Abstract Bullets:
• Current enhancements to the 8×8 platform are intrinsic to a foundational pivot the corporate has taken.
• The pivot masks the true scope of capabilities 8×8 supplies and dangers complicated the market.
8×8 has been very busy not too long ago with new rounds of enhancements to its platform that strengthen the client expertise. A pattern of extra noteworthy options consists of: an AI assistant for composing chat messages; the flexibility for workers outdoors the contact heart to interact with prospects through digital channels; the introduction of JourneyIQ which provides companies the potential to optimize the client journey throughout all channels, departments, and touchpoints; and the announcement of AI Orchestrator which allows interplay between bots from totally different distributors and helps hand-offs between bots and human brokers.
The introductions come as organizations are below intense stress from prospects to forge deeper connections. To fulfill that demand, contact facilities have been present process a profound transformation with the idea of a ‘contact heart’ yielding to the broader idea of ‘buyer expertise’. Contact facilities are changing from agent-centric to together with self-service, from reactive to proactive, from transaction-oriented to relationship-oriented, and from generic to deeply personalised. 8×8 and rivals corresponding to Cisco, Microsoft, and Zoom have been rolling out a gradual stream of capabilities to assist organizations make the transition.
The brand new options from 8×8 are intrinsic to a foundational pivot the corporate has undertaken. 8×8 has shifted from an organization with communication and collaboration at its core to at least one with buyer expertise making up its central id. Concurrently, 8×8’s ‘XCaaS’ platform has been renamed to ‘8×8 Platform for Buyer Expertise (CX)’. Given the significance of buyer expertise available in the market, each the pivot and the brand new title make sense.
Nonetheless, the change in course comes with a value. Whether or not referred to as XCaaS or 8×8 Platform for Buyer Expertise (CX), it homes the identical trio of unified communication, buyer expertise, and CPaaS capabilities. The brand new platform label together with 8×8’s metamorphosis right into a buyer expertise firm could lead on some available in the market to imagine that 8×8 is now solely centered on buyer expertise. The positioning that 8×8 took so lengthy to construct – as a supplier of built-in unified communication, buyer expertise, and CPaaS – is prone to getting misplaced.
In a great world, 8×8 would merely reverse course and return to the land of ‘XCaaS’. However that’s in fact unrealistic given the complexities of a rebranding and repositioning of the dimensions 8×8 has executed. As a substitute, 8×8 wants to speak loud and clear – and repeatedly – that along with buyer expertise, it nonetheless supplies unified communication and CPaaS and delivers these options in an built-in package deal. The earlier, the higher.
