Welcome to No Jitter Roll, our regular round-up of communications and collaboration news. In today's NJR, Zoom and Genesys expand their contact center partnership, Upstream announces AI integrations, and Panasonic Connect reveals hardware for the hybrid office.
Zoom and Genesys Expand Phone Partnership
Zoom and contact center service provider Genesys expanded the terms of their partnership,
per a press release that says the two companies are "building upon their integration between Zoom Phone and Genesys Cloud CX."
Zoom began 2022 by
announcing the availability of an omnichannel CCaaS offering, Zoom Contact Center, formerly known as Zoom Video Engagement Center. This latest team-up, where Genesys will enable its global direct and indirect channel to deliver a combined Zoom Phone plus Genesys Cloud CX solution, is potentially another way for Zoom to access the contact center market.
Upstream Works Announces New AI Integrations, New Cloud Offerings
The omnichannel contact center provider
announced artificial intelligence (AI) APIs, including an email API feature that will allow any email in the queue to be preprocessed by a dedicated AI application and an API that lets a business use AI applications to provide real-time guidance to boost agent performance in contact centers. The Upstream Works Desktop will also support conversational AI with full-agent escalations, plus AI reporting on first contact resolutions.
"Adding new AI capabilities can easily start back down the road to desktop complexity,” said Rob McDougall, CEO of Upstream Works. “AI technology will play a significant role in customer care."
Additionally, Upstream announced Upstream Works 5.0, the latest iteration of its customer service agent desktop, with features designed to accommodate a geographically dispersed and remote workforce: a streamlined upgrade program, enhanced security, and VPN-less access.
Finally, Upstream is introducing full cloud offerings on the Cisco SolutionsPlus program, an integrated offering for Cisco UCCX and xCCE. The UWF Standard Omnichannel Cloud SaaS Solution for UCCX will feature an enhanced agent desktop that connects and will be available in the first quarter of 2023. The UWF Enterprise Omnichannel Cloud SaaS Solution for xCCE will have an agent desktop that integrates with Cisco UCCE, PCCE, HCS, WxCCE and WC; it will also be available in the first quarter of 2023.
Panasonic Connect Adds New Hardware for Workspaces
Device maker Panasonic Connect
announced the following additions to its professional audiovisual (AV) portfolio, each with features meant to enhance hybrid meetings:
- The EQ2U Series 4K LCD Professional Displays: These monitors have a built-in whiteboard function to annotate the display screen and zoom in/out using a mouse, can move between landscape and portrait mode, and have up to 18 hours of continuous operation. Shipments are scheduled to begin in June 2022.
- The PT-FRQ60 1-Chip DLP 4K SOLID SHINE Laser Projector: The PT-FRQ60 includes two HDMI inputs and a 4K video connection. The projector will be available starting in July 2022.
- The PressIT360 360 Degree Camera Speakerphone (TY-CSP1): This phone includes four integrated 360-degree cameras with a microphone and speaker. Voice is recognized within a radius of more than 16 feet, so a presenter can move around the room while speaking, and participants all over the room can be heard. Shipments are scheduled to begin in August 2022.
“Flexible technology that creates opportunities for workers, educators and students to engage more seamlessly and create deeper connections is no longer a nice to have, but a necessity across corporate environments and college and university venues,” said John Kaloukian, director of solutions and services at Panasonic Connect.
