificial intelligence, is a driving technology with the potential to fundamentally change the way companies operate.

In a time when digital transformation is a necessity rather than just a trend, RPA is becoming a major player. With its ability to automate mundane, repetitive tasks, RPA significantly enhances employee productivity. Together with AI, they form a synergistic duo, combining automation with the creativity of the human mind.

According to IDC, automation in companies reduces operating costs by 13.5% and saves an average of 1.9 hours of work per week (source: Worldwide Automation Spending Guide 2022 by IDC) per employee. These figures highlight the transformational potential of RPA and AI in increasing productivity and reducing costs.

RPA and generative AI – the combo for perfect automation

Generative artificial intelligence, as a subset of AI, focuses on the creation of content or data rather than just processing it. It uses machine learning techniques such as neural networks and deep learning to create new content in various forms. “Generative AI models learn from existing data and use this knowledge to produce original, creative and contextually relevant output,” explains Viktória Lukáčová Bracjunová, Head of Robotics and Automation at Soitron.

RPA excels in repetitive tasks, follows rules and procedures, doesn’t make mistakes and doesn’t need breaks. It dominates in structured processes, minimizing deviations. It is a key technology component for companies to reduce costs, reduce errors and speed up routine tasks.

Using semantic automation in a dynamic environment

In a dynamic automation environment, the combination of RPA and generative AI creates a powerful synergy that goes beyond the capabilities of either technology alone. “RPA successfully handles routine tasks, while generative AI is strong at processing complex, unstructured data and solving creative challenges. RPA ensures process consistency and minimises errors, while generative AI analyses data and provides deeper insights, improving the quality of strategic decisions,” says Viktória Lukáčová Bracjunová.

In the field of AI and natural language processing, semantics play a crucial role. It provides the foundation for creating advanced generative artificial intelligence systems that are better able to understand and interact with human language, which is crucial for the success of many AI applications.

Implementable in any company

RPA’s integration with existing systems and applications makes this technology an ideal choice for automating tasks within existing workflows. Next-generation automation can work with a variety of data types and formats, ensuring compatibility with a wide range of processes. Generative AI integration enhances customer experience through personalized interactions, understanding natural language and solving complex queries with empathy.

Where semantic automation can help

Advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) capabilities – it can understand and respond to the customer’s natural language, which is key to automating customer care, order processing and maintaining customer relationships.
Machine Learning (ML) – allows robots to learn from data and improve their performance over time, which is crucial for tasks requiring adaptivity or decision making.
Optical Character Recognition (OCR) – enables the reading of information from unstructured digitized documents such as PDFs and images.

Meeting the challenges of the modern market

In a rapidly evolving market environment, the combination of RPA and generative AI delivers precision automation, as well as creative innovation, providing a competitive advantage when deployed. Ignoring this technological symbiosis means missing an opportunity. “Now is the right time to let RPA and generative AI technologies collaborate and achieve improved results,” concludes Viktória Lukáčová Bracjunová.

Generational leap! Deploy Cisco Catalyst Center for campus network management

The corporate network infrastructure has undergone fundamental changes in recent years. Campus network management needs to respond to the way IT is currently consumed. Cloud environment, IoT and hybrid working create extreme demands on network performance and security. Cisco Catalyst Center (CCC) is a centralized virtual platform designed to simplify and streamline network management while significantly improving security posture.

Cisco Catalyst Center offers centralized, intuitive network management that makes it easy and fast to design, provision, and apply policies across the entire network environment. The Cisco Catalyst Center graphical user interface provides complete network visibility and uses network information to optimize network performance and deliver the best user and application experience. CCC can be deployed as a hardware appliance, but most customers appreciate the virtual platform option, which is available for the AWS cloud service and now also for VMware on-premise platform.

Firsthand experience

The Soitron team, an implementation Gold Partner of Cisco, is one of the top specialists in deploying Cisco Catalyst Center in corporate environments. Soitron was one of about 60 selected companies worldwide involved in testing the very first pre-production version of the tool (then known as Cisco DNA Center). “We used the platform to manage our own network in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Bulgaria. We tested the tool for any issues with installation, resources, certificates, and security. Our actual telemetry data were made available to Cisco and used for further development,” said Marianna Richtáriková, Network Business Unit Manager at Soitron.

The scorecard for Catalyst Center

Having first hand practical experience with the tool, Soitron experts were able to identify the areas and situations in which the Cisco Catalyst platform has the highest added value.

Network Design: If you are building a new network from scratch, CCC makes it very easy to design connections in a hierarchical way, adding and defining additional elements in a single tool. Of course, it is also possible to gradually convert the legacy network infrastructure to a modern software-defined network infrastructure.

Centralization: Cisco Catalyst Center enables the centralized management of the entire network, simplifying device configuration and monitoring from a single dashboard.

Automation: CCC provides advanced tools for automating network operations, allowing for fast and consistent network deployment, reducing error rates, and saving time. Any configuration changes can be applied at once across an entire group of devices, minimizing the time a network administrator needs to spend on tedious manual tasks.

Analysis and Diagnostics: The tool provides extensive monitoring and analysis capabilities for network traffic and selected application services. It helps identify problems and respond quickly to outages or security incidents. CCC telemetry provides real-time as well as historical data, making diagnostics much easier.

Security: Cisco Catalyst Center integrates security features and makes it possible to monitor the network’s security status. It helps identify threats and enhance network protection. Automated procedures allow security policy to be prepared in advance and then applied from a single point to any device managed by CCC. For end-users, security policies are applied upon user login (authentication) to the network.

Integration: CCC is designed to be compatible with other Cisco products and technologies, allowing the functionality to be scaled as necessary. It can be connected to platforms such as ThousandEyes for network, internet, and cloud monitoring. An interesting integration is the connection of Apple, Samsung or Intel devices, enabling the monitoring of communication from the device end-user perspective. As for application services, CCC can evaluate and interpret the status of application services such as Webex, MS Teams, and others. An integral part of the solution is also the support for location-based services through integration with DNA Spaces.

Choosing Cisco Catalyst Center makes it possible to create connections not previously possible and transform slow manual processes into automated workflows.

Companies lack expertise in digitalisation. It may cost them customer loyalty

There is no such thing as a bad voicebot or chatbot – only inadequate implementation and lack of diligence in their development and maintenance. In recent years, more and more companies are turning to automated communication systems to improve their services and efficiency. While these automated systems hold great potential for the future, their ability to provide high quality customer
support depends on proper setup, the right choice of technology, and careful content development. Poorly designed or poorly developed voicebots and chatbots can fail to effectively communicate with customers, leading to negative experiences.

Customers want their needs addressed right away. They don’t have the time or willingness to wait for business hours or for a busy customer service centre to finally pick up the phone. In addition to the standard options—calling, visiting a branch, or sending an email—they need to be able to connect with companies online, whether through online ordering or chatting with an operator via Messenger, WhatsApp or a web interface. According to the Association of Small and Medium-sized Enterprises of the Slovak Republic, the average company has achieved only 40% of its digitalization goals. Slovak companies thus have great potential in digitisation, automation and robotisation.

Simpler requests can be handled by bots, allowing employees to focus on more complex tasks. However, their proper setup is crucial—if a customer becomes stuck in a loop with their request and the bot is unable to help effectively, the company’s efforts at modernization are wasted.

“It’s not necessary for a bot to be able to chat with a client about any topic. The customer comes with a specific problem that needs solving. For many companies, a chatbot that just offers a list of buttons with options for what the customer needs is more sufficient,” says Marcel Vejmelka, business consultant at Soitron.

The bot must always find a solution

When developing modern communication centres, it is essential to consider the most common needs of customers and tailor the tools accordingly. Customers want to be fully served on the channel they use to contact the company. “Redirecting to another channel should only be introduced when there is no other option. The bot must be proactive and offer solutions to the customer instead of placing the burden on them,” explains Marcel Vejmelka. For example, if a human operator is not available to handle a more complex request, the bot should ask the customer for their phone number and their preferred time for a callback. This not only ensures that the company legitimately acquires customer contact information, but also leads to a more positive customer experience.

Positive experiences also extend to the staff of communication centres. Integrated applications and the bots make operators’ work easier, leading to higher job satisfaction. In other words, a happy operator equals a happy customer. An empathetic operator is more helpful to the customer. Therefore, companies must also consider the needs of their employees and consider integrating necessary applications into one system. Another advantage is higher work efficiency. However, it is necessary to consider the scalability of such software, so that it can accommodate third-party applications and adapt to continuous progress.

A wanted investment

A common concern among companies is the cost of modern tools. This concern often raises the question of whether such solutions are necessary and if they will pay off. The disadvantage of outdated contact centre approaches may not be immediately apparent: “Without fast communication or with poorly set up bots, companies lose customers, who become frustrated by the inability to resolve their requests and do not come back. And on top of that, they may leave negative reviews online,” clarifies Marcel Vejmelka. Conversational artificial intelligence is estimated to reduce operator costs in European communication centres by about 60 billion euros by 2026. None of the voicebots and chatbots are entirely bad. However, their quality and efficiency depend on the implementation, development, care, and maintenance they receive.

“The right strategy and diligent work on these systems can lead to successful deployment and improved customer experiences. Therefore, when deploying them, it is advisable to use the services of companies with extensive experience in various situations and fulfilling the needs of companies, be it in the field of
finance, insurance, transport or e-commerce management,” concludes Marcel Vejmelka.

Czech Companies Lose Hundreds of Thousands of Czech Crowns Annually Due to the Absence of Energy Management

Czech companies monitor their energy consumption, but not meticulously enough. This results in unnecessarily high operating costs month after month. Although half of the respondents in Soitron’s survey said that energy prices significantly affect their margins, with another 5% admitting severe financial struggles with energy costs, only few companies diligently track their consumption. Yet, simply monitoring consumption and breaking down costs by specific energy sources can eliminate inefficiencies and save up to a tenth of their operating costs.

High inflation and unclear future prospects have plagued Czech companies for over a year. One of the most effective solutions for saving costs is to monitor their energy consumption. “Just observing consumption alone motivates companies to think about how to avoid unnecessary losses of expensive energy,” says Martin Hummel, IoT specialist and product manager at Soitron, a leading IoT integrator operating in the Czech Republic and Slovakia.

It would suffice to switch off machines that are momentarily not in use and consider the choice of new equipment in the future. Or use automation to automatically help reduce energy consumption.

A Soitron survey with 86 participating companies reveals that almost every company (92%) tracks their energy expenditures. Those not monitoring consumption either claim they do not need this data or lack the necessary equipment to collect it.

As for companies monitoring their energy consumption, their approach varies. Some companies primarily look at data for the whole company (47%); more than a third (35%) monitor consumption through secondary metering at the building or individual hall level; and only 9% monitor through secondary metering at the level of individual lines and machines. The remaining respondents do not concern themselves with the detailed breakdown. Depending on the size and type of the company, they are unnecessarily losing up to hundreds of thousands of Czech crowns per year. These inadequately-spent funds could be better used for further development, bringing about both savings and the simplification of day-to-day work.

This problem can be solved by implementing an energy management system, commonly used in modern operations to manage and optimise energy consumption. The first steps to monitoring and managing energy consumption are inexpensive. “The metering system monitors the consumption of the technologies, heating, cooling or lighting in real time. It is thus able to quickly identify specific points of inefficiencies, such as the lights turned on in an empty building. In several implementations, companies have reduced their consumption by 5 to 10% just by obtaining this data alone. So, their investment was paid back in a matter of weeks,” explains Hummel.

Without input data, optimisation is difficult

The key factor for most companies is to save on production costs. For 60% of respondents, the amount of total energy consumption is the most important, possibly in combination with the price of energy on the spot market, and possible penalties for exceeding their 15 min maxima. Companies follow their energy consumption and energy prices and optimise their production processes based on these factors. Production profitability, i.e. the ability to produce a product for less than what it sells for, is an important indicator for one-third of respondents (34%), suggesting that everything is working as it should.

However, the majority of companies (74%) do not use any specific system to collect and analyse energy consumption data. Those that do use data collection claim that having such data is useful. “Any software that enables accurate data analysis is worth it,” declares Hummel. Five percent of the respondents who said they could not manage without external help also admitted that they had no idea what percentage of the total cost of a product is the energy cost. Another five percent of companies was unable to assess the impact of high energy prices on the profitability of their production. To such companies, data collection would provide the easiest help.

The NIS2 Directive can increase the security level of organizations in the Czech Republic

The European NIS2 (Network and Information Security Directive 2) can make things more difficult for Czech organizations, but it can also help them solve their cybersecurity problems. This is particularly the case for those organizations that have not yet addressed this serious threat until now or could not justify the necessary budget for sufficiently qualified staff.

The NIS2 Directive aims to make the EU’s digital infrastructure more resilient to cyber attacks and improve coordination and incident response capabilities. “Many entities in the Czech Republic and elsewhere are not taking these matters seriously enough. This is due to the fact that there is a shortage of IT experts – let alone cybersecurity experts – on the market. Since the entities affected by the new directive will be obliged to ensure that their IT networks and information systems are sufficiently protected against cyber threats, this problem may become even worse,” says Petr Kocmich, Global Cyber Security Delivery Manager at Soitron.

What the directive changes

The institutions concerned must implement measures to prevent cyber attacks and threats, such as performing regular software updates, securing network devices, and providing protection against phishing attacks. In addition, they must prepare contingency plans for cyber incidents and establish mechanisms to deal with them quickly and effectively.

Major incidents must be reported within twenty-four hours of becoming aware of the incident and cooperation with national security authorities will be required. Any company that fails to comply with these requirements may be subject to fines and other sanctions.

Dvě mouchy jednou ranou

It would be great if the NIS2 Directive could help end the shortage of cyber security experts; however, this is unlikely, and, at first glance, it might even seem to exacerbate the problem. Having said that, the new regulation is an excellent opportunity to make organizations more secure. External cybersecurity service providers can help. They have sufficient capabilities that organizations are lacking. “Specialized companies focus on providing these services and can help entities implement security measures and risk management as a complete package, i.e. a turnkey service or a solution delivery including support and compliance with the NIS2 Directive,” says Kocmich.

Specialized companies can help organizations solve both problems in ensuring compliance with the new requirement and improving previously incomplete security of their IT infrastructure and information systems; however, even if organizations use the services of such providers, the responsibility is still theirs.

They should choose their service provider cautiously and ensure that they are sufficiently qualified, experienced, and certified. It is also important to make sure the tasks are properly assigned and that the contractor’s performance is monitored. To ensure the efficiency and effectiveness of the model, the roles and responsibilities should be clearly defined in the contract between the organization and the cybersecurity service provider. It should be understood that the quality of the service delivered often reflects the quality and management capabilities of the provider.

Who the NIS2 Directive applies to and from when

The directive will mean greater obligations for companies in the Czech Republic in relation to network and information system cybersecurity and protection. However, it will also improve protection and resilience against cyber threats and cooperation between European countries. Last but not least, meeting the requirements of the NIS2 Directive can help organizations gain the trust of their customers and partners, who will be more satisfied with the protection of their data and information. Overall, the directive could help entities to improve their security practices and minimize risks.

The NIS2 Directive applies to electricity producers, healthcare providers, electronic communications services, and over sixty other services categorized into eighteen sectors. In the Czech Republic, the directive will start to apply on 16 October 2024 and will cover up to 15,000 entities – these are medium and large companies with over fifty employees and companies with an annual turnover of over CZK 250 million. Although the NIS2 Directive will only apply to organizations that meet the defined criteria, and others are not directly obliged to comply with the requirements, it is worth considering using it as a recommendation for improving general cybersecurity in other companies.

Opportunities for other entities

“It is estimated that up to 70% of domestic organizations have a problem with their cybersecurity. Smaller and medium-sized enterprises in particular do not have sufficiently secure IT systems and do not comply with basic security measures,” says Kocmich. Common problems include benevolent user access rights, a lack of two/multi-factor authentication in combination with weak passwords (including those of administrators), mismanagement and the decentralization of user identities, outdated and unpatched hardware and software containing vulnerabilities, missing network segmentation, weak or missing email and Internet access protection, inadequate perimeter protection, low visibility into network traffic, low or missing endpoint security, a lack of central log management, and inadequate employee training. “Cybersecurity is a big issue for many companies in the country. They can become easy targets for attackers. The NIS2 Directive should help raise awareness and protection against cyber threats,” adds Kocmich.

For more information on obligations under the NIS2 Directive, see the dedicated website (http://nis2.nukib.cz) of the National Cyber and Information Security Bureau (NCISB).

The effect of misconfigurations on business

International and Czech organizations continue to move their IT systems and data to the cloud environment. However, moving to the cloud is not just about migrating data. It is also about changing the access of system administrators, and this often brings new challenges and configuration procedures. During the migration process, it is easy for something not to be taken care of, set up, or configured properly in accordance with best practices. This leads to “misconfigurations”. As a result, companies are unnecessarily exposed to more attacks than before and cannot adequately defend themselves against them.

Both cloud and on-premise solutions offer clear benefits and address specific challenges and needs of organizations. However, taking the existing fully local IT infrastructure and moving it to the cloud without making necessary changes (the so called “Lift & Shift” approach) is a common mistake. Both on-premise and cloud environments have their pros and cons, which is why customers often use hybrid environments. The reason for this solution is usually a legal requirement (due to data sensitivity and where this data might be physically stored), the architecture, and the complexity of legacy applications that can be made compatible with the cloud only with disproportionate investment and efforts or not at all.

Forcing it is not acceptable

Migrating to the cloud can help organizations reduce IT costs (if cloud resources are used appropriately) and have more computing power. More importantly, they can have more scalable performance available at any time, increase storage flexibility, and simplify and accelerate the deployment of systems and applications, while accessing data and systems from anywhere, anytime, 365 days a year.

However, as far as cyber security is concerned, deploying the cloud can increase the likelihood of an organization being attacked by malicious actors. If the “let’s go to the cloud” decision is made, it should be taken with due responsibility. First and foremost, it is important to understand that the cloud as such is a shared responsibility between the cloud service provider and the customer, so the cloud is never a panacea. We can talk about choosing the right model (IaaS/PaaS/SaaS), but if we want to relieve the inhouse IT/SEC team, the right way should be the PaaS and SaaS model, where most of the responsibility falls on the cloud service provider. In addition, the act of moving to the cloud should also be seen as an opportunity to move to a modern and secure corporate infrastructure solution. At the same time, we must not forget to involve the security department, which should be a fundamental and integral part of any project like this.

Unfortunately, most cloud migrations often mean just forcing and moving the existing system in its current form. This means that companies should ideally start utilizing native cloud resources, which often requires the replacement of existing monolithic applications. Otherwise, they gain nothing by simply moving their systems and data to the cloud, and it will most likely cost them more than their original on-premise solution.

Misconfiguration playing the main part

Today’s on-premise solutions are relatively well-equipped with security monitoring and auditing tools in terms of established and proven standards, but this is not necessarily true for migration to the cloud. Cloud misconfigurations are vulnerabilities waiting to be noticed by attackers. These are gateways through which it is possible to infiltrate the cloud infrastructure and, thanks to the interconnection and hybrid mode, also laterally affect the existing on-premise infrastructure. This allows attackers to exfiltrate data, including access data, telemetry data of machines in the OT environment, health records, and personal data, and then do something like deploy some ransomware.

According to experts, an average enterprise has hundreds of misconfigurations every year, but their IT departments are unaware of the vast majority of them. All misconfigurations are the result of human error and missing cloud configuration health check tools (e.g. Cloud Security Posture Management – CSPM).

The impact of cloud misconfiguration on system security

When migrating systems, what often happens is that selected services that had only been available internally within the on-premise solution are exposed to the public online space after the migration without any filtering and blocking of external network traffic. Many companies suffer from this, including critical infrastructure operators. It may therefore happen that a console for controlling industrial control systems becomes publicly available online. We recently detected an ICS console of a production and assembly line control system available online without any authentication required. What we often see are services containing exploitable vulnerabilities without any additional security. The security may have been deployed in the on-premise solution but has not been implemented in the cloud (e.g. a missing Web Application Firewall). Quite common are services with default credentials and services used for the remote management of customers’ internal systems or even freely accessible sensitive data.

This is why there are dozens to hundreds of incidents per month, as seen in the statistics of our monitoring centre. Security misconfigurations become easy targets for attackers who know that they are present in almost every enterprise. This neglect can have disastrous consequences. It helps attackers to reconnoitre and infiltrate customer environments, create persistent links for remote access, take control of systems, and exfiltrate data and login credentials, which are then disclosed or sold to be used for further attacks. Alternatively, it opens the door to lateral ransomware or cryptojacking attacks, in which cloud computing resources are exploited to support cryptojacking activities.

Steps to minimize the risks of misconfigurations

Configuration management, and especially monitoring, requires a multifaceted approach.

Organizations should implement well-established security practices, such as regular Cloud Security Posture Management assessments, to help detect a range of security defects and misconfigurations. It is important to follow the Least-Privilege principle and to continuously monitor and audit cloud systems.

Maintaining sufficient visibility of cloud assets should be a priority, just as it is in on-premise solutions. Strong identity and access management helps scale permissions to ensure the right level of access to cloud services.

The identification and prevention of various misconfigurations during cloud migration help enterprises eliminate major security issues. Specialized companies can help by guiding the organization through the entire process and setting everything up correctly.

The ChatGPT AI chatbot could be a gamechanger in the cybersecurity, experts say

From the surgical debugging of programming code, to instantly writing an entire block of functional code, and the stopping of cybercriminals, OpenAI’s newly launched popular ChatGPT AI chatbot is changing the game and its capabilities are virtually limitless. And not just in IT.

It has only been around since 30 November last year, but in just a few months it has already been discovered by millions of people around the world. We are talking about an artificial intelligence platform able to answer any question and help with various problems. ChatGPT can answer any general question; write letters, poems, and articles; and even debug and write programming code.

How the ChatGPT AI robot works

This conversational chatbot, backed also by the well-known visionary Elon Musk, who has been involved in AI for years, was developed by OpenAI. ChatGPT is designed to interact with humans in an entertaining way and answer their questions using natural language, which has made it an instant hit among professionals as well as the general public. It works by analysing huge amounts of text. Most of the texts were sourced from the internet, but the chatbot is currently not connected online, which means it won’t tell you the result of yesterday’s Sparta vs Pardubice game. It sees the interaction with the user in context, and hence it can tailor its response to be relevant to the situation. In this way, everyone can learn something.

Experts even suggest that the AI chatbot has the potential to replace the Google search function in the future: “Another very promising feature is its ability to write programming code in any user-selected programming language. This helps developers work on and debug their code, and it helps experts secure their systems,” points out Petr Kocmich, the Global Cyber Security Delivery Manager at Soitron.

How ChatGPT can be used by developers

Today, writing code is not a problem for ChatGPT. What is more, it is absolutely free. On the other hand – at least for now – it is advisable to avoid having the chatbot generate complete codes, especially those that are linked to other codes. The current form of the platform is still in the early stages of development, so it is naive for programmers to expect it to do all the work for them. Having said that, coders and developers can still find the tool useful.

They can use it to find bugs in the code they have written. And they can also finetune a problematic code they had spent long hours writing. ChatGPT can help find a bug or a potential problem, and it can offer a possible solution to end those sleepless nights. Its ample computing power saves hours of debugging work and can even help develop source code to test the entire IT infrastructure.

There are some risks

Without much exaggeration, it could be said that ChatGPT can turn anyone into a cybercriminal, making it easier to carry out a ransomware, phishing, or malware attack. It may seem that the AI robot just needs to be asked to “generate the code for a ransomware attack” and then you just wait for the result. But, as Kocmich points out, it’s fortunately not that easy: “Conversations are regularly checked by AI trainers, and responses to this type of query, as well as other potentially harmful queries, are restricted by ChatGPT. Actually, the chatbot responds by saying that it does not support any illegal activities.”

On the other hand, even if it evaluates a question to be potentially harmful and thus refuses to give an answer, this does not necessarily mean that people can’t get to the answer some other way. “The problem with these safeguards is that they rely on the AI recognizing that the user is trying to generate malicious code; however, the true intent may be hidden by rephrasing the question or breaking it into multiple steps,” says Kocmich. Moreover, nobody can guarantee that some other similar AI robot would not refuse to answer such a question.

What to think about ChatGPT

As is often the case, there are two sides to every coin. While AI bots can be exploited by cybercriminals, they can also be used to defend against them. In the meantime, coders could gradually turn into “poets”. They would tell the AI chatbot that they need to write such-and-such a code that does this and doesn’t do that, or describe the same in a case study, and then they just wait for the AI bot to generate the code.

“Already, ChatGPT is being used by security teams around the world for defensive purposes such as code testing, reducing the potential for cyber-attacks by increasing the current level of security in organizations, and training – such as for increasing security awareness,” says Kocmich, adding in the same breath that we should always bear in mind that no tool or software is inherently bad until it is misused.

Cloud communication makes customers happier and employees more loyal

To acquire and retain customers is a challenging task in a competitive environment. Now, more than ever, a high-quality product or service is a must. But it’s not enough on its own. The key factor determining if a customer stays or goes to a competitor is customer experience. And that is based on communication.

In retail, as well as other sectors, it is likely that the first thing a customer comes into contact with is a contact platform they communicate with when choosing or returning goods, or when booking an appointment. “Today’s digitally savvy consumers demand a fast, interactive, and personalized response; however, given the multitude of various communication channels and platforms, it may be difficult to keep the customer’s journey clear and simple,” explains Marcel Vejmelka, Senior Business Consultant at Soitron. Thankfully, there are solutions on the market that eliminate this problem and bring this very important part of business to the next level.

It is essential to get rid of silos

There are many systems and platforms ready to meet all requirements. One platform designed specifically for this purpose is Webex Cloud Contact Center (Webex CC): “By deploying it, you can break down communication silos and create an omnichannel environment in which separate channels work together. This includes voice services, SMS, chatbot, web, WhatsApp, Facebook, and other communication channels,” says Vejmelka. This solution also goes beyond a simple connection with the customer. It is directed inwards and supports communication with the company’s business systems and in-house customer data.

It is this interconnection, trend analysis, feedback, and identification of various events in a customer’s life that enables an organization to move towards a personalized customer experience. “For instance, you can set up an automated process to trigger specific communication a month and a week before (or after) a contract expires. You can also customize contacts to specific types of customers, such as loyal customers, high spenders, and Apple or Android users. The possibilities are virtually endless,” says Vejmelka.

A platform as a service

Cisco has built the entire platform as a service; its parameters are set explicitly to fit the needs of a specific customer. The platform is rented by a partner/integrator. Before it can be deployed in an organization, it is necessary to conduct a business process analysis. “It is only then that the business processes are implemented and deployed in the platform. This ensures that the investment actually makes sense,” says Jaroslav Martan, Cisco’s Collaboration Specialist.

#CiscoExpertTip – odborníka Cisco pro oblast collaboration Jaroslava Martana: Webex CC nepotřebuje složité programování

The Webex CC platform is a low code/no code solution. The individual building blocks of the platform can be moved within the communication logic with no complex programming: “This is a major benefit because it allows sales people who are most familiar with the intricacies of customer relationships to be directly involved in the actual platform configuration,” Martan explains.

Since it works with customer data, Webex CC also carefully addresses the issue of security. Cisco cloud solutions adhere to the highest security standards. For example, the content of all phone calls is encrypted so that no unauthorized person can play it back. For European customers, Cisco guarantees that their data will not leave the EU as well as GDPR compliance.

kontaktne centra kresleny obrazok cisco expert tip

Getting rid of operator turnover

Webex CC offers more than just benefits for customer relationships. In today’s environment, where hybrid working has become very popular, the system offers functionality for remote operators, allowing them to work from anywhere and at any time. The platform eliminates the majority of on-premise hardware, servers, and other devices requiring regular upgrades or replacement.

With Webex CC, there is no need to build and maintain a physical contact centre. This solves the problem of employee turnover, which is usually huge in this service segment. Operators who work remotely are happier and more loyal, and they ultimately know much more about customer needs. For example, at the telecommunications giant T-Mobile, they were able to move 12,000 operators from contact centres to remote environments with the help of Webex.

No closing time and excellent ROI

Once deployed, Webex CC’s sophisticated configuration delivers very concrete and precisely quantifiable savings. In a paper entitled “The Total Economic Impact of Cisco Webex Contact Center”, Forrester Research analysts calculated that the payback on Webex CC would take thirteen months and that the ROI would be 262%. The cloud platform has no limitations on operation times and can run 24/7 with no problems. It is a more than suitable solution for the e-commerce, healthcare, and financial services segments.