25 Years of CCW - "Where You Hear and See It First"

The 25th international conference and tradeshow for innovative customer dialogue took place in a hybrid format, featuring both a conference and a specialist tradeshow.

Providing the best possible platform for the customer dialogue industry for 25 years was just one highlight of CCW 2024. Innovative technologies, strategies, and trends were showcased at the conference and tradeshow. Approximately 7,400 international visitors from 41 countries and 215 exhibitors from 20 countries gathered both live in Berlin and digitally online. Alongside many long-time CCW enthusiasts, a significant number of newcomers and NextGen representatives with high thematic expertise and interest in solutions were present. The organizer, Management Circle AG, was delighted to once again play host.

"Our team and I are delighted that CCW Berlin has been 'The place to be' for the industry for 25 years. We will continue to offer a fantastic event for all involved with great dedication," said Jutta Wolf, Member of the Management Board at Management Circle AG.

Looking back at the trends and topics of CCW 2024

The key theme at the conference and tradeshow was "Unite human and artificial power!" Generative AI has brought digitization in customer dialogue to a turning point, transforming the industry faster than ever before. Companies can significantly increase ROI through excellent customer service using the latest technologies. The right orchestration of human and intelligent technology is crucial. Hyper-personalization sets new standards in customer experience. Voice technologies and instant translations are being used across borders to address the issue of labor shortages. The use of intelligent technologies positively impacts employee workload, ultimately fostering employee experience growth.

Not only is there a growing use of AI-driven personalized experiences, but data protection is also becoming a central task in customer service. Access to optimally processed and personalized customer data without data silos from all departments is now essential. Work processes run smoothly and quickly through the use of intelligent technologies at all relevant interfaces. This increased speed in customer service is another pillar of excellent service. Consumers are also receptive to technologically inspired customer service.

Europe's largest conference tradeshow for innovative customer dialogue helps to optimally combine the best of both worlds: human and AI. It brings together groundbreaking technologies, management thought leaders, pioneers of new work environments, practitioners, and all the important trends regarding customer experience AND employee experience.

Speakers such as Collin Croome, internet pioneer and expert in Metaverse & AI; Folker Hellmeyer, chief economist at Netfonds AG; Carsten Maschmeyer, investor of Maschmeyer Group; Cherno Jobatey, science journalist & moderator; and Ali Mahlodji, business mentor & futurist, UNICEF Honorary Ambassador of the European Union, provided exciting insights into perspectives and challenges for companies.

In addition to established formats such as the next experience Design by HCD, the TeleTalk demo forum, Startup Visions (formerly Future Camp), and the tradeshow forums, there were also some new concepts in the tradeshow, such as the World of AI hosted by NTT DATA, showcasing solutions on how artificial intelligence in customer dialogue can generate sustainable benefits for customers, employees, and companies, and the SQUT-Dialog Service Provider Challenge. Interested parties could hear important information about selecting dialog service providers and see them in direct comparison on the third day of the tradeshow.

Furthermore, for the fifth time, the winner of the Startup Visions Award was announced on the third day of the tradeshow. The startup with the most innovative project from Startup Visions was honored by a jury. Johannes Raschpichler won with sonocom.

The future belongs to the youth - in cooperation with the Customer Service & Call Center Association Germany e.V. (CCV) and the Alliance for Training in Dialog Marketing, the winners of the dialogXplosion Talent Competition were honored, where apprentices shared their outstanding training moments with the entire industry.

For the third time, the European Customer Champions were honored – EUROCC 2024

The "European Customer Champion" (EUROCC) was awarded by Management Circle AG together with the specialist magazine cmm360.ch on February 27, 2024, as part of the CCW conference for the third time.

Three inspiring customer service champions were awarded for implementing unique customer projects. Six nominees from Europe made it to a five-minute pitch on the stage of the CCW conference or via livestream through their dedication. The audience voted live, and the result of this live voting was incorporated into the overall assessment of the jury.

Here are the winners of the European Customer Champion 2024:

Represented by: Christin Wiekhoff CRM & Growth Manager at Medien Hub Bremen-Nordwest GmbH

Fabian Rosekeit Head of CRM & Growth at Medien Hub Bremen-Nordwest GmbH

The Medien Hub, a joint venture of Nordwest-Zeitung and WESER-KURIER, revolutionized customer service with the Parloa AI voicebot in just six weeks. Natural language communication and automatic processing of complaints have significantly improved accessibility and service quality, resulting in a successful handling of 30% of telephone inquiries in the MVP.

EUROPEAN CUSTOMER CHAMPION 2024 Project: Optimizing the Customer Journey Through Digital Services

Represented by: Laura Haase Project Manager After Sales Strategy & Digital Services at HERMA GmbH

HERMA is a leading manufacturer of labeling machines and adhesive materials in Europe. To meet increasing demands and internationalization, the customer platform "myHERMA" was developed. It offers a training center, an overview of machines with comprehensive self-service options, and digital additional services such as visual support for AR video conferences, enabling unique customer experiences.

EUROPEAN CUSTOMER CHAMPION 2024 Project: Typewise@DPD - Productivity Enhancement through AI

Represented by: Joshua Martic Digital Services Specialist at DPD Switzerland AG

The implementation of the Typewise AI solution by DPD (Switzerland) AG resulted in an average time savings of 20 to 30% in customer service through features such as sentence suggestions, spell checking and correction, and access to a knowledge base. The integration was smooth, and acceptance was high as the AI was trained with historical customer communications and successfully mastered multilingualism.

CCW 2024 at a Glance:

Monday, February 26: Innovation Day (Pre-Conference)

Tuesday, February 27: First Conference and Tradeshow Day

Wednesday, February 28: Second Conference and Tradeshow Day

Thursday, February 29: Inspiration Day (Post-Conference) and Third Tradeshow Day

Next CCW Conference Tradeshow from February 24 to 27, 2025

The next CCW Conference Tradeshow will take place from February 24 to 27, 2025, at the ECC Berlin.

CCW 2025 at a Glance:

Monday, February 24: Innovation Day (Pre-Conference)

Tuesday, February 25: First Conference and Tradeshow Day

Wednesday, February 26: Second Conference and Tradeshow Day

Thursday, February 27: Inspiration Day (Post-Conference) and Third Tradeshow Day