The winners of this edition of the TMC Labs Customer Innovation Awards exemplify a unified theme: Advancing customer engagement through innovative, AI-driven technologies that address critical challenges in communication, customer service, and operational efficiency. Each of the winning companies—ITMCX, AcuCall, Verint, Klearcom, and NICE—has developed cutting-edge solutions that reshape how organizations interact with their customers, offering unmatched capabilities and measurable results. These innovations empower businesses to enhance customer satisfaction, streamline operations, and achieve unprecedented levels of performance.
ITMCX’s Voice Border Element (VBE) showcases the vital role of network reliability and security in modern customer communications. By integrating SD-WAN technologies with specialized features like resilient failover, bandwidth bonding, and AES encryption, ITMCX delivers a solution tailored to ensure uninterrupted voice communication and seamless connectivity. With its focus on safeguarding critical customer interactions, VBE highlights the importance of infrastructure optimization in creating superior customer experiences.
AcuCall’s CenterMaster redefines outbound customer engagement with its Interactive Text Response (ITR) system, powered by AI and large language models. This innovation automates outreach, enabling businesses to connect with customers proactively and efficiently. By prioritizing outbound interactions—an area often overlooked in customer engagement—AcuCall demonstrates how leveraging AI for dynamic workflows can drive sales, enhance personalization, and reduce costs, transforming the way organizations engage with their audience.
Verint’s Open Platform, powered by Da Vinci AI, exemplifies the power of modularity and AI-driven workflows to address the complex needs of contact centers and enterprise-wide customer engagement. With its suite of specialized bots for tasks such as fraud detection, real-time coaching, and transcription, Verint empowers organizations to scale AI capabilities while integrating seamlessly with existing systems. Its ability to deliver measurable ROI and future-proof businesses through adaptability underscores the importance of flexible, AI-powered solutions in today’s evolving customer landscape.
Klearcom addresses the critical challenge of global IVR and telecom system reliability with its proactive CX SaaS platform. Offering non-intrusive testing across 100+ countries, real-time diagnostics, and seamless DevOps integration, Klearcom ensures uninterrupted communication for multinational call centers. Its focus on preemptive issue resolution and superior global testing capabilities positions it as a key player in ensuring operational excellence for organizations relying on complex telecom infrastructures.
NICE’s Enlighten Copilot takes a transformative approach to contact center operations by combining proactive listening, sentiment analysis, and generative AI. Designed for both agents and supervisors, Copilot not only enhances customer interactions in real time but also empowers supervisors with insights to improve workflows and performance metrics. This dual-focus innovation highlights the potential of AI to simultaneously elevate customer experiences and optimize operational effectiveness.
Together, these five companies represent a shared vision of using technology to bridge gaps in communication, enhance efficiency, and create meaningful customer interactions. By combining AI, automation, and innovative design, they are redefining customer engagement and setting new standards for excellence in the field.
AcuCall's CenterMaster stands as a testament to the power of innovation in customer interaction technology. Since its inception, the platform has been a comprehensive call center solution, encompassing features such as ACD, IVR, CRM, agent scripting, and more. However, the most groundbreaking addition to CenterMaster is its Interactive Text Response (ITR) system, which redefines outbound customer engagement by leveraging cutting-edge AI and Large Language Models (LLM).
In a market dominated by inbound-focused solutions, AcuCall’s CenterMaster and its innovative ITR system stand out by addressing the unique challenges of outbound engagement. By combining AI-driven intelligence with a scalable, cost-effective SMS platform, CenterMaster enables businesses to achieve better customer outcomes while reducing operational costs. This groundbreaking approach ensures CenterMaster’s position as a leader in the evolution of communication technology.
Key Innovations
- Interactive Text Response (ITR): The ITR system integrates AI to dynamically adjust messaging strategies based on customer behavior and known preferences. This allows businesses to engage customers in personalized, efficient, and scalable ways. The solution delivers measurable outcomes—such as Apria Healthcare’s reported 15,000 monthly sales from 50,000 patient contacts—at a fraction of the cost of traditional voice interactions.
- AI and LLM in Outbound Communication: AcuCall has expanded AI applications beyond typical inbound service automation. By using AI to simulate human-like interactions, businesses can dynamically determine the best course of action—whether to sell, resupply, or offer other tailored solutions. This approach is particularly effective for revenue cycle management.
- Cost Efficiency: With a cost of just 8 cents per SMS interaction, compared to 56 cents for traditional voice calls or 43 cents for AI-driven voice calls, CenterMaster's ITR proves to be a game-changer in reducing operational expenses while maintaining high sales volumes.
Technical Superiority
The fully cloud-based architecture ensures scalability, stability, and reliability. By centralizing operations within AcuCall’s secure data centers, CenterMaster eliminates the need for additional on-premise hardware, allowing businesses to focus on customer engagement without added complexity.
Customer Impact
The successful deployment of the ITR system by Apria Healthcare underscores its practical benefits. By replacing traditional voice interactions with an SMS-driven workflow, Apria not only reduced costs but also achieved exceptional sales outcomes, showcasing the platform's ability to deliver real-world results.
Why CenterMaster Won
AcuCall's approach to blending workflow-based SMS with LLM/AI integration has transformed the traditional outbound interaction model. Unlike competitors focused primarily on inbound and agent-replacement technologies, CenterMaster’s ITR emphasizes cost-effective outbound communication. This focus makes it particularly valuable for industries seeking to optimize outreach, customer reordering, and sales processes.
The Voice Border Element (VBE) from 101VOICE offers a modern solution for managing communication networks, particularly tailored to the needs of enterprise, government, education, healthcare, and non-profit sectors. This hardware appliance, powered by advanced SD-WAN technology, is designed to improve the reliability, security, and performance of voice communications, addressing key challenges faced by organizations in today's interconnected landscape.
The VBE is a valuable tool for organizations aiming to improve their communication infrastructure. By integrating features like failover, traffic management, and advanced encryption, VBE helps organizations address challenges related to voice communication reliability and security. Its focus on flexibility and operational efficiency makes it a practical choice for businesses and institutions across various industries.
Key Features and Innovations
- Resilient Failover: VBE’s HotFailover technology helps to maintain voice traffic continuity by automatically switching to a backup WAN connection if the primary connection fails, reducing the risk of disruptions.
- Advanced Traffic Management:
- Bandwidth Overflow: VBE dynamically balances bandwidth use, helping users access high-speed connections when needed while reverting to cost-effective options during lower usage.
- Traffic Steering: Provides granular control to prioritize voice traffic, helping to maintain call quality even during network congestion.
- WAN Smoothing: Mitigates latency and packet loss by sending redundant data packets over multiple network channels, contributing to smoother communication.
- Enhanced Security: VBE incorporates AES 256-bit encryption to help protect voice traffic from unauthorized access and interception. Its centralized security management assists IT teams in enforcing consistent security policies across networks.
- Bandwidth Bonding: By combining multiple WAN connections at the packet level, VBE helps improve speed and reliability, particularly for locations with limited bandwidth or remote sites.
- Forward Error Correction: This feature assists in reducing packet loss and optimizing bandwidth use, contributing to clearer and more consistent voice communication.
Real-World Applications
Organizations such as the Hayward Unified School District and San Luis Obispo County Office of Education have implemented VBE to address their complex communication needs. Its ability to manage network traffic effectively and adapt to fluctuating conditions provides these institutions with greater confidence in their communication systems.
Why VBE Won
The Voice Border Element provides a specialized approach to voice communication traffic management. Its focus on optimizing voice-specific data, coupled with its ability to integrate seamlessly into existing network infrastructures, highlights its value in maintaining high-quality, uninterrupted communication.
Klearcom's platform provides superior global telecom testing and IVR monitoring, tailored for multinational enterprises and contact centers. Serving industries such as telecommunications, banking, utilities, and retail, Klearcom equips IT and Operations Managers, Contact Center Managers, and CX Leaders with tools to maintain uptime and resolve telecom issues effectively across diverse geographies. Its AI-powered diagnostics, seamless integration capabilities, and comprehensive global coverage enable businesses to optimize communication systems efficiently. Whether addressing critical uptime needs for emergency call centers or enhancing large-scale customer service operations, Klearcom helps ensure reliability and operational excellence.
Key Features
- Global Reach and Local Testing: Klearcom provides testing coverage in over 100 countries, working with 2-4 telecom operators per country to ensure accurate and localized results. Its capability to test toll-free and IVR systems globally without integration challenges sets it apart.
- Non-Intrusive Audio Testing: Requiring no complex installations, Klearcom’s streamlined process enables rapid deployment and reduces time spent on setup compared to many competitors.
- AI-Driven Real-Time Monitoring: Klearcom’s advanced AI algorithms proactively detect and address telecom issues, minimizing mean time to detection (MTTD) and resolution (MTTR).
- Unlimited Testing Capacity: The platform offers unlimited concurrent voice channel testing without port restrictions, allowing businesses to scale without additional costs.
- Seamless DevOps Integration: Integrating with CI/CD pipelines, Klearcom supports pre- and post-deployment testing, enabling businesses to fine-tune IVR systems and validate customer experiences in live environments.
- Multi-Channel Monitoring: Klearcom’s solution extends beyond voice to monitor channels like chat and social media, providing a comprehensive view of communication system performance.
Innovations in Action
- Pfizer: Klearcom supported Pfizer’s global IVR migration across 100+ countries, achieving a 99.2% uptime rate. Real-time alerts and proactive monitoring significantly reduced issue resolution times.
- CHEMTREC: Klearcom’s automated testing ensured a 99.9% uptime for CHEMTREC’s emergency communication systems during a cloud migration, avoiding any service interruptions.
- Danfoss: By leveraging Klearcom’s real-time monitoring, Danfoss achieved a 99.96% uptime, proactively resolving silent call alerts and system failures before impacting customers.
Why Klearcom Won
Klearcom’s ability to deliver proactive, non-intrusive telecom testing and real-time issue resolution across over 100 countries demonstrates a superior approach for enterprises reliant on global communication networks. Its use of AI-driven diagnostics, seamless DevOps integration, and comprehensive analytics ensures businesses can optimize telecom systems with minimal disruption.
Enlighten Copilot by NICE is a generative AI-powered assistant that supports both agents and supervisors in contact centers, transforming customer service efficiency and effectiveness. Designed for businesses of all sizes with customer service or contact center operations, this solution helps improve interaction quality, reduce agent workloads, and enhance decision-making for supervisors.
Copilot’s standout feature is its proactive listening capability, which enables it to offer real-time, tailored suggestions without requiring explicit prompts. This unique approach provides a seamless and efficient customer experience by integrating AI directly into workflows for both agents and supervisors.
Key Features
- Agent Support:
- Provides real-time transcription and knowledge-based responses tailored to each customer interaction.
- Suggests emotional and behavioral prompts to improve customer satisfaction.
- Reduces Average Handle Time (AHT) with streamlined summaries for agent transfers and post-interaction tasks.
- Supports omnichannel interactions, including voice, email, chat, and messaging platforms like WhatsApp, Slack, and Telegram.
- Supervisor Empowerment:
- Delivers real-time insights, negative sentiment alerts, and contextual recommendations to address issues promptly.
- Offers supervisor-centric metrics via the Insights Workspace, enabling supervisors to track their productivity alongside contact center KPIs.
- Provides a conversational panel for querying performance data, leveraging platform and third-party inputs.
- Generative AI and Knowledge Management:
- Leverages CX-specific data with vectorized knowledge databases for accurate, brand-aligned responses.
- Uses pre-built AI models tailored for CX, ensuring accuracy and operational readiness from day one.
- Offers unique AI guardrails to ensure responses are contextually appropriate and aligned with business goals.
- Ease of Deployment:
- Fully cloud-hosted on the CXone platform, requiring minimal setup.
- Automatically vectorizes knowledge articles, making implementation quick and hassle-free.
Innovations
Enlighten Copilot is among the first solutions in the market designed specifically for CX applications that employs generative AI to provide proactive assistance during live interactions. Unlike competitors requiring prompts, Copilot actively listens and provides next-best actions in real time. For supervisors, Copilot introduces a dedicated workspace with advanced metrics, breaking new ground in supervisor-focused AI applications.
Customer Success Stories
- Multinational Corporation:
Enlighten Copilot reduced agent frustrations and customer dissatisfaction by automating knowledge retrieval from a database of 3,500 articles. In a competitive trial, Copilot achieved 19 correct responses out of 20 compared to significantly lower scores from other vendors, streamlining operations and enhancing agent productivity.
- Carnival UK:
By integrating Copilot for post-call notetaking and real-time agent support, Carnival UK addressed common pain points, enabling advisors to focus on customer interactions. The Head of Global Customer Care highlighted Copilot’s ability to drive meaningful improvements for both agents and guests.
Why Enlighten Copilot Won
Enlighten Copilot represents a groundbreaking approach to CX management, combining generative AI, proactive listening, and tailored solutions for agents and supervisors. Its ability to provide accurate, real-time assistance and insights significantly reduces operational bottlenecks while improving both customer and employee satisfaction. The platform's seamless deployment, comprehensive features, and focus on actionable intelligence make it a transformative tool in the contact center industry.
By addressing key challenges like post-call workload, interaction efficiency, and supervisor productivity, Enlighten Copilot demonstrates its capability to help businesses modernize their CX operations while driving meaningful value at every level.
Verint
Open Platform/Verint Da Vinci AI
www.verint.com
Verint's Open Platform, powered by Verint Da Vinci AI, represents an advanced suite of AI-driven tools designed to enhance customer engagement and operational efficiency across contact centers and customer service departments. With its focus on CX automation, the platform helps organizations streamline workflows, augment the human workforce, and achieve measurable AI-driven business outcomes.
This solution is particularly well-suited for enterprises across various industries, including financial services, retail, healthcare, and utilities, enabling them to adapt to the growing demand for digital customer engagement while maintaining operational excellence.
Key Features:
- CX Automation and Specialized Bots
- A suite of specialized AI bots automates tasks like interaction wrap-up, forecasting, compliance monitoring, and real-time coaching.
- These bots integrate seamlessly into existing workflows to free up agents for more complex interactions, improving both efficiency and customer satisfaction.
- Modular and Open Architecture
- Organizations can adopt components at their own pace, integrating the platform with existing systems.
- The open platform supports the use of third-party AI models, ensuring scalability and adaptability.
- Enterprise-Wide Application
- Offers capabilities for omnichannel engagement, workforce optimization, knowledge management, analytics, and voice of the customer insights.
- Enables organizations to gather, analyze, and act on data from various touchpoints across the enterprise.
- AI-Powered Insights
- Verint Da Vinci AI provides deep insights into customer behavior and sentiment using advanced machine learning, natural language processing, and predictive analytics.
- Supports dynamic scheduling, fraud detection, real-time coaching, and accurate call transcription.
Innovations
Verint's Open Platform is built on patented technologies, including over 700 patents in data capture, analytics, and automation. Among its innovative features:
- Specialized Bots: Tailored for specific tasks such as fraud detection, schedule flexibility, and transcription accuracy.
- Fraud Prevention: The Call Risk Scoring Bot analyzes over 60 data points to detect and mitigate fraud in real-time.
- Interaction Wrap-Up: AI-generated summaries reduce agent workload and ensure consistent documentation.
- Modular AI Integration: Customers can incorporate cutting-edge AI models without vendor lock-in, future-proofing their investments.
Customer Success Stories
- Telecommunications Company: Deployed the TimeFlex Bot to allow agents greater control over their schedules, reducing attrition by 24% and absenteeism by 20% within three months; and improved schedule efficiency by 5%, resulting in $5 million in annual savings.
- Cigna Healthcare: Expanded the Interaction Wrap-Up Bot from 300 to 30,000 agents, reducing manual wrap-up tasks and driving operational efficiency.
- AXA Insurance: Leveraged multiple Verint bots to achieve a 95% call categorization accuracy rate, reducing repeat calls and improving customer journeys, leading to a 97% increase in NPS. The company saved $6 million annually by reducing policy renewal call duration by over three minutes per call.
- Fiserv BPO: Used the Call Risk Scoring Bot to block $6 million in fraudulent self-service attempts, enhancing security for state unemployment insurance programs.
Why Open Platform powered by Da Vinci AI Won
Verint’s Open Platform/Verint Da Vinci AI stands out for its ability to integrate seamlessly into existing systems while delivering immediate ROI. Its specialized AI bots tackle a wide range of operational challenges, from fraud prevention to real-time coaching, with measurable business outcomes. The platform’s flexibility, scalability, and adaptability ensure that organizations can future-proof their CX strategies while addressing current customer engagement needs.
By offering a comprehensive, open ecosystem that prioritizes operational excellence and customer satisfaction, Verint continues to lead the industry in customer engagement innovation.
Edited by
Erik Linask
