Name: Making Bots Both Affective and Effective
Start: 2021-09-23T17:00:00Z
End: 2021-09-23T17:00:47.000Z
Location: BrightTALK
Rating: 4.6

Business use cases for Conversational AI, Generative AI, LLMs, and Conversational Intelligence. In-depth analysis, real-world case studies, and proven business value for customer service, CX, marketing, and revenue acceleration. 

The buyer journey used to run on handshakes and phone calls. Now it is rebuilt in real time. In just two years, customers changed faster than most brands could rewire. Asynchronous, always-on chats are edging out the phone tree. People expect instant answers, real memory, and context. They do not care about “service windows.” Research and purchase now blur into one clean motion.

If you live on high-touch interactions—home services, healthcare, education, retail—this is not a side quest. The edge that once came from human rapport now depends on how well your AI can think, remember, and act like your best employee at scale.

In this webinar, Opus Research and Invoca explore how Agentic AI is redefining “brand experience” in a world of fractured attention, where loyalty is earned one micro-moment at a time. We will show how to design a buyer journey that blends autonomy with empathy. AI agents will not replace humans. They will extend your brand’s intelligence into moments humans cannot reach.

We will cover:
 • How decision cycles became non-linear, decentralized, and data-driven
 • Why many automation plans fell short, and how Agentic AI closes the empathy gap
 • The new hybrid journey architecture: perception, reasoning, reflection, handoff
 • How leaders build CX Agent strategies that are observable, adaptive, and memory-driven

Autonomy Meets Empathy: Future-Proofing Consumer Brand Experiences for 2026 and Beyond

Voice remains the backbone of customer interaction, executive communication, and enterprise operations, making it an increasingly attractive target for AI-driven attacks.
 
Opus Research’s recent paper, “From Imitation to Exploitation: Tackling Deepfake Audio Risks in Voice Security” (July 2025), indicates a significant increase in deepfake voice fraud over the past year, marked by both heightened sophistication and scale. AI-driven voice deepfakes have evolved from novel technologies to major enterprise risks. Traditional security methods like One-Time Passwords (OTPs) and Knowledge-Based Authentication (KBAs) are increasingly susceptible to advanced, AI-based attacks. Voice as a channel, whether in contact centers, executive communications, video conferencing, or messaging apps, has never been a bigger target.
 
Join Opus Research and Pindrop for a live, in-depth discussion of the startling rise of deepfake audio fraud and the urgent steps every organization must take to safeguard their data. We’ll unpack the anatomy of real-world attacks, uncover how threat actors exploit both human and technological weaknesses, and dive into actionable frameworks for adaptive, AI-enabled defense.
 
Key topics include:
* The exponential growth and evolving nature of voice deepfake threats
* Common attack scenarios on contact centers, executive teams, and enterprise collaboration platforms
* Why traditional security controls are struggling—and where most organizations have hidden blind spots
* A new model for voice security: integrating AI-powered detection, multi-layered authentication, and collaborative threat intelligence
* Practical steps for building a proactive, resilient voice security culture—spanning people, process, and technology
* How to assess and continuously improve your organization’s readiness using a deepfake voice risk self-assessment

From Imitation to Exploitation: Tackling Deepfake Audio Risks in Voice Security

As AI agents, voice bots, and automation continue to take on a bigger role in customer service — from taking complex tasks to making decisions in real time—the need for thoughtful human oversight becomes more critical, not less. How can organizations design better customer experiences where AI agents and human agents work together intelligently?

Join this fireside chat discussion to discover how to evaluate and measure performance across both human and AI agents. Because when bots are handling real interactions, customers see them as part of your service team—and bots shouldn’t get a free pass just because they don’t take coffee breaks. That means including them in quality programs, coaching efforts, and performance metrics. Attend this live session for a practical conversation on how to bring humans and automation into better alignment and deliver a customer experience that’s greater than the sum of its parts.

In this discussion, you will learn:
* How to design workflows that keep humans meaningfully in the loop
* Best practices for evaluating performance across both AI and human agents—without silos
* Why aligning automation, coaching, and quality programs leads to a stronger, more flexible CX operation

Humans in the Loop, Bots on the Clock: Building a Balanced CX Team

The landscape of customer service is rapidly evolving with the introduction of AI agents, such as VoiceAI and ChatAI. While automation offers the potential to streamline operations and enhance the customer experience, success requires careful planning, collaboration, and a clear understanding of best practices.

Join Opus Research, Observe.AI, and SimpleOnline Healthcare for an exclusive webinar where we’ll explore the real-world strategies, key considerations, and partnerships essential for successfully adopting AI agents in customer support. In this session, we’ll guide you through the critical steps for implementing AI agents effectively, ensuring long-term business value, and avoiding common pitfalls along the way. Topics include:

* Leveraging insights from call drivers to guide operational decisions, optimize resource allocation, and improve both agent and customer experiences
* How to benchmark the performance of VoiceAI agents, track progress over time, and collaborate across departments
* Choosing the right partners to effectively implement AI agents and prepare your workforce for the change

From Insights to Implementation: Unlocking Success with AI Agents

State of Voice AI Webinar Series | 2025
According to the 2025 State of Voice AI Report, 52% of organizations see customer service automation as voice AI’s most transformative use case, yet only 15% are actively developing voice AI Agents, revealing a significant opportunity gap.

Our first webinar established where companies are investing; now we explore how forward-thinking organizations are approaching implementation and leveraging more sophisticated agentic capabilities to deliver better customer experiences. 

Join Opus Research, Cognigy, and Deepgram as we unpack trends and observations around customer deployment expectations, expected ROI of voice AI adoption, and ways companies are tailoring voice AI to specific industry needs.

Key Takeaways:
 • Why customer service is the most transformative use case for voice AI
 • How agentic AI is reshaping customer expectations for voice interactions 
 • Strategies for addressing barriers to voice AI agent development

From Vision to Reality: Implementing Voice AI Agents for CX

AI-powered voice agents are poised to close the satisfaction gap that has long plagued traditional voice technologies like IVR systems.

The 2025 State of Voice AI Report reveals a striking disconnect: while 80% of organizations have implemented traditional voice agents, a mere 21% report satisfaction with their current solutions. Despite this gap, forward-thinking enterprises are increasing their investments in voice technology, recognizing that next-generation voice AI agents represent a fundamental shift in customer experience and operational efficiency.

Join Opus Research and Deepgram for this live, interactive webinar as we unveil findings from the 2025 State of Voice AI Report, exploring the most compelling business reasons to implement voice AI agents and what key improvements are required to unlock even greater adoption. 

Key Takeaways:
* Why Voice AI is now foundational for enterprises to scale operations
* Results from the 2025 survey, including why 84% of respondents plan to increase their budgets for voice technology
* The most common blockers for voice AI agent adoption, from performance quality to integrations and customization

Voice AI in 2025: From Robotic IVRs to Human-like Voice AI Agents

The typical B2C buying journey is digital-first, but it’s not digital-only. Most high-value leads convert via the contact center for B2C brands in high-touch industries where purchases are complex and expensive. However, the laser focus on digital loses sight of the offline experience, causing disjointed buyer experiences for customers and poor revenue growth for brands. 

The modern online-to-offline buying journey requires full orchestration from the first click to the final human touch that drives the sale. Invoca’s revenue execution platform accomplishes this by connecting the contact center to every caller’s digital journey data. This brings the details of the digital journey straight to the agent who picks up the phone and enables sales and marketing leaders to optimize every piece of the buying journey. 

Join Opus Research and Invoca for a live, interactive webinar to learn how connecting the buying journey data from click, to call, to conversion drives more revenue and customer lifetime value. Topics include:

*  Using revenue execution platforms to connect the contact center, sales, and marketing teams
*  Identifying and predicting customer intent to improve CX, retention, and conversion rates
*  Adding AI-powered automation that optimizes agent performance, CSAT, and revenue
*  Establishing revenue-focused KPIs for the modern buying journey 
*  How to utilize AI-powered first-party customer data in a secure and privacy-friendly manner

Making the Digital-Age Contact Center a Revenue Machine

The pressure to deliver exceptional customer service has never been greater. Traditional customer care automation technologies, while foundational, often are rigid and inflexible. Many fall short in handling complex customer interactions. Enter Generative AI (GenAI), a transformative technology poised to redefine the norms of customer service. 

GenAI is a fast-changing technology. Customer care organizations can maximize its potential by understanding and identifying ways to employ AI-infused resources. Join Opus Research and Enghouse to learn how AI benefits contact centers, including a how-to, self-assessment framework to help you effectively prepare for specific, practical implementations. Topics include:

* Defining the core benefits of GenAI to better service customers
* Considerations for success: new workflows and flexible architectures
* Identifying first-order concerns, managing expectations, and developing a holistic approach
* Real-world case studies and practical implementation examples

Smarter CX: Leveraging the Practical Opportunities of GenAI

Struggling to navigate the maze of Intelligent Virtual Assistant (IVA) solutions? Let's put those doubts to rest. Dive into an engaging roundtable where we tackle the hottest questions of the year head-on (no doubt, GAI is top of the list). Our seasoned panel will provide clarity and insights on common inquiries, including:

● How can I seamlessly integrate IVAs with my existing systems and workflows?
● What role does Generative AI (GAI) play in optimizing IVA performance, and how can I leverage it effectively?
● How do you ensure security and compliance in IVAs amid advancements in Generative AI?
● How can I maximize ROI and ensure long-term value for my customers and business from my IVA investment?

Secure your spot today to ensure you are equipped with the knowledge and strategies needed to navigate the IVA landscape with confidence.

Expert Panel: Top Questions about IVA, GenAI, Security, and ROI…Oh My!

The threat of “Deepfakes” can spoof even the most sophisticated anti-fraud technologies. But advancements in voice biometrics are proving to be a key component to provide the levels of accuracy, simplicity, scalability and robustness required to address today’s challenges.

Join Opus Research, SymNex Consulting, and IngenID  to gain insights and hear recommendations surrounding factors that ensure successful deployment of voice biometrics. Topics include:
* Respect for privacy and user consent: What it means and how to accomplish it
* Simplicity, Scalability, and Usability: How to succeed with end users at scale
* Future-Proof Deployments: How to tune and optimize deployments over time
* Taking on Deepfakes: Why voice biometrics are emerging as a trusted resource for detecting these scourges to phone based and electronic commerce

What it Takes to Succeed with Voice Biometrics in 2024

AI technologies, including Large Language Models (LLMs) and Generative AI, promise to help organizations significantly improve customer experience while making operations more efficient for agents and employees. Successful deployments, however, depend on how well companies are prepared to employ powerful new tools to improve customer service while automating and streamlining tasks for employees.
 
Join Opus Research and SESTEK as they discuss how customer care organizations should evaluate and understand AI and LLMs to ensure their strategies align with business objectives and operational improvements. Topics include:
 
* Making the most of AI and LLM breakthroughs and new opportunities
* Avoiding common pitfalls in user adoption and project execution
* Partnering with experienced vendors to leverage previous technology investments
* Developing real-world use cases that meld authentication, automation, and analysis

Applied AI: Accelerating Impact at Customer Service

In the recent "The Inside Story: Factors Propelling Speech AI in 2023” webinar, we delved into the current state of speech AI, leveraging the insights gleaned from surveying 400 business leaders on the State of Voice Technology in 2023.

In part two of this series, we will dive deeper into the world of language models, from their fundamental concepts to the latest advancements in the field. We will also shed light on the promises and perils of large language models, as well as discuss how domain-specific models can offer a tailored approach to address various challenges.

In this webinar, you will learn:
* Language model architecture and training paradigm 
* Compromises between using LLMs versus DSLMs
* Business impacts of DSLMs and real-world examples showcasing their benefits
* What’s on the horizon for LLMs and DSLMs

“Big Enough” Language Models: Domain-Specific Approaches to Speech AI

The use of speech recognition and natural language processing has been growing steadily over the past years, but what does the future hold? This webinar aims to break down the current state of speech AI, with insights from the 2023 State of Voice Report conducted by Opus Research, as well as explore the opportunities and challenges that lie ahead. From the increasing demand for voice-enabled devices to the rise of low-latency models, we will explore how speech AI is defining the shared futures of human-computer interaction and customer experience. In this webinar, you will learn:

* Why the adoption of Speech AI is on the rise, with a special focus on “voice bots” / intelligent agents
* Key improvements required to unlock even greater adoption of Speech AI
* How and why language models (both Large and Small) can improve the Speech AI experience

The Inside Story: Factors Propelling Speech AI in 2023

A series of accounts in tech news outlets and mainstream newspapers make it sound like anybody with voice synthesis software can spoof their way through contact center authentication routines. Truth is, all of us have to be sensitive to how Deepfakes and Synthetic Voice can take advantage of security holes within business organizations. 
 
Contact centers are an increasingly attractive target as work shifts to remote resources, workflows change and calls increase in both complexity and volume. A recent global survey by Opus Research documented a multiplier effect spawning increases in resource requirements on contact centers if they are to maintain customer service levels. The imperative is on customer service organizations and businesses of all sizes to acknowledge and understand these new threats and security exposures.
 
Join this live, interactive webinar with Opus Research and ValidSoft to learn more about the rapidly evolving threat landscape and what you can do about it.  Topics include: 
 
* Current challenges for security and authentication based on global survey results
* Reality check on the impact of Synthetic Voice and Deepfakes
* Deep dive into methods and practices for stepping up security without decrementing customer service or employee productivity
* More modern approaches to thwarting emerging attacks

Synthetic Voice and DeepFakes: What’s Real and What You Can Do About It

Marketing, sales, and customer support are constantly under pressure to meet ROI objectives through advertising optimization, sales acceleration, and cost control measures. Today’s high inflation and economic headwinds have raised the financial stakes dramatically. To thrive in this challenging environment and stay one step ahead of the competition, leading organizations use conversation intelligence.

Join this live, interactive webinar (Tuesday, Feb 14th at 1pm EST) to learn how conversation intelligence can help you address the challenges in today’s new economy. You’ll hear from executives at: Invoca, the leader in AI-powered conversation intelligence; Spectrum Retirement Communities, a leading operator of retirement, assisted living, and memory care communities; and Opus Research. The three will discuss how conversation intelligence empowers organizations to spend smarter and improve return on investment from marketing budgets, all while prioritizing the customer. 

Tune in to learn how to:
• Apply the insights gleaned from web searches, mobile apps, messaging, and phone calls to optimize marketing campaigns
• Identify customer needs and create personalized experiences that improve conversion rates
• Improve the customer experience by reducing the frequency of abandoned calls, long hold times, and call transfers

Addressing Challenges of the New Economy with Conversational Intelligence

For too many businesses, deploying bots has been a costly drain on financial resources and personnel without commensurate business benefits. Today, new technologies, informed by large language models, promise to reduce the time it takes to train chatbots and intelligent virtual assistants minimizing the headcount required to deliver high-quality, conversational self-service.  

Join this live, interactive webinar (Wed., January 25th, 1pm EST) with seasoned conversational AI practitioners from Knowbl and executives from Opus Research to learn why last-generation chatbots struggled and how new transformer-based solutions improve efficiencies to deliver better customer experiences precisely when they’re most needed. Topics under discussion include:

• How the latest transformer-based, large language models (like ChatGPT) fit into an enterprise's self-service strategy
• Why last-generation chatbots have been limited and underwhelming
• What prevents new solutions from entering production and delivering on the self-service promise of AI
• What approaches enable brands to bring transformer-based solutions to production in a fraction of the cost and time

Making Bots Better: Leveraging Transformer-Based Solutions

Brands understand that if they are not delivering great customer experiences (CX) across digital and voice channels, it is an existential threat. And data-driven brands understand that they can't manage what they don't measure. In order for organizations to be resilient, they must effectively manage this tango between digital and voice with holistic analytics across all types of conversations.
 
Whether they text or talk, businesses across multiple industries, from industries like financial services, retail, streamed entertainment and healthcare, have found ways to uncover conversational patterns and customer insights from every interaction and put it to use to improve business outcomes in measurable ways.
 
Join Opus Research and LivePerson in a live, interactive webinar (Tuesday, December 6th, 1pm EST) for a deeper dive into the technologies that help companies get past collecting pure data to derive true insights and delivering measurable results through better listening. Come learn:

• Real-world case studies and high-impact use cases for Conversational Intelligence
• How to spot previously undetected issues to glean business insights
• How to deploy tools to that generate meaningful measurements of business outcomes
• How to leverage analytics to determine automation and self-service opportunities

Conversational Intelligence: Measurable Results Through Better Listening

Successful implementations of conversational intelligence are driving incremental revenue, reducing servicing costs and improving customer experiences. Conversational Intelligence is also becoming easier to implement, thanks to companies like Gridspace. 

Gridspace is a true, full-stack provider of conversational AI. Customers including USAA, Square and Optum use Gridspace to capture, transcribe and analyze live phone calls. Last year the company added Gridspace Grace, a virtual agent platform and authoring tool, to its offerings.

Join Opus Research and Gridspace in a live, interactive webinar (Wednesday, September 28, 1pm ET / 10am PT) to discover key ways contact centers bring virtual and human agent conversations together in one place and how a fully-containerized, cloud native platform democratizes conversational insight discovery and voice automation.

Conversational Intelligence: Empowering Human and Virtual Agents

CX, Contact Center and Customer Care professionals are clamoring for solutions that make voicebots and chatbots more “affective,” meaning “sensitive and empathetic to customers’ emotional state”. Too often these initiatives are at odds with the core demand for self-service resources to be more “effective,” meaning “efficient and active” in helping customers complete their desired tasks.

Join executives from Opus Research and Zaion in a video discussion and demonstration of technologies and approaches to making affective bots more effective for customers, specifically:

•	How does affective application of AI result in effective responses? 
•	Can a bot really be empathetic?
•	What is the downside of mis-applying Emotional AI?
•	Is there a clear way forward for making the most of Emotional AI?

Making Bots Both Affective and Effective

Artificial Intelligence

Bots

Chatbots

Contact Center

Conversational AI

Custome Care

Customer Service

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Making Bots Both Affective and Effective

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Opus Research