Autopilot

CXone Autopilot is a full-service, data-driven intelligent virtual agentClosed A software application that handles customer interactions in place of a live human agent.. It handles voice interactionsClosed The full conversation with an agent through a channel. For example, an interaction can be a voice call, email, chat, or social media conversation. in the place of live agents. Autopilot virtual agents understand human language and respond to contacts naturally. They can switch topics, understand context, and answer questions with human-level comprehension. Autopilot virtual agents can fully resolve issues via self-service, limiting escalations to live agents.

Autopilot virtual agents use CXone XO artificial intelligence (AI). XO comes equipped with over 30 years of interaction data. Autopilot uses that data, along with your organization's interaction data, to build conversation flows. These flows include lists of possible utterancesClosed What a contact says or types. and appropriate responses. Using AI, Autopilot virtual agents continue to learn from interactions to improve and add to these flows.

Autopilot virtual agents can also:

  • Identify tasks agents may need to perform to resolve a contact's issue.

  • Identify back-end tasks that Autopilot itself can do, such as fetching a contact's data.

  • Proactively send messages to contacts based on their identified needs and interests. Watch this demo video for an example of this feature.

Edward Ferrars is speaking with Autopilot, the virtual agent for Classics, Inc. He tells Autopilot he wants to pay the balance from his latest book order. Autopilot begins the conversation flow for payments. It fetches his billing information and finds two credit cards. It asks Edward which one he wants to use. He answers "Credit Card A," but then changes his mind and says, "Actually, use Credit Card B". Autopilot changes the credit card selection.

Edward then asks for help changing his password. Autopilot switches to the conversation flow for that intent.

Autopilot remembers Edward's first intentClosed The meaning or purpose behind what a contact says/types; what the contact wants to communicate or accomplish was payment. It switches back to that conversation flow. It asks Edward if he'd like to remove Credit Card A from his billing information. He answers "Yes," and Autopilot removes it.

How Virtual Agents Work

To start an interaction with a voice virtual agent, contactsClosed The person interacting with an agent, IVR, or bot in your contact center. call a phone number and reach your organization. The contact may be connected directly to the virtual agent, or they might need to choose an option in an IVRClosed Automated phone menu that allows callers to interact through voice commands, key inputs, or both, to obtain information, route an inbound voice call, or both. menu. Once the conversation with the virtual agent begins, the contact's utterancesClosed What a contact says or types. are transcribedClosed Also called STT, this process converts spoken language to text. into text so the virtual agent can analyze them. The virtual agent's responses are converted to synthesized speech using a text-to-speechClosed Allows users to enter recorded prompts as text and use a computer-generated voice to speak the content. service before being sent to the contact. Transcription and speech synthesis can happen in CXone or, in some cases, in the provider's platform.

After the conversation has started, the virtual agent analyzes the contact's utterances to understand the purpose or meaning behind what a person says. This is known as the contact's intent. When the intent is identified, the virtual agent sends an appropriate response to the contact. The method of sending a response depends on whether it's a text or a voice virtual agent: 

  • VoiceRequests and responses are sent back and forth between the virtual agent and the contact. CXone stays connected to the virtual agent service throughout the conversation, but does not participate in it. CXone waits for the signal that the conversation is complete or that the contact needs transferred to a live agent. This is the SIPClosed Protocol used for signaling and controlling multimedia communication sessions such as voice and video calls. backchannel method of connection.
  • TextRequests and responses are sent via Virtual Agent Hub and the script with each turn. This option allows for customization of the virtual agent's behavior from turn to turn.

At the end of the conversation, the virtual agent sends a signal to the Studio script. It can signal that the conversation is complete, or that the contact needs to speak with a live agent. If the conversation is complete, the interaction ends. If a live agent is needed, the script makes the request. The contact is transferred to an agent when one is available.

Once the conversation is complete, post-interaction tasks can be performed, such as recording information in a CRMClosed Third-party systems that manage such things as contacts, sales information, support details, and case histories..

Prerequisites

Before setting up Autopilot, you must have: 

To use Autopilot with voice channels, contact your Account Representative. Setup for Autopilot voice virtual agents happens outside of Virtual Agent Hub and the custom scripting needs require additional assistance.