Collection Firm Overhauls Contact Center Technology to Improve Client Services and Reduce Costs.

INDIANAPOLIS & AUSTIN, Texas -- Gila Corp., one of the nation's largest providers of revenue recovery products and services, has replaced its Nortel system with contact center automation software from Interactive Intelligence Inc. (Nasdaq:ININ).

The new software, called Customer Interaction Center([R]) (CIC), was deployed to provide more cost-effective and less complex inbound and outbound dialing, expanded self-service capabilities, and new quality monitoring functions. Gila Corp. selected CIC based on its unified communications suite and open, software-based architecture.

"Since installing CIC in June, we've increased our call connect rate by 32 percent, decreased call wait time by 35 percent, and reduced costs associated with outsourced auto-dialing by 82 percent," said Patrick J. Swanick, CEO of Gila Corp. "As an industry leader in outsourced collection services for governmental entities and financial institutions, using the best technology is essential to our continued success."

Gila Corp. attributes its client service improvements to CIC's robust agent and business user features all running on the same platform, along with the software's flexibility.

"We chose CIC because it's based on a single platform, not a collection of aboxes' running multiple applications from different vendors," Swanick said. "Because CIC is a standards-based software product, it gave us the tools to make changes and customizations in-house."

Houston-based Automated Voice & Data Solutions (AVDS), an Interactive Intelligence Elite channel partner since 1998, sold and installed the software for Gila Corp. to support its entire employee base of 220 business users and agents located at the company's Austin headquarters. Today, Gila Corp. uses CIC for hybrid TDM and SIP-based VoIP switching, skills-based call routing, interactive voice response, unified messaging, screen pop, call recording and reporting. CIC's add-on module, Interaction Dialer([R]), provides outbound, blended, and predictive dialing.

The new system eliminated the need to outsource dialer services and has given Gila Corp. more control over call queues for monitoring important metrics such as the number of available agents. The dialing system transfers a customer to the right agent immediately and the system can detect answering machines. Additionally, the results from dialer campaigns enable the company to "scrub" its data, so time and resources aren't wasted calling bad numbers.

"As a collection agency, the ability to automate outbound calls and customize call routing rules is critical," said Domenick F. Riccio, Gila Corp.'s CIO. "With traditional amulti-box' systems, integrating outbound dialing with inbound call routing often means sacrificing reliability and flexibility, not to mention adding cost and complexity. Because Interaction Dialer([R]) runs on the same platform as CIC, we no longer worry about dropped calls, which means fewer callbacks, more accurate reporting, vastly improved customer service, reduced long distance charges, and more efficient staffing."

Using CIC's built-in graphical application generator, Gila Corp. has created bilingual IVR menus for English and Spanish-speaking customers, along with automated recording, which accommodates very high call volumes - an important capability with more than 400 government and financial services clients generating thousands of calls each day.

"Other systems have the ability to create multi-lingual IVR menus, but with a limited number of menu options and typically requiring third-party customization," Riccio said. "These systems also come with high hardware costs, especially as call volume increases. In contrast, CIC's IVR can run on commodity servers and its software-based, N+1 architecture allows for virtually unlimited menu options and IVR ports. It also provides standards-based tools for integration to a host of existing back-end systems, and it can convert call recordings into highly compressed .WAV files."

Gila Corp. routinely uses the .WAV files for agent training and shares call recordings with clients when investigating specific service issues.

The company also has more reporting options, including the ability to generate both standardized and customized reports. "With a traditional vendor, we would've had to purchase a separate reporting module and pay to have it installed and configured," Riccio said. "Not only was CIC's reporting package included, it offered more out-of-the-box reports, along with a customization tool to create new reports. With our many diverse clients, this capability has given us yet another competitive advantage."

With plans to add remote agents, Gila Corp. says that CIC's standards-based approach to IP will greatly speed deployment and reduce costs associated with set-up. "Surprisingly, many IP-based systems today still require a complete re-write of applications in order to migrate from a traditional switching network," Riccio said. "Because CIC uses SIP throughout its architecture, and because it was built as a separate applications layer, we can migrate users to IP incrementally, without application re-writes or forklift upgrades."

Gila Corp. stresses that the true measure of any technology is its ability to support business objectives, which has been the ultimate benefit of CIC. "We differentiate our services based on cost-effective, scalable and highly customizable revenue recovery solutions," Swanick said. "By investing in innovative and flexible technologies such as the Interactive Intelligence software, we're empowering our employees with the tools they need to deliver superior service to our clients."

About Gila Corporation

Founded in 1991, Gila Corporation is a leading provider of customized revenue recovery products and services for governmental entities and financial institutions nationwide. Headquartered in Austin, Texas, the company offers outsourced collection, customer service, payment processing and call center services to more than 400 clients across the country. Through its strategic business units, Municipal Services Bureau (MSB) and Gila Group, the company empowers its employees with advanced technology, data management tools and leading-edge business practices to exceed the expectations of its clients. In 2006, the company was named one of the fastest growing private companies in Central Texas by the Austin Business Journal. For more information about Gila Corporation, please visit www.gilacorp.com or call 1 800.568.7004.

About Interactive Intelligence

Interactive Intelligence Inc. (Nasdaq:ININ) is a global provider of business communications software and services for contact center automation and enterprise IP telephony. Interactive Intelligence was founded in 1994 and has more than 2,500 customers worldwide. Recent awards include the 2006 Network World 200, CRM Magazine's 2006 Rising Star Excellence Award, Network Computing Magazine's 2006 Well-Connected Award, and Software Magazine's 2006 Top 500 Global Software and Services Companies. Interactive Intelligence employs approximately 450 people and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company has five global corporate offices, with additional sales offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Interactive Intelligence can be reached at +1 317.872.3000 or [e-mail]; on the Net: http://www.inin.com.

This release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are described in the company's SEC filings.

Interactive Intelligence Inc. is the owner of the marks INTERACTIVE INTELLIGENCE, its associated LOGO and numerous other marks. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.