Autodesk takes customer service and support to new heights with IBM Watson

By Niraj M Wanikar, Chief Editor, CNCTimes.com, 2016-10-26 12:36:00

Autodesk and IBM are working together to provide an improved experience for Autodesk customers and partners globally. The effort hinges on Otto, a digital concierge that uses IBM Watson cognitive technology to resolve customer and partner inquiries, such as requesting a subscription activation code or answering an inquiry, in a matter of minutes.

Autodesk and IBM Watson have completed a successful pilot of the Otto digital concierge and are now moving into full production to deliver anytime, anywhere service, support and information to customers and partners.

This enhanced level of support comes at the same time that Autodesk has made the shift to a fully subscription-based business, where there is a higher level of expectations from customers for real-time customer service and support. In the pilot testing phase, Autodesk improved its support ticket resolution time by 99 percent and significantly improved customer satisfaction. The time it takes Otto to resolve an issue can be as fast as it takes a customer to enter the required information.

“It is important we provide our customers with consistent quality paired with the shortest response and resolution time,” said Gregg Spratto, vice president, operations at Autodesk. “Our collaboration with IBM Watson allows us to expand the Otto concierge service and deliver prompt, effective and authentic engagement to our customers.”

How it Works
When a customer or partner needs help with a subscription activation request, they are connected to Otto via Autodesk’s online support channel. Otto starts by handling requests for activation codes via a combination of natural language processing and business web services. The web services validate the customer owns the license and then automates the back-office transactions required to generate a new activation code. As the project expands, Otto will use machine learning to handle increasingly complex customer requests and allow Autodesk to continue to reduce resolution times, scale seamlessly as volume grows, and provide round-the-clock customer and partner service.

"People today expect instant, seamless customer service. Autodesk recognizes that each touch point with a customer is an opportunity to meet that expectation and, with Otto and Watson, they're able to deliver a top notch end user experience while also improving their operations," said Beth Smith, general manager, offerings & technology, IBM Watson.

Watson’s natural language processing (NLP) and deep learning technologies help Otto understand the intent of customer questions and quickly return high-confidence answers. In the training and development process, Autodesk fed historical data from chat logs, use cases and forum posts into Otto to help ensure it can understand and respond to a wide range of customer queries. As the program expands, Autodesk will rely on a core group of top customer service and technical experts to continually add new domains of expertise within Otto utilizing supervised training of techniques.

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