Nuance Expands Nina, the Virtual Assistant for Customer Service, to the Web and Beyond
Nuance Expands Nina, the Virtual Assistant for Customer Service, to the Web and Beyond
Say Hello to the Next Generation of Customer Service - A Smarter Multi-Channel Nina That Speaks Your Language
BURLINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Nuance Communications, Inc. (NAS: NUAN) today announced significant expansions to NinaTM, the virtual assistant for customer service. Nina has been expanded to the web, adding text-based virtual assistant capabilities to enterprise web marketing, ecommerce and support applications. Nina has become smarter, with the ability to engage in customer service conversations and connect to existing enterprise back-office applications. Additionally, Nuance has made Nina multi-lingual, with the ability to recognize and speak 38 languages.
Nina was introduced in August 2012 as the first solution to bring speech-based virtual assistant capabilities to mobile customer service apps. With the expanded capabilities introduced today, Nina is now a multi-channel solution, delivering the same intelligent, natural interactions across a variety of customer self-service applications, including text messaging, voice, mobile apps and the web. More than ever, Nina represents a significant opportunity for enterprises to leverage the full power of intelligent systems to deliver customer self-service solutions that are easy to use, accurate and effective.
The expansion of Nina is significant, as it addresses the growing consumer demand for more engaging experiences through intelligent systems - from the way consumers use smart phones to find information or make reservations, to how they interact with their smart TV, or engage with a company's customer service online. Not only do 75% of consumers actually prefer self-service due to its speed, accuracy and convenience but, according to Forrester Research, 67% of people sought customer service via a company's web site in 20121.
With Nina Web, Nuance is defining the new face of customer service online. On web sites, Nina presents a human-like virtual agent that can quickly resolve customer requests, while conveying the brand essence of an enterprise. When needed, Nina Web intelligently routes conversations to live agents, with connectivity to systems such as LivePerson®, Moxie® and others. Nina Agent provides human-like customer service conversations via text or speech interactions, using Nuance natural language understanding (NLU), and connectivity to CRM, ERP and database systems.
To see a demonstration of Nina, go here.
"USAA is a pioneer in delivering great customer experiences," said Neff Hudson, assistant vice president for emerging channels at USAA. "We have built our legacy of service by ensuring that our members get the right answer with minimal effort and with ease. We were early adopters of Nina in our mobile app, and we are pleased to see that Nuance is extending that same compelling customer experience to the web."
"Adding conversation capabilities to web-based customer service results in a powerful and unique multi-channel customer service platform," said Nancy Jamison, principal analyst, customer contact, Frost & Sullivan. "Add to this Nuance's rapid expansion of language support, and you get a solution that will benefit multi-national enterprises as well as significant regional leaders in industries such as banking, travel and retail."
Nina is the first solution to combine speech-based virtual assistant capabilities with natural, intelligent virtual agent conversations. Based on Nuance's unparalleled technology leadership and expertise in voice, natural language understanding, conversational dialogue and advanced resolution techniques, only Nina delivers a compelling, multi-channel, automated customer service experience for the consumer and the enterprise.
"Nina is driving a new generation of customer self-service, where customers finally get the experience they've been demanding at a scale that the world's largest brands require," said Robert Weideman, executive vice president and general manager of the Nuance Enterprise Division. "Through our innovations in language, understanding and expression, Nuance is unique in our ability to securely deliver intelligent virtual assistants, in a wide number of languages, recognizing speech and text, across many channels. Add to this our 800-strong global services organization, and this truly is a game-changer for enterprise brands around the world."
Beyond the expansion to 38 speech recognition and text-to-speech languages, Nina also supports 13 text-input languages. As with mobile apps, Nuance provides a pre-made persona for the web, which can be customized for specific branding strategies.
Availability
Nina is available now directly from Nuance in a wide range of languages. The Nina Virtual Assistant Platform is comprised of Nina Mobile and Nina Assist, and the new expansions enabled by Nina Web, Nina Agent and Nina IQ Studio. For more information about Nina, and to see Nina in action, please go to http://www.nuance.com/go/nina.
About Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance Communications (NAS: NUAN) is a leading provider of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers around the world. Its technologies, applications and services make the user experience more compelling by transforming the way people interact with information and how they create, share and use documents. Every day, millions of users and thousands of businesses experience Nuance's proven applications. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.
Trademark reference: Nuance, and the Nuance logo are trademarks, registered trademarks or brands of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the United States of America and other countries. All other companies or product names are the property of the respective owners.
1 "Navigate The Future Of Customer Service", Forrester Research, Inc., February 1, 2013
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