Nuance Communications has announced that IP Australia will become the first organisation across the Asia Pacific region to add next generation automated machine learning and human-assisted artificial intelligence (AI) capabilities to its widely successful Alex online virtual assistant.
Alex, based upon Nuance’s Nina Virtual Assistant platform, provides AI-powered customer service on the IP Australia web site, engaging with citizens in human-like virtual chats. Launched in August 2016, Alex is achieving 80 per cent first contact resolution through powerful conversational AI and question-answer capabilities.
The latest in machine learning enables the virtual assistant to learn from ingested organisational content and human agent’s responses, enabling Alex to independently handle increasingly complex enquiries over time. This is what Nuance calls the human assisted virtual agent, the latest in supervised AI technology.
Currently, IP Australia’s online virtual assistant powered by Nuance’s Nina technology delivers a dynamic and engaging customer experience that lets customers easily understand trademark, patent, designs and plant breeder’s rights processes. The human elements of dialogue and personalised interaction connect customers to the right information and tools, which translates into immediate, easy and effective self-servicing and increased customer satisfaction. At present, Alex is capable of answering IP rights questions in layman’s terms, minimising customer confusion and maximising successful first-time transactions.
Director general of IP Australia, Patricia Kelly said, “With approximately 99.6 per cent of our customers now transacting with us online we are reimagining the digital service experience. IP Australia is focused on helping innovators, especially Australian small to medium businesses, successfully navigate IP rights processes. The latest advancements from Nuance assist us to take our 24/7 customer experience to the next level through the implementation of advanced artificial intelligence and machine learning.”
Robert Schwarz, managing director, Nuance, Australia and New Zealand, added: “Successful virtual assistants need to be able to continually evolve to have meaningful conversations with customers. Supervised AI enables Nina to learn from the very best customer service experts, ensuring Nina is ready to serve customers effectively and efficiently,” said Robert Schwarz, managing director, Nuance, Australia and New Zealand.
“Nuance’s Nina virtual assistant technology has already allowed IP Australia to become more agile and respond to customers instantly on complicated trademark topics. Leveraging human assisted virtual agents, IP Australia can draw upon the most advanced natural language processing and machine learning intelligence available to improve resolution rates with customers even further, while getting smarter and more efficient over time.”
