ECCO Select is a talent acquisition and consulting company specializing in people, process and technology solutions. We provide the talent behind the technology enabling our clients to achieve their goals. For more information about ECCO Select, visit us at www.eccoselect.com.

Position Title:     Telephony Engineer – AI Conversation Specialist

Location Information  

Remote

Position Responsibilities:

The Telephony Engineer – AI Conversation Specialist will be instrumental in the configuration, deployment, and ongoing technical support of advanced cloud telephony and conversational AI solutions—primarily integrating Kore.ai (or similar Conversational AI/Virtual Assistant platforms) within a Five9 contact center environment. This role demands hands-on involvement to ensure seamless interoperation of multiple platforms, modernization of the contact center, and operational excellence.

Key duties include:

• AI & Automation Configuration: Design, configure, deploy, and maintain conversational AI solutions such as virtual agents, NLP bots, predictive routing tools, and agent-assist features.
• Bot Engineering & Dialog Management: Build and enhance robust, multi-turn conversational flows transforming business processes into optimal customer user journeys using Kore.ai’s Dialog Builder or similar tools.
• Intent & Entity Recognition: Establish and tune intents, sub-intents, and entities leveraging hybrid NLP technologies (Machine Learning, Fundamental Meaning, and Knowledge Graph modeling) to ensure high intent recognition accuracy.
• Context Handling: Manage conversation context, handle session variables, and build switch-flow logic for smooth management of digressions and edge cases during interactions.
• Telephony & IVR Engineering: Provide expert technical support and innovation within the Five9 ecosystem, programming and scripting sophisticated IVR/Call Center call flows.
• System Integration & Service Orchestration: Implement and maintain seamless integrations between CCaaS systems and AI solutions using API calls, webhooks, and other data exchange mechanisms. Write and optimize REST/SOAP API requests and webhooks within conversational AI nodes for real-time, context-aware backend interactions.
• Smart Handovers: Script reliable "Agent-Assist" and escalation procedures, ensuring complete context (transcripts, intent data, etc.) transitions from AI virtual assistants to live contact center agents.
• Project Collaboration: Partner with engineering, business, and cross-functional teams to define, manage, and validate technical requirements for AI and telephony workflows.
• Operational Support: Maintain daily operational responsibility for telephony and AI environments, deliver Level 2/3 support, manage major incidents, and provide technical troubleshooting as needed.
• Security & Compliance: Consistently prioritize data security and privacy, integrating robust information security practices into all AI and telephony processes.
• Documentation & Optimization: Create and maintain accurate technical documentation—including procedures, training materials, and flow diagrams. Drive ongoing process and system optimizations to raise operational efficiency and expand AI system capabilities.
• Travel: Limited travel (~10%) may be required depending on project needs.

Essential Skills, Experience

• Minimum of 5 years' experience in telephony or contact center technology roles.
• Direct hands-on experience configuring and supporting Kore.ai or similar enterprise Conversational AI/Virtual Agent platforms (e.g., Google Dialogflow, Amazon Lex, Cognigy) in contact center environments.
• Substantial experience designing and scripting complex IVR/Call Center call flows.
• SBC/SIP expertise: Understanding of SIP messaging, SIP headers, and integration of SIP trunking solutions with Five9 or equivalent platforms.
• Strong history of integrating disparate systems via API calls, JSON payloads, and webhooks.
• Technical knowledge of telephony building blocks (PBX, IVR, voicemail, endpoints) and cloud-based contact center solutions.
• Experience modernizing contact centers with omnichannel (chat, email, SMS) support technologies.
• Solid understanding of contact center best practices, analytics approaches, and reporting standards.
• Demonstrated ability to troubleshoot and resolve complex technical issues quickly and effectively.
• Consistent research and adoption of emerging CCaaS and conversational AI technologies to drive platform improvement.

Critical Technology Proficiencies:

• Conversational AI Platforms: Design, configure, and support of Kore.ai XO Platform (highly preferred) or comparable solutions (Google Dialogflow CX, Amazon Lex V2, Cognigy).
• Natural Language Processing & AI Training:
  • Intent mapping, entity extraction, synonym management, sentiment analysis.
  • Corpus optimization and continuous improvement of AI model training.
• Integration & API Development:
  • RESTful APIs, JSON payloads, webhooks, OAuth 2.0 authentication.
  • Enterprise application integration experience using modern standards.
• Voice & Digital Communications:
  • SIP (Session Initiation Protocol), RTP (Real-time Transport Protocol), WebSockets.
  • AudioCodes SBC integration, Five9 and Genesys cloud connectors for contact center and AI.

Leadership Traits & Soft Skills:

• Strong collaborative, analytical, and problem-solving skills coupled with an achievement and growth mindset.
• Ability to excel in a fast-paced, deadline-driven environment managing multiple projects simultaneously.
• Comfortable with ambiguity and change, thriving under new technical and business challenges.
• Excellent verbal, written, and presentation communication skills for diverse audiences.
• Team-oriented approach with a focus on mutual success and recognition of team achievements.
• Proven capacity for building trust and fostering a collaborative culture.

ECCO Select is committed to hiring and retaining a diverse workforce. Our policy is to provide equal opportunity to all people without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, ancestry, marital status, veteran status, age, disability, pregnancy, genetic information, citizenship status, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or any other legally protected category. Veterans of our United States Uniformed Services are specifically encouraged to apply for ECCO Select opportunities.

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