Enjoy our weekly round-up of top news stories across the CX landscape.

1. Check out 5 reasons to attend @Oracle's #ModernCX from April 10-12 in Chicago http://ora.cl/1ak3s #OracleEmp - Click to Tweet
2. NOW LIVE! The highly-anticipated Answer Versioning feature has been released for @OracleServCloud Knowledge Foundation http://ora.cl/xS6E7 #KF #OracleEmp - Click to Tweet
3. Join #Oracle’s @madhukarkumar on 3/15 to learn how to leverage #AI to create better #CX & increase market share http://ora.cl/tX872 #OracleEmp - Click to Tweet
4. Check out this video to learn about the most exciting features added to @OracleServCloud 18A #release http://ora.cl/jv3OO #OracleEmp - Click to Tweet
5. SmarterCX.com is the #CX professional's destination for breaking news, expert insights & cutting edge CX #tech. Take a look @SmarterCX: http://ora.cl/Uj7i9 #OracleEmp - Click to Tweet

Oracle Customer Experience Cloud Suite News:

CRM Applications Leaders Prepare for Digital Business Battle – Mike Vizard, IT Business Edge, 2.22.18

• As the CRM application landscape evolves, CRM leaders like Oracle are providing a more holistic view of the business and enabling the use of emerging technologies. 

Industry News:

How to Get E-Commerce Customers to Spend a Lot of Money at Once (and Then Do It Again) – Sonya Mann, Inc., 2.22.18

• Ecommerce retailers can help drive sales by winning the customers’ trust, providing a generous return policy and a responsive customer service, and more.

3 Technologies That Have An Immediate Impact On Customer Experience – Sarah Nicastro, Field Technologies Online, 2.22.18

• Dynamic scheduling, mobile capabilities, and customer portals are technological advancements enabling a smoother customer service experience within field service.

How to Approach New AI-Based Marketing Technologies – Patty Odell, Chief Marketer, 2.22.18

• When it comes to implementing AI, marketers should ask themselves whether or not the technology is relevant to their customers and explore its associated costs and risks.

Study: Retailers’ omnichannel investments drive online sales by 16% – Deena M. Amato-McCoy, Chain Store Age, 2.20.18

• A new study confirms that omnichannel investments remain the key to success for retail brands, especially as ecommerce retail sales continue to increase year-over-year.

Innovation

Google buys Xively to improve its IoT platform – Peter Newman, Businessinsider, 2.20.18

• Google will acquire IoT platform Xively from software company LogMeIn to expand its role as a cloud services provider in the IoT.

The IoT's Impact on the Future of Retail - Daniel Newman, Forbes, 2.20.18

• Research shows by 2021, 79 percent of retailers will be able to personalize in-store shopping experiences for customers because they’ll be able to know they’re in the store.

AT&T launches expanded IoT professional services – Jake Smith, Zdnet, 2.20.18

• Ericsson partnership will now allow AT&T to offer Global Device Certification for IoT devices, providing testing, verification and white glove assistance with regulatory approval in more than 150 countries.

Customer Service

One-quarter of customer service operations to use chatbots by 2020, says Gartner – Enterpriseinnovation, 2.22.18

• According to research by Gartner, organizations report a reduction of up to 70 percent in call, chat or email inquiries after implementing a VCA. They also report increased customer satisfaction and a 33% saving per voice engagement.

The Parts of Customer Service That Should Never Be Automated – Ryan W. Buell, Harvard Business Review, 2.19.18

• Automation still can’t beat out human interactions when it comes to emotional and human connections, problem solving, employee support, and more.