This week, Amazon Web Services (AWS) launched enhanced capabilities for its artificial intelligence (AI)-powered assistant, Amazon Q in Connect, making it easier for contact centers to provide custom and personalized customer service. With the latest update, contact centers can configure the assistant’s responses to match their company’s brand and guidelines. This includes adjusting tone and language, as well as providing predefined replies.
The collaborative workplace vendor is integrating productivity-enhancing AI workflows across multiple offerings, all with the intent to save users’ time. I recently attended a pre-briefing on Zoomtopia, the Zoom conference taking place from October 9-10, in San Jose. The briefing highlighted the announcements, innovations, and product developments that the company will unveil this week.
Bandwidth recently held its first-ever customer and analyst event, Reverb24, at its headquarters in Raleigh, NC. Bandwidth is an interesting company because its platform powers most UCaaS / CCaaS industry. Most mainstream providers use its Communications Cloud, including Zoom, Webex, Five9, Nice, and others.
From one vertical to the next and across the globe, corporate decision makers are huddling up over how best to protect their people from the coronavirus disease, COVID-19. Many have curtailed or restricted travel, and others have broadened the scope of their work-at-home programs as fear over the pandemic spreads. Use of video meeting services, which had already been on an upward trend at businesses looking to create more collaborative and engaged workforces, has skyrocketed.
Recently, Five9 reported its second quarter FY24 results. While the quarter was strong, the forward-looking guidance was light, which sent the stock tumbling over 25%. I asked the company about the light outlook, and a spokesperson stated, “We reduced our 2024 revenue guidance by 3.8%, primarily driven by macro headwinds.” While the company cited macro as an issue, its guidance contradicted Five9’s publicly traded peers, which all echoed a more consistent outlook.