This is article #4 in the series on optimizing banking and credit union innovation and productivity through AI and cloud communications.
To stay competitive, banks and credit unions must rapidly bring new products and services to market. Efficient, effective team collaboration with as little friction as possible is essential to that task.
Historically, teams have relied on multiple disconnected tools for communication and collaboration, using distinct applications for email, instant messaging, and video conferencing. Today, there are far better ways to foster co-innovation. Smart companies bring their communications tools together under one roof, moving to the cloud.
Banks and credit unions that leverage unified, AI-infused collaboration tools can streamline their workflows, allowing for greater efficiency, faster iteration, and stronger team cohesiveness. Holistic communication platforms combine file sharing, video conferencing, team messaging, and more, all in one comprehensive platform. This enhances internal communication and coordination, increasing agility and improving responsiveness to market demands.
That shift has strategic implications because it enables first-mover status, setting the stage for competitive advantage. It also dramatically improves workforce productivity and reduces the errors caused by miscommunication, especially when dealing with a remote/hybrid/highly distributed workforce or product/project team.
Enter Unified Communications as a Service
When talking about the need for collaborating and communicating effectively, Unified Communications as a Service (UCaaS) offers a holistic approach to corporate communications technology, including telephony, video conferencing, team messaging, and other collaboration tools. Leveraging cloud computing, UCaaS unifies these tools within a single platform that users can access from virtually any device, in any location.
UCaaS makes it easier than ever for employees to collaborate effectively, whether they’re in the office, on the road, or working from home. By shifting to a cloud-first strategy, organizations can enjoy the scalability, flexibility, and security that modern cloud-based services have to offer.
At the same time, banks and credit unions that choose UCaaS solutions can reduce the complexity and cost of managing disjointed on-premise systems. As a cloud based system, UCaaS also offers continuous updates, adding new features to improve existing functionality. This allows banks and credit unions to take advantage of cutting-edge technologies as soon as they become available.
Fueling agility
Cloud-based solutions offer banks and credit unions the flexibility to experiment with innovative business models, products, and services without the traditional constraints of legacy systems. By integrating various communication tools, RingCentral’s UCaaS platform, RingEx, ensures that teams can work together seamlessly, regardless of location and regardless of device (laptop, desktop, mobile, tablet). That increases productivity and improves decision-making processes.
Cloud communications break down the conventional barriers between office-based workers and remote or hybrid employees. UCaaS also offers inherent scalability, making it possible to quickly expand or contract services based on an organization’s needs. If a bank’s workforce grows significantly because of an acquisition, for example, RingCentral’s RingEx can accommodate that change seamlessly, scaling up capacity and provisioning new users quickly.
AI-infused conversation intelligence
RingCentral elevates communication and collaboration by adding conversation intelligence, with advanced GenAI features that transform the way teams operate. AI-powered conversation intelligence can analyze and interpret conversations, whether through voice, video, or text. That empowers employees to work efficiently without ever sacrificing depth of understanding.
Participants in RingCentral video meetings can benefit from automated note taking, or come up to speed quickly on a missed meeting using AI-driven summaries. Conversation intelligence offers deep insights into every interaction, making UCaaS even more impactful by seamlessly weaving AI tools into the productivity apps that employees use every day.
One of the key benefits of conversation intelligence through AI-infused UCaaS is the ability to enhance customer interactions. AI can automatically transcribe calls, identify key topics, and even detect sentiment, allowing businesses to understand customer needs and concerns more quickly and more accurately. This data can be used to tailor responses, improve service quality, and predict future customer behaviors. For customer-facing teams, this means being able to deliver more personalized and effective support, which can significantly boost customer satisfaction and loyalty.
AI meets trusted communications with privacy & security
Naturally, banks and credit unions must meet high data security and privacy standards. RingCentral understands the importance of data security, so our AI platform is designed for enhanced privacy and security. We never use customer/member data to train our AI models, nor do we ever allow our third-party vendors to use our customers’/members’ data for AI model training. With customizable access controls, role-based permissions, and audit trails, financial institutions can maintain strict oversight of who accesses sensitive information and how it is used.
Our AI-powered platform is designed with robust security features, including end-to-end encryption, multi-factor authentication (MFA), and compliance with industry standards such as GDPR, and SOC 2 (and PCI-DSS coming soon). These measures ensure that customer data, financial transactions, and internal communications remain secure from unauthorized access and cyber threats. Additionally, our platform provides real-time monitoring and advanced threat detection, giving financial institutions the peace of mind that their data is always protected.
RingCentral’s “Privacy by Design” philosophy demands that responsible AI governance be embedded in every aspect of product development. That extends to our third-party partners as well, whom we hold to the same rigorous standards. As part of our commitment to AI transparency, we make Product Privacy Datasheets available on our RingCentral Trust Center.
The power of integrated communication for the enterprise
RingCentral further enhances productivity by integrating with best-in-class enterprise software like Salesforce and with common productivity tools like Microsoft Office 365. This provides a unified experience across every communication channel, streamlining work and providing a complete picture for employees.
RingCentral seamlessly connects with standard internal authentication platforms such as Okta, Microsoft Azure AD, and other leading identity providers to ensure secure and streamlined access for users. By integrating with these trusted platforms, RingCentral enables Single Sign-On (SSO) and MFA, allowing employees to use their existing credentials for a hassle-free and secure login experience. For banking and credit union customers/members, RingCentral implements robust fraud prevention techniques, including AI-powered anomaly detection, real-time monitoring, and end-to-end encryption. These advanced security measures are designed to protect sensitive financial data and proactively identify and mitigate potential fraudulent activities, ensuring that banks can maintain the highest levels of security and trust in their communication systems.
RingCentral is also designed to seamlessly adapt to new use cases. Our application programming interfaces (APIs) enable banks and credit unions to seamlessly connect RingCentral with other applications and services that are part of the existing technology stack, creating a rich ecosystem of offerings tailored to the evolving needs of their customers/members. Whether it’s developing mobile banking apps, implementing digital wallets, or exploring new financial technologies, APIs offer the flexibility and scalability required to stay ahead in a highly competitive market. By embracing these advanced technological solutions, financial institutions can enhance their product development processes, better serve their customers/members, and maintain a strong competitive edge in a rapidly changing industry.
RingCentral’s RingEx platform offers banks and credit unions a powerful means to enhance workforce productivity, streamline communication, and drive innovation. By unifying communication tools under one roof, leveraging advanced AI capabilities, and taking advantage of value-add integrations, banks and credit unions can reduce friction in collaboration, enabling rapid product development and improved customer interactions.
The ability to scale effortlessly, integrate with existing enterprise software, and maintain stringent security standards further solidifies cloud communications as an essential component in the modern financial services landscape. As the industry continues to evolve, those who adopt these cutting-edge technologies will be well-positioned to stay ahead of the competition, delivering superior value to their customers and members while optimizing operational efficiency.
Want to learn more? Explore our financial services solutions today.
Originally published Sep 04, 2024
