Afiniti transforms the way humans interact by applying artificial intelligence to discover, predict and affect patterns of interpersonal behavior.
Overview
Afiniti enhances human interactions in large enterprises by efficiently pairing customers with employees based on predicted interpersonal behavior. Our applied artificial intelligence technology is generally applicable to the optimization of any interaction with the possibility of a selection between more than one person. Currently we are focused on improving contact center interactions conducted over the phone, and we also provide optimizations for live chat, email, online video and in-person applications.
Our proprietary “big data” algorithms analyze client and third-party information to identify patterns of successful and unsuccessful behavioral interactions. We then apply these patterns in real time to augment human pairings and their associated commercial outcomes. We believe that our pairing solution is unique, as it influences contact outcomes in a way not possible with traditional time-based, utilization-based or performance-based methods of contact assignment.
Afiniti generated an average revenue gain for clients of
4.3%
for the twelve months ending October 2015.
The benefits of our technology are precisely measurable. A key element of our business is a pay-for-performance business model in which our clients can compensate us based on the incremental revenues and cost savings we deliver. When deployed at scale, our technology can contribute significant proportions of our clients’ profitability.
The Afiniti deployment cycle is typically between twenty-five and one hundred days. Deployment does not require any change to existing technology infrastructure or call routing configurations, and does not affect agent recruitment, selection, training, or compensation. When live, Afiniti is essentially invisible to both customers and agents.
Learn more about AfinitiThe science behind Afiniti
Afiniti pairs callers and agents on the basis of behavior.
Using big data analytics, Afiniti analyzes customer data from third parties and internal client data to provide a holistic view of individual customers and agents. We then use artificial intelligence algorithms to determine the optimal fit between callers and agents. We refer to this process as Enterprise Behavioral Pairing™, or EBP™.
Every 24 hours, these artificial intelligence algorithms scan newly generated contact center data to improve our behavioral pairing algorithms.
Afiniti’s artificial intelligence systems sit at the convergence of computer science, mathematics, psychology, linguistics, philosophy and neuroscience. Over the past decade, we have pioneered several applications of statistics and mathematics within the contact center industry.
We currently process approximately 400,000 calls a day to improve our algorithm's ability to achieve optimal agent and caller pairings. Our technology discovers subtle patterns of interaction between callers and agents that serve as the basis for creating optimal pairings. Ongoing training of our artificial intelligence models is important because of the dynamic nature of contact centers: agents change, incentive structures shift, competitive pressures evolve and even weather and holidays can have an impact.
Afiniti’s Artificial Intelligence Systems
Our solution works in scenarios in which both a single call is in queue and multiple agents are available, as well as in scenarios in which multiple calls are in queue and a single agent is available. In the first scenario, our system selects an optimal agent out of available agents, while in the second scenario it selects an optimal caller out of available callers. In any scenario, our technology needs scale in order to be effective.
The greater the number of calls in queue, or the greater the number of agents available, the better our algorithms perform. As a result, our solution is most effective in large enterprise telephony environments. Our systems are generally well positioned in call queues that exceed 50 concurrent agents and optimally positioned in call queues that exceed 200 concurrent agents.
Download Technology paperPrecisely measuring results
Afiniti delivers precisely measurable results by adopting a patented approach of alternating Afiniti ON and OFF in short time cycles.
These short alternating cycles provide a clear statistical view as to the benefit that we deliver, regardless of changes in revenue, agent population, consumer behavior, marketing campaigns, technologies, staffing or other variables.
For each metric that our clients seek to optimize, we contractually agree in advance on the expected long term value that will be attributed to enhanced performance. These key metrics are measured on a monthly basis.
Download Technology paperOur results
Afiniti generates an average increase in client revenues of over 4%.
T-MOBILE
$70M
in new revenue
annually
BRITISH GAS
2sec
reduction in
average handle time
SPRINT
78,000
new subscribers
delivered annually
Real time results of our EBP algorithm are presented to our clients through either a secure online portal or live data feeds. These are customized for each client depending upon their needs. In many instances, deployment of our technology does not necessitate any change in the client’s incumbent reporting systems. In some cases, our clients prefer to use our contact center monitoring data and systems because they generally provide greater precision, information span and display flexibility than legacy systems.
See all our case studiesSupported infrastructure
Afiniti works across all existing major telephony processes.
Deployment process
Deployment of our technology is led by our global deployment and engineering team. This process typically takes between 25 and 100 days and requires minimal time by the client’s information technology group.
Our systems have been integrated in over 55 diverse contact center environments, including Aspect, Asterisk, Avaya, Cisco, Genesys, IEX/NICE, Interactive Intelligence, Noble, Oracle, Queuebuster, Virtual Hold and other telephony, customer relationship management and ancillary systems. We have extensive experience in providing the customized integrations that our clients require.
We deploy our system on client premises or we host our solution as a secure deployment at one of our facilities. Afiniti and our client generally prefer client premise deployments because no data leaves the client’s firewall and the client itself addresses its data privacy and security needs. In some instances, clients prefer the convenience of a secure-hosted deployment.
Our deployments require no operational change within a client’s contact center organization. There is no change required to the client’s recruitment, training, coaching, evaluation, assignment or compensation of agents. Similarly, there is no change to the client’s interactive voice response (IVR), call recording, workforce management or other systems. A client’s skills-based routing systems are also unaffected by deployment of our systems.
Download Deployment paper
Strategic planning
Afiniti’s Global Deployment and Engineering team leads structured workshops and design sessions to understand the client’s technology environment and data estate. The output of this phase is two documents: a Project Scoping Document (timeline and resource requirements), and a Technical Design Document (master plan for technology integration).
Data discovery & modeling
Afiniti builds a picture of all available data resources within its client. We gather historical call outcome data appropriate to the business metric being optimized, and determine a process of nightly data delivery to Afiniti to allow for continual artificial intelligence learning. The output of this phase is a first AI derived estimate of anticipated Afiniti performance.
Telephony integration
Afiniti does detailed discovery on existing skill based routing call flows and develops any necessary integration changes. Afiniti also prepares for the physical connection of Afiniti’s systems to incumbent telephony and other peripheral technologies. The output of this phase is the telephony call flow code, reporting, and modifications necessary for telephony integration.
Lab testing
Afiniti either deploys its integration within a client’s lab environment or within its own. Extensive load testing will occur at this stage, together with an array of test and use cases to ensure a seamless and durable integration. The output of this phase is a Lab Testing Report that details all the testing protocols undertaken and the results, signifying readiness to deploy.
Production deployment
Over a course of one to two weeks, various components of the lab integration are ported into the production environment. This is done with Afiniti operating in “fail-safe” mode such that calls continue to flow according to their pre-Afiniti protocols. The output of this phase is a full deployment in the client’s production environment with Afiniti operating in “fail-safe” mode.
Go live
Initially, Afiniti’s systems are run for a five-minute period over a period of known low call volume, such as late night on a weekend. This interval is gradually increased over a period of one to two weeks until Afiniti is running continually. If there are any unanticipated design or deployment issues that are revealed in production, they are corrected at this stage.
Continuing engagement
After deployment is complete, Afiniti’s GDE and AI teams maintain a close association with their client counterparts in telephony and data. Ongoing cooperation is critical to ensure optimal system performance. Afiniti works with marketing and operations departments to ensure any anticipated shift in consumer or agent behavior is reflected in the AI modeling.
The Afiniti Business Model
Given that Afiniti’s benefit is precisely measurable, we offer our clients the options of compensating us based on such benefits. We also offer our technology with SaaS pricing, including per-seat, per-agent and enterprise variants.
In the typical Afiniti partnership model, Afiniti’s clients do not bear any hardware, software, or professional services costs.
Afiniti is well versed in structuring such partnership models, with deep experience in the various industry verticals it serves including Hospitality, Insurance, Telecommunications, Utilities and other sectors. Senior executives with decades of both industry and contact center experience, many of whom have won awards for contact center leadership and innovation, head Afiniti’s verticals and provide an unparalleled depth of knowledge.
See all our case studiesAfiniti University
Afiniti runs University sessions for new and existing clients to help them understand more about how Afiniti works. Find out more in the video below.
Find out more about Afiniti
Create a competitive advantage by combining your product and industry expertise with Afiniti behavior matching solution for contact centers.
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