IP Australia Delivers Personalised, Conversational Customer Service via Website; 80% of Customer Inquiries Answered via Virtual Assistant

Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) today announced that IP Australia has deployed Nuance’s Nina virtual assistant technology on their website to assist customers in the registration of trade marks. IP Australia aims to simplify interactions and improve customer service through the adoption of Nuance’s virtual assistant technology powered by artificial intelligence (AI), with the initial results showing 80% of customer inquiries resolved by the virtual assistant.

Nuance’s Nina virtual assistant solution powers IP Australia’s “Alex” and delivers a dynamic and engaging customer experience, providing a platform for customers to easily understand trade mark processes. The human elements of dialog and personalised interaction connect customers to the right information and tools, which translates into immediate, easy and effective self-servicing and increased customer satisfaction. Alex is currently capable of answering complex trade mark questions in layman’s terms, minimising customer confusion and maximising successful first-time transactions. For example ‘How do I apply for a trade mark?’ The virtual assistant’s ability to evolve and hold contextual conversations with customers will continue to expand as more people interact with Alex on a daily basis.

Director General of IP Australia, Patricia Kelly said, “IP Australia is focused on helping applicants understand the trade mark process and “Alex” enables us to provide an intelligent, 24-hour self-service customer experience. The technology behind Nuance’s virtual assistant will enable us to expand our use of artificial intelligence to improve overall customer experience and help applicants better navigate the intellectual property system in Australia”.

“Customers seek simple and personalised experiences, and businesses need to respond with self-service solutions that adapt to the needs of people, and not the other way around,” said Robert Schwarz, managing director, Nuance, Australia and New Zealand. “We’re delighted to have partnered with Datacom to deliver this solution to IP Australia that draws upon natural language understanding, conversational technologies, and artificial intelligence to simplify the way customers get what they need. The Nina virtual assistant technology has allowed IP Australia to become more agile and respond to customers instantly on a complicated topic. This technology will continue to deliver immediate, tangible customer service improvements and benefits for both the company and customer.”

For enhanced functionality, Nuance partnered with Datacom to incorporate data from its contact center operations, and integrate directly with IP Australia’s live agent chat solution. With the integration of the live agent, customers experience a seamless transition from the virtual assistant to human assisted support to handle more complex queries.

For more information about Nuance’s Nina, please visit: http://www.nuance.com/for-business/customer-service-solutions/nina/index.htm