What's new for agents in Webex Contact Center
We want to make sure that you know about the major updates made available in Webex Contact Center for agents—updates to the interface, new functionality, and ways to communicate with your customers.
For all historical announcements before 2024, and announcements related to Webex Contact Center Administrators, see What's new for administrators in Webex Contact Center.
For announcements related to Webex Contact Center Supervisors, see What's new for supervisors in Webex Contact Center.
For announcements in older release of Webex Contact Center, see What's new in Cisco Webex Contact Center 1.0.
September 27, 2024
Enhancing historical email contexts
Agents working on email channel will now have a better contextual history when handling email tasks. As part of this enhancement,
- When an agent replies to or forwards an email, the composer loads the quoted reply and allows agents to edit content as they would with any standard email client.
- Each reply or forward will have a message-level subject prefix ( RE: or FW: ) based on the action performed.
- In addition, we have increased the maximum character limit of an email from 25,000 to 500,000 characters (a combination of historical emails and current replies) to support this feature.
For more information, see Manage-email-conversations.
September 24, 2024
Webex Contact Center CRM Connector for ServiceNow's Xanadu Edition
Get ready to elevate your customer interactions! The Webex Contact Center CRM Connector is now available on ServiceNow's Xanadu Edition. Experience seamless integration, efficient data access, and a more streamlined workflow, all within your familiar ServiceNow environment.
For more information, see the Integrate Webex Contact Center with ServiceNow article.
June 25, 2024
New Customer Journey Widget (version 10)
Get set for a game-changing tool coming your way—the Customer Journey Widget. Think of it as your personal guide to each customer's narrative. With this handy widget, there's no more jumping through hoops to trace a customer's path. You'll have a full, real-time view of their interactions, from the initial contact to their most recent engagement. Ready yourself to offer service that's not just quick, but incredibly personalized, because you'll have all the context you need, right when you need it.
If you're interested in understanding the widget from an agent's perspective, you can find comprehensive documentation here.
How to use? Click here for the vidcast.
June 5, 2024
Elevate Your Customer Interactions with Apple Messages for Business (AMB) Integration
As an agent, prepare to transform your customer engagement with the integration of Webex Contact Center and Apple Messages for Business (AMB). This enhancement allows you to connect with customers directly within the Apple ecosystem, offering a more intuitive and interactive messaging experience. Utilize advanced features like list pickers, time pickers, forms, and quick replies to provide a seamless service that meets the modern customer's expectations.
Through the Webex Connect’s Flow Builder, your administrators can design and implement automated customer journeys tailored to your brand's unique requirements. When a conversation requires a personal touch, you'll be equipped to smoothly transition customers to live support, ensuring every interaction is handled with the utmost care and efficiency.
Embrace the power of AMB integration and be at the forefront of delivering exceptional customer experiences.
To explore the full capabilities of this channel and how it can benefit your brand, click here for more details.
To start with, Webex Contact Center will be supporting the required features prescribed by Apple for BOTS and Contact Center.
For more information, see Set up digital channels in Webex Contact Center and Supported attachment types for digital channels in Webex Contact Center.
May 16, 2024
Enhanced E911 Support with WebRTC
As a WebRTC user, you'll benefit from integrated E911 support, courtesy of the Redsky Emergency solution. This means that in the event of an emergency, your location information can be accurately relayed to first responders, ensuring rapid assistance when needed. This update is part of our commitment to providing you with a secure, flexible work environment.
For more information, see Provision Emergency Calling in Webex Contact Center for Agents.
May 10, 2024
Synchronize agents' state between Webex Contact Center and Microsoft Teams
With the presence synchronization feature, your Webex Contact Center state automatically synchronizes with Microsoft Teams. Whether you're on a call, presenting content, or in 'Do not disturb' mode, your status is visible, reducing the chances of 'RONA' (Redirection on No Answer). For more information, see Understand agent states.
May 10, 204
Ongoing Accessibility Upgrades for Agent Desktop
Our focus has been on enhancing the user experience for all agents, facilitating smooth navigation and interaction. We're refining screen reader behavior, optimizing tabbing order, and enhancing the color contrast of elements. These continuous improvements ensure that agents of all abilities can seamlessly engage with the platform, enabling them to deliver exceptional customer service experiences.
May 6, 2024
New Customer Journey Widget (version 10)
Get set for a game-changing tool coming your way—the Customer Journey Widget. Think of it as your personal guide to each customer's narrative. With this handy widget, there's no more jumping through hoops to trace a customer's path. You'll have a full, real-time view of their interactions, from the initial contact to their most recent engagement. Ready yourself to offer service that's not just quick, but incredibly personalized, because you'll have all the context you need, right when you need it.
If you're interested in understanding the widget from an agent's perspective, you can find comprehensive documentation here.
How to use? Click here for the vidcast.
March 29, 2024
Webex Contact Center AI Beta: Agent Burnout Management and Auto CSAT
We are excited to announce the Agent Burnout Management and Auto CSAT beta features. These features are designed to enhance agent wellness and productivity
Agent Burnout Detection feature leverages end-to-end data in the Webex Contact Centre platform to detect the agent's stress levels in real-time. We have partnered with Thrive Global to play a ‘Reset’ break to agents when they are experiencing high-stress levels detected by the Cisco Agent Burnout Detection AI model.
Auto CSAT predicts post-interaction CSAT for all customers, empowering contact centers to leverage every interaction for insights and decision-making, ultimately maximizing customer satisfaction and agent performance.
You need to sign up on the Webex Beta Portal and fill in the participation survey to express your interest in these beta features.
March 26, 2024
Webex Contact Center launch in Singapore data center
Webex Contact Center services is now launched from a brand new data center located in Singapore. You will now have the option to choose Singapore as your country of operation. This will enable you to provision your tenant directly in the Singapore data center. It will provide dedicated Media Pops based out of Singapore, making it ideal for our valued customers in the region requiring voice media services.
For more information, see Data Locality in Webex Contact Center.
March 13, 2024
Consult or transfer voice calls to experts within your Microsoft Teams organization with Presence lookup
Agents who need to consult or transfer a voice call will have access to a Desktop directory of experts from their Microsoft Teams organization. This directory lists experts with information such as presence, job title, department, and business phone, ensuring that agents can search and choose the right expert for the call.
February 26, 2024
Support for Webex Contact Center CRM Connector in ServiceNow's Vancouver Edition
You can now seamlessly leverage the capabilities of the Webex Contact Center connector for ServiceNow in Vancouver Edition. This means you can access and manage customer interactions more efficiently, right from your ServiceNow CRM connector. Say goodbye to unnecessary context-switching and hello to a smoother, more streamlined workflow.
For more information, see Integrate Webex Contact Center with ServiceNow.
February 22, 2024
Barging in on a call
With the new Barge-In feature, your supervisor can hop into your ongoing call, turning it into a three-way communication. This will help you solve customer queries more effectively and learn on the job.
For more information, see Monitoring agents on a call.
February 07, 2024
WebRTC support for Webex Contact Center
With the upcoming WebRTC support for Agent Desktop, using the Next Generation Media Platform, you'll be able to facilitate your calls directly from your browser with the help of a headset. No more need for external phones or extension numbers. This new feature offers all the current voice functionalities like hold, retrieve, transfer, and conference. Plus, new features like mute, auto-answer, and dial pad have been added to ensure seamless browser-only use. Not only this, a new WebRTC status indicator will show you the current status of the voice service.
January 16, 2024
Background Noise Removal for Contact Center Agents
Webex Contact Center introduces an advanced feature that removes background noise during customer conversations. Leveraging deep learning, speech science, and audio processing, this innovation ensures clearer communication and improved understanding. For more information, see Manage Your Calls in Agent Desktop.
We are sharing details about our planned feature releases that are coming out soon for agents. Cisco may make changes to the anticipated features in its sole discretion. You can subscribe to this article to get updates on any changes.
October 2024
Continuous ringtone alert for WebRTC Desktop
Stay tuned for an exciting update!
When an inbound call from a customer arrives on the WebRTC Desktop, agents will continue hearing a ringtone until they take action by answering the call, or until the system automatically sets their status to 'Ring No Answer' (RONA) if the call goes unattended. Moreover, if the customer decides to disconnect before the call is answered, the ringtone will end.
This intuitive alert system is designed to ensure seamless communication and engagement with your customers.
Support of Webex Local Gateway PSTN for WebRTC agent calls
With the upcoming support of WebRTC for the Agent Desktop, agents will be able to receive and initiate calls via PSTN supplied through a Webex local gateway. This feature is in the pipeline to further enhance your communication capabilities and flexibility.
Support for Webex Calling WebRTC endpoints for Webex Contact Center agents
This upgrade will empower you to log in using a Webex Calling WebRTC endpoint, enabling you to receive, make, and control calls just like you would at a physical workstation. With the power of WebRTC technology, you can handle all communications directly from your web browser. No additional plugins or downloads needed. Stay tuned for this game-changing feature that will streamline your workflows and optimize your call handling capabilities.
Enhanced Clarity with Background Noise Removal for Contact Center Agents
Webex Contact Center introduces an advanced feature that removes background noise during customer conversations. This feature leverages sophisticated deep learning and audio processing to remove any unwanted noise from your calls, allowing you to concentrate on providing exceptional service with ease. You won't have to worry about the sound of traffic, construction, or any other distractions—just pure, clear communication.
Enhance Your Customer Interactions with Google Business Messages Integration
Webex Contact Center is set to expand its communication capabilities through an upcoming integration with Google Business Messages (GBM), to provide you with a powerful new way to connect. This integration brings your brand's conversational experience to life within Google Maps on any mobile device, enriching customer interactions with the convenience and familiarity of their preferred platform. Click here to discover more about this development.
As an agent, you'll be able to handle inbound tasks effortlessly and respond to customer inquiries with rich formatted text, elevating the quality of your conversations. The automated journeys designed by your Administrators through Webex Connect’s Flow Builder will allow for smooth handovers to live support when necessary, enabling you to focus on providing personalized assistance without missing a beat.
Embrace the future of customer communication with the Google Business Messages integration and deliver a seamless, responsive service that customers will love.
Consult, conference or transfer voice calls to experts within your Webex organization with Presence lookup
Get help from the right expert, fast. With Presence lookup, you'll be able to easily consult, conference, or transfer voice calls to experts within your Webex organization. Search our directory by name and see their real-time availability to find the perfect person to assist you. It's an easy way to get the help you need within your organization.
Enhanced Collaboration in Webex Contact Center Multi-Party Calls
We are introducing improvements to the conference call functionality within the contact center. These changes will enable ongoing discussions among multiple parties, even after the customer or agent has disconnected from the call.
Current behavior:
With the existing version of Webex Contact Center:
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During a conference call, the interaction is limited to the presence of the customer.
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In a three-party conference, agents have the option to 'Transfer' the call, allowing them to leave the call while passing it to the remaining participant.
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You can add one other participant and can transfer the call to that participant only.
New experience:
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The conference call capability is expanded to allow up to six additional participants, enhancing collaborative efforts to address customer needs.
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You can consult with these potential participants before bringing them into the conference call.
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For instance, if a customer places a call into the contact center and the agent handling the call needs to bring in two experts to assist the customer, the agent can bring them into the call one at a time, resulting in a conference with four participants. If the agent would like to leave the customer with the two experts and leave the call, they may do so to take the next call or if the patient drops off, the agent and experts can continue collaborating for any post-call wrap up discussion before ending the conference.
For instance, if a patient initiates a call to speak with a doctor and a nurse, as an agent, you can now include up to six more parties to assist. Should the patient leave the call post-initial consultation, the medical team can continue their discussion to complete their analysis.
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This enhancement offers customers increased flexibility in managing their interactions.
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The 'Transfer' option in a three-party conference is renamed as 'Exit.' You can leave the call by clicking 'Exit,' and the next participant automatically assumes control.
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You can end the conference entirely, a function previously unavailable, allowing you to conclude the interaction and proceed to wrap-up tasks.
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If the customer exits the call, the call automatically enters a wrap-up phase, with all remaining participants still connected, enabling them to finish their discussion.
Entry Point Transfer and Conference enhancement
Webex Contact Center will soon introduce an enhancement to the call transfer and conference features. Currently, when an agent transfers a call to an entry point, they must wait until another agent is connected to the call. This means they cannot release the call while it is in an IVR or queue state.
With the new functionality, this limitation will be removed. Agents can release the call to the IVR or queue, eliminating the need to wait for another agent to be connected. This enhancement streamlines the call handling process and improve efficiency.
Additionally, this feature enhances conference operations and includes support for a flow that performs a blind transfer when directing a call to a different entry point.
Agent Personal Greeting
Cisco is pleased to introduce a new Agent Personal Greeting capability to Webex Contact Center. This feature allows an agent's personally recorded greeting to be played automatically when they are connected to a customer call.
Flow Designer has been enhanced with a new activity that allows personal greetings to be included in both inbound and outbound flows. This activity enables the designer to dynamically select the agent greeting based on variables passed to the announcement activity.
Initially, agent greetings will be loaded via a new Control Hub capability. Additionally, Cisco is working on a feature that will allow greetings to be recorded via an entry point.
New Customer Journey Widget (version 10)
Get set for a game-changing tool coming your way—the Customer Journey Widget. Think of it as your personal guide to each customer's narrative. With this handy widget, there's no more jumping through hoops to trace a customer's path. You'll have a full, real-time view of their interactions, from the initial contact to their most recent engagement. Ready yourself to offer service that's not just quick, but incredibly personalized, because you'll have all the context you need, right when you need it.
If you're interested in understanding the widget from an agent's perspective, you can find comprehensive documentation here.
How to use? Click here for the vidcast.
PII Masking Capabilities for Improved Security and Privacy in Customer Communications
Prepare for a new standard in customer privacy with the forthcoming Personal Identifiable Information (PII) masking feature. Your focus on delivering exceptional service will be supported by advanced safeguards, ensuring that sensitive customer details remain protected, allowing you to engage with confidence and peace of mind.
Cisco AI Assistant for Contact Center
Cisco AI Assistant for Contact Center is designed to optimize the work of agents and improve the customer experience. AI Assistant provides AI-generated call summaries at various touchpoints throughout the customer interaction - before, during and after. The first set of capabilities available in beta portal include auto summaries for dropped calls and virtual agent transfer summaries.
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Auto summaries for dropped calls
With this capability, customers and agents alike do not have to worry about repeat conversations in those frustrating cases where their call gets accidentally dropped before resolution: When the customer calls back, CIsco AI Assistant for Contact Center will generate a summary of that customer's call before the call dropped, and will display this summary to the next agent picking up the customer's callback. This way, agents can pick up right where the previous agent left off with the customer, saving the customer from having to repeat themselves, while also drastically shortening average handle times.
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Virtual Agent Transfer Summaries
With this capability, agents receive an auto-generated summary of the customer's interaction with the virtual agent, ensuring quick context building, less repetition from the customer, and faster resolution times.
You need to sign up on the Webex Beta Portal and fill in the participation survey to express your interest in these beta features.
New CRM Connectors for Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, and ServiceNow
Access everything you need in one place. Our CRM Connectors allow you to handle voice interactions while pulling up customer information within Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics 365, or ServiceNow. Experience seamless screen pops, activity logging, case management, and more—all within an easy-to-use, reimagined agent interface.
Planned Features
WebRTC support for Agent Desktop in Canada
With the upcoming WebRTC support for Agent Desktop, using the Next Generation Media Platform, you'll be able to facilitate your calls directly from your browser with the help of a headset. No more need for external phones or extension numbers. This new feature offers all the current voice functionalities like hold, retrieve, transfer, and conference. Plus, new features like mute, auto-answer, and dial pad have been added to ensure seamless browser-only use. Not only this, a new WebRTC status indicator will show you the current status of the voice service.
Synchronization of Webex Calling state with Webex Contact Center state
We're developing a feature that will synchronize your status between Webex Calling and Webex Contact Center. As an agent, this means you won't have to manually manage your status on both applications anymore. If you're occupied with non-contact center activities, your status will automatically be set as unavailable, reducing the likelihood of 'RONA' (Redirection on No Answer). This will improve your working experience and the overall routing efficiency.
Extraction of SIP Headers
We are working on a feature that will allow calls routed through the Webex Contact Center to carry custom headers with key information from PSTN or other telephony services. These custom header fields, extractable from these messages, may be displayed for your reference. This feature will be particularly beneficial when linking WxCC to external and On-Prem systems, providing you with more comprehensive data and enhancing the efficiency of your workflow.
Agent initiated outbound SMS and Email support
We're excited to announce that agents will soon be able to initiate an outbound SMS or Email Task from the Webex Contact Center Agent Desktop. Agents can initiate an outbound task regardless of their current status, whether on a voice call, engaged in a digital interaction, or idle with no tasks assigned. This new capability will allow agents to send updates to customers or external partners outside of the regular interactions on demand, and it will be available to all agents with access to digital channels powered by Webex Connect. However, the ability to start these outbound tasks will depend on the thresholds configured in the multi-media profile policy mapped to the agent.
Courtesy callback routing to capacity-based teams is not supported
Courtesy callback isn't supported with capacity-based teams (CBT). CBTs have no individual agents assigned to them, and courtesy callback requires an Agent ID to function. Therefore, if courtesy callback flows to an entry point or a queue served by a CBT, the call fails.
February 22, 2024
Introducing Persona-Based What's New: A Customized Approach to Product and Service Updates
We are excited to announce a significant enhancement in how we deliver updates about our products and services. To provide you with the most relevant and targeted information, we have transitioned from a consolidated "What's New" article to persona-based "What's New" articles specifically tailored for Administrators, Supervisors, and Agents. This new approach offers key benefits such as personalized content, streamlined updates, and enhanced clarity. You will receive updates that are directly pertinent to your persona. This means no more sifting through information that may not apply to you.