Artificial intelligence is currently on everyone’s lips and is being used in ever more diverse ways. We habitually send it in search of information in the form of ChatGPT, Siri, Alexa and the like, or ask it to play our favorite music, for example. But what does it look like in everyday working life away from the quiet living room? For example, in customer service or emergency call organizations, where questions and helpful answers are part of daily business? How nice and how much easier would it be for the control center staff to have a solution that answers customer inquiries in a natural, human conversational tone and by means of competent dialog? And which could respond to concrete problems much better than with the blanket answers of simple chatbots?
“Ivy” by Commend: artificially intelligent and all natural in conversation
This is precisely the wish that Commend International, the Salzburg-based security communications specialist with a global presence, has made a reality for the first time. The result is called Ivy and is based on so-called “Conversational AI”, i.e. artificial intelligence that can converse with users in a natural conversational tone and respond dynamically. The best thing about it is that Ivy learns independently with every answer and therefore constantly expands and deepens its own knowledge. The first step is a thorough “basic training” at the location of the field of operation, where very specific recurring questions arise in relation to the environment. The rest is done by Ivy’s “Deep Neural Network” algorithms.
Ivy can thus provide competent answers in real time in virtually all application areas and relieve human ‘colleagues’ at the control center in a dialog-based manner: with information on appointment and search queries, assistance with problems, and much more. “Thanks to these real-time capabilities, Ivy has even left behind AI chatbots of the caliber of a ChatGPT,” explains Martin Gross, CEO of the Commend Group. Even during the test phase, the surprisingly convincing feeling on the part of users that they were talking to a real human being was confirmed. These are ideal conditions for friendly, patient answers to recurring questions around the clock – but also in emergency situations, where the people concerned need a trustworthy, helpful approach. In individual cases, Ivy can also forward calls to responsible human-staffed control centers (e.g. emergency services) if the situation requires it. This is because Ivy even recognizes the user’s emotional impulses.
Market launch with award
Commend celebrated the official market premiere of Ivy at ICS West, the leading US trade fair for security technology, which is currently taking place in Las Vegas from March 29 to 31. There, Commend Americas can not only look forward to lively attendance at its own booth, but also to fantastic news: Commend is the winner of this year’s New Products and Solutions Awards (NPS) in the category “Communications and Networking Solutions” with its world’s first intercom voice assistant based on ‘conversational AI’, the most prestigious award presented by the Security Industry Association (SIA – https://www.securityindustry.org).
“We are honored and totally thrilled to receive this great recognition right at the market debut!” enthuses Tim Kensell, Technical Director of Commend Americas, who had the pleasure of accepting the award directly at the ISC West trade show during a spectacular ceremony event. “I guess even Ivy is speechless now!”
Commend is passionately dedicated to innovation and perfection in communications and security technology. For more than 50 years, this passion has given rise to intercom and public address solutions that Commend customers can rely on anytime, anywhere to protect and help business, reputation, property and even life.
Customer voice, needs and trust are the primary source of inspiration for everything Commend does, from research and production to installation and after-sales services. The result is top-notch products tailored to serve business and safety needs – whether in road tunnels, on dirty, noisy factory floors or in high-purity medical and manufacturing environments, on ships and yachts or on trains, and in areas ranging from parking garages to office buildings and smart cities. This is made possible by the passionate collaboration of more than 550 veterans who work within the global Commend network to deliver on this corporate mission. For more information: www.commend.com.
Commend International
Joerg Weisser, Marketing Manager
[p] +43 662 85 62 25 272
[m] +43 664 51 60 142
