4 min read
The secret behind Nextiva’s global reach (spoiler: it’s auto-generated videos)
Videate May 22, 2024
Nextiva, a global cloud-based software company, faced a big challenge: irrelevant training.
According to Nextiva’s Director of Voice of the Customer John Travers, instructional video was "essential to that training”. Each training course could have up to 40 lessons in it– that’s potentially 40 videos per course.
That’s a lot of videos. And their product is constantly updated.
Every time a new release dropped, all their training videos were suddenly obsolete.
Add in the vast array of languages their customers speak and need their content in? You’ve got a recipe for frustration!
So how did they go from outdated pain to up-to-date training videos in multiple languages?
“Without Videate, (this) would've been a very onerous process.”
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The challenge: Too much stuff, too many languages, too few resources
New features and updates rolled out regularly, so Nextiva’s instructional videos had to be updated frequently to stay relevant.
Traditional video production methods were slow and costly, leading to outdated training materials and frustration for both the team and their customers.
They used to create training videos live, requiring a “talking head”-- somebody speaking to the camera– and synchronizing on-screen actions.
“When you attempt to do that all live, unless you're really, really good and professional at it, you end up doing multiple takes. Multiple takes over and over and over.”
Compounding this problem of multiple takes, their software is updated sometimes as often as every two weeks.
“Does this mean that we have to reshoot all the time? How are we going to maintain this?”
Additionally, with a global customer base, Nextiva needed to create and maintain training materials in multiple languages. “It's my belief that instructional video is essential to corporate learning,” Travers said. Global students should be able to “see and hear what you're attempting to instruct them in their own language.”
“The language that you instruct in is quite important for people to learn. You can imagine if you didn't speak a language, trying to learn something would be almost impossible.
The reality of producing videos in multiple languages included all the challenges of producing a single English video, but with the added requirement of looping in teams from all over the world to help make.
And Nextiva updates its software every 2-3 weeks! “It was not going to be possible for us to create a system in multiple languages and to keep up with the changes in the product.”
Nextiva struggled to provide consistent, high-quality training globally. And this inconsistency led to varying levels of product knowledge among their customers, resulting in an uneven user experience.
They needed something to ensure that all users received the same high-quality training, regardless of their location.
The solution: Making auto generated videos with Videate
Videate's ability to quickly modify instructional training was a game-changer for Nextiva. Videate's advanced text-to-speech technology and automated video rendering made it possible to produce instructional content rapidly. With Videate, Nextiva could update their training videos as soon as the product changed, ensuring that all users had access to the latest information without delay.
"With Videate, I can modify the instructional training within hours,” Travers said. “I'm maintaining the currency of the training" and “[providing] instructional video in multiple languages for customers around the globe… Attempting to do this in a traditional way would be an endless process.”
Streamlined workflow and scalability
Videate’s automation enabled them to streamline their video production workflow and scale the output.
“It allows me to modify content as the product changes without starting over again,” said Travers. All they need to do now when there’s a product update is “[make] additions to the script… and then say, okay, render it and I'm done.”
By leveraging Videate, Nextiva could keep up with their constantly evolving product and provide high-quality, multilingual training materials efficiently and effectively. This partnership revolutionized their training approach, making it easier to reach a global audience.
Reaching a global audience in their own language
The automated processes reduced the time and cost associated with traditional video production methods, allowing Nextiva to focus on delivering exceptional training content. This efficiency not only improved internal operations but also ensured that Nextiva's global customer base received consistent, high-quality training, no matter what language they speak.
“You need a mechanism to (produce all these videos) that doesn't break the bank or require enormous amounts of effort.
So what Videate allowed me to do was to create instructional videos that maintain currency with the changing product in multiple languages.”
For example, to create a video in Spanish, first Travers “would create the video in English, translate the script in this case to Spanish, select a Spanish voice that I wanted to use and re-render the video in Spanish. I insert that in the Spanish course, and off we go.”
Without Videate, “it would've been very, very difficult for us to create that training material.”
“I could then translate to other languages, French or German, and use the same process and create instructional videos in multiple languages with a very, very small team.
I didn't have to have a team in Spain or in Germany or in France.
We were able to create instructional videos in multiple languages for a global audience very quickly, and then just a validation process to make sure that it was all correct.”
The effectiveness of Videate's training videos was not only seen in customer engagement but also in the onboarding of new employees at Nextiva.
"The onboarding of new employees with Nextiva itself (has) been extremely effective. We've done surveys and 100% of them agreed that this was the appropriate way for them to [understand] the product," said Travers.
In Summary: Nextiva’s results
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Producing a single video now takes hours instead of weeks
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Able to adapt quickly to product updates and changes
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No longer need to hire video production teams
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Can produce instructional videos in multiple languages with a small team
How to reach a global audience with auto generated video
Nextiva’s partnership with Videate has had a profound impact on their video creation process, transforming it from a cumbersome task to a streamlined, efficient process.
"Partnering with Videate was absolutely the right decision to create the material that we needed to provide the training for our application globally."
Videate has proven itself to be a powerful tool for businesses needing to create and manage high-quality videos efficiently and effectively.
“The largest benefit of working with Videate is the ability to effectively create instructional videos and a changing product in multiple languages, and so that we have a global reach.”
Want to experience the magic of AI and automation of Videate’s software to create training videos for yourself? Get a demo today and see what it can do for you!