RingCentral Expands RingSense Across its Portfolio

RingCentral announced it is expanding its RingSense artificial intelligence (AI) platform across its portfolio. Per the press release, RingSense for Phone incorporates generative AI to enable organizations to turn their voice conversation data into insights that can enhance productivity and improve business outcomes. The idea is to leverage AI broadly across all aspects of business communications to make interactions smarter and drive productivity improvements.

Key Features of RingSense for Phone

RingSense for Phone offers customers a range of features designed to unlock the potential of their RingCentral-hosted conversations. Per the press release, some highlights of this platform include:

1. Transcripts and Captions: Real-time, AI-generated transcripts and captions of calls. These can be used instead of manually taking notes. Transcripts can also be used post-call for follow-up documentation and analysis.
2. Call Summaries and Insights: AI-generated summaries, call highlights, and keyword detection with each recorded call for a digest of important moments in a conversation. This is an efficient way for all participants and reviewers to recap what was said and capture action items. It can also support knowledge retrieval and compliance for regulated industries. 
3. Conversation Sentiment Analysis: RingSense detects the tone and energy of conversations to help users identify opportunities and potential issues. It can, for example, identify specific inflection points such as questions, clarifications, and feedback.

RingCentral has expanded its capabilities with generative AI by creating its own, private large language model (LLM). Many of the enterprise communications providers are using LLMs to generate more intelligent automated responses. RingSense is part of that movement, but ahead of the pack in terms of applying it so broadly.

RingSense stems back to the Dec 2020 acquisition of DeepAffects. I featured the RingCentral-DeepAffects acquisition as one of the top UC acquisitions of 2020. DeepAffects brought to RingCentral a new set of voice-biometric capabilities, such as emotion recognition, speaker identification, and accent detection. At the time, RingCentral intended to integrate DeepAffects technology across its entire portfolio, and now it has done so.

What started as a specialized tool catering to sales teams has now evolved into a comprehensive suite of capabilities under the name "RingSense." RingSense can be likened to a personal coach. It leverages conversational AI to equip individuals with valuable insights to foster improved outcomes. Currently available in beta, RingSense for Phone is expected to be generally accessible later this year.

New Features for RingSense for Sales

RingSense for Sales, launched in March 2023, also received updates to provide sales teams with “revenue intelligence” which is the process of using AI and automation to extract valuable data from customer interactions across calls, emails, video meetings, as well as integrations with popular platforms. The goal is to help sales teams identify and go after revenue opportunities that might have gone unnoticed across their conversations.

Per the press release, the latest enhancements to RingSense for Sales include:

• Expanded Integrations: With ten new integrations, including Salesforce, Hubspot, Microsoft Dynamics, and others, users can attach their conversation data to CRMs and emails, streamlining workflow and enhancing customer engagement.
• Deal Scoring: Sales managers can track pipeline health by analyzing aggregate and individual deal levels, enabling better decision-making and performance monitoring.
• AI Coaching: Sales agents can improve their interactions through AI-analyzed conversational metrics, such as energy, tone, and interruptions. Managers gain visibility into their team members' performance, fostering a culture of continuous improvement.

RingSense for Sales also streamlines performance evaluations by rapidly identifying areas of improvement. This tool promises to drive revenue growth while reducing burnout and turnover, while fostering more meaningful customer interactions.  AI and data-driven scores blended with manager feedback offer positive sales coaching that benefits sales reps and contributes toward a positive culture.

Expanding generative AI across the portfolio is one more significant achievement for RingCentral. In a separate development this week, the company announced that its founder and CEO, Vlad Shmunis, is transitioning to an Executive Chairman role. Tarek Robbiati will become CEO. Robbiati has been a member of the RingCentral Board of Directors since December 2022. Previously, he was the CFO and EVP of Finance and Strategy of Hewlett Packard Enterprise.Shmunis ushered RingCentral from concept to industry leader and has been ahead of industry transitions numerous times. 

Dave Michels is a contributing editor and analyst at TalkingPointz.