In a world where digital transformation is accelerating at lightning speed, Trive Inc., a visionary team of “business engineers” from Japan, isn’t just keeping pace – they’re leading the charge. Their profound mission: to “create a future society full of smiles” by making essential services truly accessible to everyone. This isn’t just about business; it’s about revolutionizing the financial landscape, offering everything from smart investments and banking to wealth management and insurance across the globe. By leveraging cutting-edge AI-powered digital lending and advanced digital banking, Trive delivers an unparalleled client experience through their licensed subsidiaries and proprietary platforms, consistently maximizing technology to open up a brighter future.
This unwavering commitment to innovation and customer success naturally led Trive to a pivotal project: the establishment of the Yokohama DX Concierge Center, Trive’s dedicated contact center. This ambitious initiative was designed to provide crucial public sector Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) services, including the complex task of handling driver’s license renewals and offering comprehensive administrative support for various government agencies. Yet, as with any groundbreaking endeavor, this undertaking came with its own unique set of challenges, ready to test Trive’s innovative spirit.
Bridging the Digital Divide with Uncompromising Reliability
As government services increasingly move online, a significant portion of the population—particularly the elderly—struggles with digital tools. Ms. Tomoe Harada of Trive explains, “As the government emphasizes in its Digital Garden City initiative, achieving a ‘society where no one is left behind’ is a key goal for their digital experience (DX) initiative. We launched our business to help more people use digital services with confidence.”
Beyond the societal mission, the practicalities of launching the Yokohama DX Concierge Center presented formidable hurdles. Operating on behalf of government agencies demanded extremely high reliability and availability, with non-negotiable security requirements that included a strict mandate against storing call recordings in the cloud. Furthermore, the center needed to support all phone types—mobile, landline, IP, and Navi Dial—and accommodate complex, unique call flows, such as free wait times, which are common in public service inquiries.
Adding to these technical and compliance challenges, Mr. Shunsuke Okamoto, President & CEO of Trive, highlighted their local employment goals, stating, “If we’re building a center, we also want to contribute to local employment. Yokohama is a city with a high proportion of women seeking flexible work, so we established the ‘Yokohama DX Concierge Center’ here.” Perhaps the most daunting challenge was the impossible timeline; as Mr. Jun Shitahaku of Trive recalls, “With contract deadlines approaching, we had just three months to build and launch the system,” a feat that typically takes a year or more for an on-premises contact center with such complex requirements, making a traditional approach unfeasible.
Cisco’s Webex Contact Center – Cloud Agility Meets Public Sector Demands
Facing an incredibly tight timeline and stringent public sector requirements, Trive turned to Cisco, selecting Webex Contact Center and related solutions. The decision was clear: cloud-based agility was the only path to success.
“The decisive factor was that Webex Contact Center is cloud-based. Building an on-premises system from scratch was not realistic for this timeline,” Ms. Harada emphasized.
Cisco’s solution proved to be uniquely adaptable. It included a “Compliance Message” function, automatically notifying callers of call recording, ensuring legal compliance. Crucially, while other cloud vendors were less flexible, Cisco adjusted its solution to meet Trive’s specific needs, allowing for on-premises storage of call recordings and the design of custom call flows. “We were unsure whether a company as large as Cisco would support a smaller business like ours, but they involved their US development team and worked closely with our sales and product contacts and executives to solve technical challenges,” Ms. Harada added, highlighting Cisco’s commitment to co-creation.
To ensure a reliable and high-quality environment, Trive opted for an all-Cisco ecosystem, combining Webex Contact Center with Webex Calling Customer Assist, Cisco Meraki series for networking, Webex Calling for telephony, and Cisco headsets.
Stable Operations, Uninterrupted Service, and Empowered Agents
Today, the Yokohama DX Concierge Center—Trive’s dedicated contact center powered by Webex Contact Center—is a resounding success, with approximately 30 agents supporting thousands of public service inquiries each month. The entire system, including rigorous testing, was built and launched within the challenging three-month timeframe.
The launch of the Yokohama DX Concierge Center has been met with resounding success, particularly in its operational stability. “Since launch, operations have been stable, with no outages,” Ms. Harada proudly states, a direct testament to the reliability and quality provided by the all-Cisco environment. This robust foundation ensures continuous service for public inquiries, building trust and efficiency. Beyond the system’s core performance, the agent experience has also seen significant improvement, with Cisco headsets receiving high praise for their ability to “effectively block out background noise and neighboring agents’ voices, maintaining clear call quality,” as noted by Ms. Harada. This creates a more focused and productive environment for the agents, allowing them to concentrate on delivering empathetic and clear communication.
The true power of their cloud-based operation was dramatically demonstrated during a scheduled power maintenance shutdown of their office building. Instead of a costly and disruptive halt to services, Trive experienced seamless business continuity. “We simply moved to a rented meeting room with Wi-Fi routers, laptops, and headsets and continued business as usual,” Mr. Shitahaku recounts. “The system operated as if nothing had changed, maintaining security and customer confidence.” This remarkable adaptability, further reinforced by Webex Contact Center’s guaranteed 99.99% uptime service level agreement (SLA), underscored the resilience of their Cisco solution—proving that critical public services can remain uninterrupted even in unforeseen circumstances.
The Future: AI-Powered Empathy and Societal Impact with Cisco
Trive views their current success as merely the beginning of their journey. They plan to fully leverage Webex Contact Center’s extensive features, including omnichannel support, skills-based routing, and advanced analytics, to further enhance operational efficiency and streamline their services. A significant focus for the future lies in integrating upcoming AI features, particularly the Webex AI Agent. This virtual operator, utilizing both scripted and generative AI, will handle inquiries and provide natural dialogue, promising greater automation and efficiency. “We see great promise in the generative AI Agent, which can be set up and operated using natural language,” says Mr. Shitahaku, highlighting their vision for this transformative technology.
Further empowering their human agents, Trive is excited to leverage the Cisco AI Assistant, now available for Webex Contact Center. This advanced tool already supports live agents with real-time transcription, conversation summarization, and suggested next actions—significantly boosting reporting efficiency and agent productivity. Ms. Harada explains the profound impact: “If AI can suggest needed information during interactions, it will help even less experienced agents become productive quickly and allow us to expand into new areas faster.” Additionally, Cisco’s planned emotion analysis capabilities are expected to help agents provide more empathetic service, ultimately improving operator care and satisfaction. Trive’s strategic embrace of these AI innovations underscores their commitment to blending cutting-edge technology with human-centric service.
Mr. Okamoto perfectly encapsulates this vision: “As AI rapidly evolves, I believe it will become a partner that enables people to focus on the value only humans can provide. We expect Webex Contact Center’s AI features to help us achieve this ideal mix of efficiency and empathy.”
For Trive, Cisco is more than just an IT vendor; it’s a true co-creation partner willing to face challenges together. “We are even considering projects such as using call center operations to support the reintegration of former prisoners. Together with Cisco, we aim to create initiatives that can transform society itself,” Mr. Okamoto concludes, highlighting their shared commitment to a future society full of smiles.
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