RingCentral to bring AI workforce management tools to RingCX

RingCentral has acquired cloud-based workforce management provider CommunityWFM and will be bringing new AI-enabled workforce management features to its RingCX contact centre platform in Australia by year-end.

The acquisition is designed to strengthen RingCentral's contact centre offerings by integrating AI-driven workforce management (WFM) capabilities, with new features expected to become available as an add-on for RingCX customers in Australia in the coming months.

Adam Boreham, Australian Country Manager at RingCentral, said these advancements would benefit smaller organisations as well as larger enterprises.

"With the integration of workforce management capabilities into RingCX, when we launch RingCentral AI WFM in Australia later this year, we will be making advanced features more accessible to SMB organisations. WFM is something that has only been cost-effective for large enterprise organisations – but SMB organisations can benefit far more by optimising their human resources, and deliver a higher level of customer service at the same time," he said.

Market context

The integration of workforce management and contact centre software is attracting more interest across industries of all sizes. Sheila McGee-Smith, President and Principal Analyst at McGee-Smith Analytics, commented on the market trend.

"For decades, contact centre and workforce management software have been essential but separate components of a well-designed customer service operation. Especially for SMBs, having these two CX solutions as part of a single cloud-based contact centre is the best way for businesses to take advantage of all the AI-based productivity and personalisation innovations available today. By combining CommunityWFM's mature workforce management capabilities with RingCentral's proven AI-first contact centre platform RingCX, organisations now have access to a cohesive single vendor solution that addresses both operational efficiency and agent experience."

This movement towards integration is supported by research. According to Metrigy Research, 34% of organisations reported that workforce management had the most significant impact on customer satisfaction among workforce engagement management applications, and 46% said it contributed most to an increase in revenue.

Features and capabilities

CommunityWFM provides a range of AI-powered tools aimed at delivering greater scheduling flexibility and operational efficiency. The software allows agents to have more control over their schedules via AI-based scheduling and automated management of shift preferences, enhancing the interaction between staff and management. These tools are intended to help businesses boost productivity while avoiding the costs associated with overstaffing or understaffing.

Kira Makagon, President & COO at RingCentral, emphasised the impact of intelligent workforce management on both agent empowerment and overall customer experience.

"Great customer experiences start with empowered agents, and that demands intelligent workforce management. As the WFM market experiences this generational leap driven by cloud, AI, and automation, we're positioned to deliver the next level of innovation that balances the needs of customers, employees, and the enterprise.

"By providing CommunityWFM's AI-driven workforce management capabilities together with our AI-first RingCX platform, we're giving businesses the complete set of tools to optimise operations while empowering their people – creating the foundation for superior agent performance and effortless customer experiences. Adding AI Workforce Management to our portfolio allows us to extend our AI-first innovation to a complete portfolio of AI-based products – starting from agentic AI assistance to real-time guidance, quality management, analytics, and now AI-powered workforce management."

With increased hybrid work environments and growing regulatory requirements, workforce scheduling and real-time monitoring are becoming more important for businesses. CommunityWFM's AI forecasting and scheduling complement RingCentral's existing analytics and automation offerings, supporting customers who need to adapt swiftly to changing operational demands.

Daryl Gonos, CEO & Co-founder at CommunityWFM, said the integration would improve efficiency and support the challenges of modern working environments.

"Joining RingCentral amplifies our ability to improve contact centre efficiency and customer service delivery while controlling operating expenses and enhancing the agent work experience. We've already seen the impact firsthand – RingCentral uses our Workforce Management platform that is integrated with RingCX to optimise their own customer support operations.

"By leveraging AI-driven forecasting to deliver more accurate workforce predictions with significantly less manual analysis, we're creating an intelligent, unified experience that not only simplifies today's workforce operations, but also anticipates the future needs of hybrid work environments and evolving customer demands."

Product availability

Within the RingCX platform, the integrated workforce management suite will feature AI-powered forecasting, automated schedule adjustment, real-time adherence monitoring, as well as agent self-service via mobile app and portal for scheduling and time-off requests.

RingCentral AI Workforce Management is expected to be available in Australia by the end of the year.