H&M Extends Nuance Virtual Assistant and Live Chat to Google's Business Messages

BURLINGTON, Mass., Oct. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Nuance Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ: NUAN) and H&M, one of the largest global fashion retailers with more than 50 market online shops, today announced consumers can now engage with H&M virtual assistant and live chat agents directly from services like Google Maps or Google Search. The new integration of Nuance's virtual assistant and live chat deployment is the first-of-its-kind and allows H&M to leverage prior investments in AI-powered Intelligent Engagement to give customers more choice and flexibility when shopping online.

H&M implemented the Nuance Intelligent Engagement Platform for virtual and live chat in 2018 to manage increasing contact volumes, improve customer experience, and automate self-service options 24 hours a day across 13 major online countries including the U.S., U.K., Sweden, and Germany. The solution assists H&M customers through their shopping experience and provides real-time answers to inquiries such as item availability, online order tracking status, and store locations and hours.

Nuance's latest integration with Google's Business Messages allows H&M to take advantage of new messaging channels while leveraging the same AI-engine core to its successful virtual assistant and live chat deployment – to enable more seamless cross-channel customer experiences, reducing contact center call volumes, and increasing digital interactions. Online shoppers can engage with H&M through Google's Business Messages initially in the U.S. market.

"We are delighted to work with H&M and Nuance to help H&M customers get answers to their questions, directly from Google Search using Business Messages," said Rob Lawson, Head of partnerships, Business Messaging at Google.

Every year contact centers receive billions of calls originating from Google applications. Adding an easily discoverable messaging option that integrates with the existing virtual assistant and live chat deployments gives customers the ability to select their preferred channel, which can significantly reduce an organization's overall call volume.

"With the explosion of digital engagements, especially in the retail sector, we're hearing from customers more about the need to better optimize and handle consumer engagements and service requests across channels," said Tony Lorentzen, Senior Vice President, Intelligent Engagement at Nuance. "The differentiator with Nuance technology is that we can partner to build one virtual assistant and extend that system to whichever channel an organization wants to leverage for engagement. Google's Business Messages is one example, where we are further enabling H&M to give customers more convenient options to get their questions answered without ever having to pick up the phone." 

The Nuance Intelligent Engagement platform combines the best of virtual assistants and human–assisted customer service engagements into one platform that can be extended to any voice or digital channel. By leveraging Nuance's Conversational AI engine at the platform's core, organizations ensure investments and data gathered are best utilized to give consumers choice in how they engage while providing a unified, cohesive experience across channels.

For more information on the Nuance Intelligent Engagement Platform, click here.
For more information on Nuance's integration of Google's Business Messages, click here

About H&M
H & M Hennes & Mauritz AB (publ) was founded in Sweden in 1947 and is quoted on Nasdaq Stockholm. H&M's business idea is to offer fashion and quality at the best price in a sustainable way. In addition to H&M, the group includes the brands COS, Monki, Weekday, & Other Stories, H&M HOME and ARKET as well as Afound. The H&M group has 51 online markets and more than 5,000 stores in 74 markets including franchise markets. In 2019, net sales were SEK 233 billion. The number of employees amounts to more than 179,000. For further information, visit hmgroup.com.

About Nuance Communications, Inc.
Nuance Communications (NASDAQ: NUAN) is the pioneer and leader in conversational AI innovations that bring intelligence to everyday work and life. The company delivers solutions that understand, analyze, and respond to people – amplifying human intelligence to increase productivity and security. With decades of domain and AI expertise, Nuance works with thousands of organizations globally across healthcare, financial services, telecommunications, government, and retail – to create stronger relationships and better experiences for their customers and workforce. For more information, please visit www.nuance.com.

Trademark reference: Nuance and the Nuance logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of Nuance Communications, Inc. or its affiliates in the United States and/or other countries. All other trademarks referenced herein are the property of their respective owners.

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SOURCE Nuance Communications, Inc.