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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.

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.

Retail is experiencing a digital transformation explosion after Covid-19. Automation is the trend

Digital transformation in retail has revolutionized every step of the process – from inventory management and merchandise handling and training through to marketing, customer support, and loyalty programmes. Now with the Covid-19 pandemic and its Omicron variant, its main mission is to keep customers shopping in physical stores while offering them the same experience online. This can be achieved by making offline shopping as similar to online shopping as possible. How does automation help the retail industry bridge the gap between the two worlds and succeed?

Retail has always been based on trust, which is built through outstanding customer care and delivering an exceptional customer experience. This will remain to be true, but the ways and means of serving customers will change dramatically over the next decade. “At the heart of the change is technology. In the future, the shopping experience will be more engaging and convenient both for remote and in-store shopping. Compared to today, more transactions will be made with mobile devices and through social networks – with the physical and virtual worlds merging as a result of the omnichannel concept. Customers will be able to serve themselves to a greater extent, and brands will know each customer perfectly, which will allow them to provide a personalized customer experience,” predicts Viktória Lukáčová Bracjunová, the RPA business unit manager at Soitron.

Modern technology has transformed retail and customer interaction

Martin Ohradzanský, the CEO of the NAY Group – a consumer electronics retail chain that also includes the Electro World subsidiary in the Czech Republic – is well aware of the dramatic changes under way. When he took the CEO’s position some ten years ago, online sales accounted for only a fraction of the company’s total revenue. A decade later, they account for roughly a third of total sales. “In the next few years, more will change than just the online to offline sales ratio. That’s why advances in digitalization and automation are an integral part of our long-term strategy,” adds Ohradzanský.

If a company is to be competitive and profitable in the long term, it needs to be able to serve more customers with existing resources and cope with increasing fluctuations in demand. These occur during seasonal peaks and during pandemics and can be the result of suddenly introduced measures or supply chain disruptions.

A long-term journey

A digital transformation is not a short and quick sprint for any retailer. But it’s not a long and strenuous marathon either. The most fitting sporting analogy would be a long-term series of runs – some for shorter distances and some for longer ones – through which a company gradually and systematically moves towards a more digital future.

Companies that have completed several such runs – from basic enterprise information systems through to specialized software solutions for delivery and order management automation – make it easier for their employees to do their job and improve customer service.

Process automation, machine learning, and artificial intelligence

The potential for the application of machine learning and artificial intelligence in retail is limitless, and the industry has barely scratched the surface in this respect. The same is true for Robotic Process Automation (RPA). This allows selected tasks, especially those that require a sequence of repetitive steps based on clearly defined rules, to be done by a software robot instead of a human.

Robots processing cancellations or complaints in call centres

Process automation makes it possible to improve customer service and relieve the burden on staff – initially and mainly on those working in the back office or a call centre. “We were increasingly running into capacity constraints when processing orders during seasonal peaks. It was always difficult to handle these situations with temporary staff, and with online sales growing, there was a risk that we would not be able to complete some orders quickly enough,” says Ohradzanský.

That is why Electro World used RPA to automate some processes, such as the order cancellation process. Call centre agents used to handle several thousand order cancellations per month. For each such cancellation, several steps have to be taken in different systems, for example, checking whether the goods have already been dispatched and paid for. “Today, these tasks are performed automatically by a robot instead of people, which gives the staff more time to deal with more complex customer queries and suggestions,” says Lukáčová Bracjunová.

The call centre of the retail chain also automated the process of handling claims under extended warranty as well as selected finance and HR administrative processes. “We plan to introduce robotization wherever it can help us relieve people of work or improve customer service – and ideally do both,” explains Ohradzanský.

The pandemic is a catalyst for retail digitization

One of the main goals of automation is to increase customer loyalty – whether that be by reducing waiting times, providing better information, or introducing new self-service options. “We used to stand in queues in banks for every payment order, but today we do all transactions via internet banking. Retail is moving towards a similar level of automation,” concludes Ohradzanský.

The future of retail: personalized, digitalized, and automated

The NAY electronics retail chain is working hard to thrive in an increasingly digital world.

Retail has always been based on trust, which is built on exceptional customer care and providing an outstanding customer experience. This will remain the case in the future, but the ways and means of servicing customers will change significantly in this decade.

Technology will be at the centre of this change. The shopping of the future will be more interesting and convenient both online and at physical stores. More transactions will take place through mobile devices and social networks, and the physical and virtual worlds will be even more interconnected thanks to the “omnichannel” concept. Customers will be able to serve themselves to a greater extent than today, while brands will get to know each client perfectly; this will allow them to be able to provide a personalized customer experience.

A step into the digital world

The CEO of the NAY electronics retail chain, Martin Ohradzanský, is well aware of the upcoming dramatic changes. When he took over as CEO about a decade ago, online sales accounted for only a tiny proportion of the company’s total revenue. A decade later, online sales now account for about a third of total sales. In coming years, however, more than just the online to off-line sales ratio will change in the retail world.

Digitalization and automation are an integral part of NAY’s long-term strategy that has been set out by Ohradzanský and communicated by the company at annual employee conferences.

“It is not enough to present the vision and strategy just to the managers. All our people need to know it to see where we are heading and why it is important,” he says.

The need for automation stems from the idea that for a company to be competitive and profitable in the long run, it must be able to serve more customers with existing resources and cope with growing fluctuations in demand. This is due to the growing seasonality of consumer electronics purchases and the unexpected introduction of various measures during the pandemic.

A long-term journey

Naturally, the digital transformation of a large traditional retail chain, such as NAY, is not a short and fast sprint to the finish; however, it is not a long and challenging marathon either. The most fitting sports metaphor would be a comparison to a long series of runs–some of them are short, while others are long – whereby the company is gradually yet systematically heading towards a more digital future.

NAY has already made some progress. In recent years, it has implemented several software solutions – from the basic SAP enterprise information system to specialized software for distribution and order management automation. This has made it easier for employees to do their job, and it has improved customer service.

Technologies that benefit both employees and customers include things such as self-service terminals that assist customers with selecting a case for their mobile phone. In several NAY stores, customers have tablets where they can enter the brand and model of their mobile phone; on the basis of that information, all compatible cases in the display case are then highlighted with LEDs. This is a fairly simple self-service technology that can make the purchasing experience more pleasurable and convenient, while also making things easier for staff.

The beginnings of process automation

NAY’s robotic process automation (RPA) project was driven by similar motivations. This allows selected activities – especially those that require a repetitive sequence of steps based on clearly defined rules – to be performed by a software robot instead of a human.

Process automation makes it possible to improve customer service and make things easier for staff – especially those working in the back-office and the call centre. Due to large demand surges, the company had been increasingly hitting their capacity limits during peak seasons. Covering these peaks with a temporary workforce was always challenging. With online sales increasing, there was a risk that the company would not be able to process some orders in a sufficiently short time.

NAY worked with Soitron to automate processes, such as order cancellation requests, using RPA. Call centre agents used to process several thousand of these requests each month. For each cancellation, they had to conduct several steps in various systems–such as checking if the goods had already been dispatched and paid for. Today, these tasks are performed automatically by a robot, which gives the staff more time to answer other questions and solve other customer issues.

An essential part of the future

Similarly, the call centre managed to automate the process of handling claims under extended warranties as well as selected administrative processes in finance and HR. Ohradzanský’s vision is to extend the RPA concept to other departments and processes.

“We want to implement robotization wherever it can help us unburden our staff or improve customer service, or ideally both,” he explains.

One of the main goals of automation is to help improve customer care and thus increase customer loyalty – be it by shortening waiting times, better information, or introducing new self-service options. It is here that Ohradzanský sees a great future.

“We used to stand in lines in banks with every payment order, and today we do all our transactions via internet banking. Retail is moving in the same direction,” he says.

Naturally, more extensive self-service options would not be possible without process automation. Although the combination of these terms may lead some employees to have concerns about becoming redundant, Ohradzanský keeps assuring people that this concern is unjustified.

“The goal is actually to stabilize the team and create conditions that would allow us to handle seasonal peaks while freeing up employees to work on tasks with a higher added value,” he explains.

If this vision is achieved, it will undoubtedly ensure a bright future for the company and its people.

The best Christmas presents this year will be enjoyed by hackers

This year’s Christmas winners will be hackers. Seriously. Cyber security is currently one of the main issues being addressed around the world. With many people being forced to stay at home due to the Covid pandemic, online shopping is growing. The growth of the e-commerce scene is a major impetus for hackers, who keep coming up with new and more sophisticated strategies. This is one of the reasons why Christmas scams are in full swing, and their rise is even more accelerated by a newly emerging trick which is set to fully appear on 26 November (Black Friday).

As online stores are getting ready for the expected increase in daily sales, we also need to be prepared for the increasing number of cyber-attacks in the upcoming period. This year, due to the ongoing pandemic, this will be true more than ever before. Christmas is a very lucrative time for hackers. With the holiday season and the end of the year approaching, the vigilance of shoppers is often reduced, and people let themselves be tricked by a variety of forms of online fraud.

Companies are under great handling pressure

This has been exploited by attackers for years, and their techniques now increasingly focus on abusing automated systems in order to take a specific action or obtain certain information – the principles of social engineering. In automatically sent phishing emails, fraudsters lure victims with attractive pre-Christmas loans and discounts on electronics, toys, and other Christmas presents in order to get access to cash and sensitive data. They have been increasingly using mobile phones for these schemes.

Re-delivery fees can be a problem

“We all get packages with ordered Christmas presents. However, with the growing number of these packages, we often lose track of what we have ordered and when it is due to be delivered. Hackers have taken advantage of this and invented a new type of attack where a customer receives an innocent-looking SMS message on their mobile phone,” says Martin Lohnert, the head of the Void Security Operations Centre and an IT specialist at Soitron.

The message says something along the lines that a package could not be delivered and that in order to book a new delivery date or pick up the package, you need to click on the following link. If the recipient does so, it takes them to what looks like the web page of a parcel service delivery company. Since we are usually not familiar with what the websites of shipping companies look like, and we do not even remember who should be delivering which package, it never occurs to us that this may be a fraudulent website.

What is interesting about all this is that if the link is opened from a computer, a genuinely looking website will appear. However, if the link is opened on a mobile phone, part of the website address is not displayed; most people do not notice that. The trick is that the fraudulent part of the address is hidden

“If the package recipient trusts the SMS message and clicks on the link, a phishing web page will appear saying that your package could not be delivered and that you need to specify where and when it should be delivered,” adds Lohnert.

After the victim enters their personal information, such as a name and an address, a message is displayed with an apology and a text that says for the package to be re-delivered, it is necessary to pay a small handling fee.

The hacker gets the complete package

In the pre-Christmas rush, people usually do not have much of a problem to pay a little extra money just to make sure they actually get a long-awaited package. Such payments are made by card. The trick is that after the card details are entered, the fraudsters do not deduct a small fee. They completely steal your identity instead.

At this point, the hackers have all they need. They have your mobile number, contact address, and your payment card – they know your identity and your payment details. Such a full-detail package has a high value on the black market. “Logically, these scams can be expected to appear the most on Black Friday and in the following two weeks,” says Lohnert in conclusion.

Start metering your energy consumption and you will save on one of the biggest costs

Trading, manufacturing, and service companies as well as entities such as hospitals and public organisations tend to perceive energy as a necessary cost item which is constantly growing.

They do not pay much attention to it, because some of their managers believe that continuous consumption monitoring, identifying inefficiencies, and adapting their power consumption to the “reserved capacity” contracted with their energy distributor is too complicated, if not impossible.

And yet for many businesses, especially small and medium-sized enterprises, energy is one of the largest cost items. The most energy-intensive sectors include food, pulp and paper, and the chemical industry as well as services. Indeed, the industrial and services sectors account for almost two-fifths of the EU’s total energy consumption (including households).

It is often said that if you cannot measure it, you cannot manage and optimise it. Energy is a perfect example of this. Only a detailed overview of the largest expenditures or leaks and an understanding of when, where, and how they occur can make subsequent remedial action possible.

The good news is that current technologies based on the Internet of Things (IoT) make it relatively simple to monitor energy consumption in great detail. The basis for this is the use of smart meters providing real-time data on the consumption of energy such as electricity or water. Based on our experience at Soitron, our customers achieve energy cost savings by using this technology in the three following ways:

Identification of errors and energy wastage

The first way to use metering to reduce energy consumption, and thus also your costs and carbon footprint, is to compare invoices from the energy provider against your own metering. This can reveal energy losses, such as water pipe leaks in larger industrial facilities.

More detailed consumption metering, monitoring, and comparisons also tend to reveal unnecessary waste, such as when a specific facility has a significantly higher consumption than other comparable ones. A detailed consumption overview has helped some companies realise that they kept their air conditioning running unnecessarily, even on weekends or outside work hours. In our experience, organisations can save up to five percent of their energy costs in the first year after metering implementation.
Current consumption and energy supply contract optimisation

If a company is unable to monitor their electricity consumption over time and actively manage individual energy consuming systems, they can easily repeatedly exceed their reserved capacity. In such cases, distribution companies charge penalties for overconsumption, often amounting to several thousand euros.

Some organisations deal with this problem by increasing their reserved capacity. However, such a solution may turn out to be even more costly as they have to pay higher fixed charges for a capacity that they seldom use.

A smarter solution is to meter the energy consumption continuously and to intervene when necessary by temporarily turning down room chilling or reconfiguring the operation of any large appliances that do not necessarily have to all run at the same time. A similar approach can be used to avoid power outages if the infrastructure is hitting its technology ceiling and the distributor is unable to reserve a higher capacity.
Feedback for maintenance and changes in behaviour

Detailed reports on energy consumption down to the level of individual workplaces or even machines may also have other positive effects. For instance, they provide more insight into the technical condition and the intensity of use of machines. If the consumption is too high, it may indicate a fault, but if it is too low it may indicate that the machine is not being used enough.

Finally, if the metering results are well communicated, they also help to change employee behaviour, which can lead to further savings and higher efficiency.

Conclusion
Of course, there are several ways to achieve energy savings. A company can change their energy supplier, try to get better conditions by renegotiating the energy supply contract, and invest in more energy-efficient machines and equipment.

However, consumption metering is very affordable and can be implemented relatively quickly, which is why it is proving to be one of the most effective ways to reduce energy costs.
Contact our IoT team and find out how much your organisation can save on energy.