Intervoice strengthens contact center offerings with Nuasis acquisition.Contact centers are consistently searching for cost-saving solutions while also improving customer service. A new purchase by Intervoice, a provider of converged voice and information solutions, is intended to do both. While the company has announced that it expects revenues to be near or slightly above the top end of the previously predicted range of $44 to $49 million for its second quarter, Intervoice has also purchased the assets of Nuasis, a provider of Internet-enabled customer contact software. Under the agreement, Intervoice now owns Nuasis' products, intellectual property, customer and channel contracts and other assets other assets Assets of relatively small value. For financial reporting purposes, firms frequently combine small assets into a single category rather than listing each item separately. while also assuming certain obligations. In addition, Intervoice hired many of Nuasis' employees who joined the company effective September 1, 2006. Intervoice intends to continue to serve Nuasis' customers and will leverage the IP contact center suite for distribution to existing and new Intervoice customers. The acquisition of Nuasis is expected to enable Intervoice to take a leap forward in fulfilling the goals of its strategic growth plan while also meeting the growing needs of its customers for new contact center applications. Through the Nuasis solution, Intervoice will be able to bring new IP-based contact center applications to the agent desktop. Features will include Web-chat and e-mail response applications as well as speech-enabled IVR (Interactive Voice Response) An automated telephone information system that speaks to the caller with a combination of fixed voice menus and data extracted from databases in real time. and voice portal An interactive voice response (IVR) front end to a data retrieval system. This does not differ in core technology from traditional IVR; rather, the difference is in the application presented. Where old-style IVR was mostly a routing application (press 1 for sales, 2 for service, etc. solutions. Deployment options are flexible and the offering supports remote agents and hosted solutions. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Daniel Hong, senior voice business analyst at Datamonitor, the contact center landscape is altered by Intervoice's announcement. The acquisition couples Intervoice's strength in speech self-service with a next-generation IP contact center application that features multisite virtualization An umbrella term for enhancing a computer's ability to do work. Following are the ways virtualization is used. Hardware Virtualization Partitioning the computer's memory into separate and isolated "virtual machines" simulates multiple machines within one physical computer. , multimedia routing, business intelligence, monitoring and reporting, CTI (Computer Telephone Integration) Combining data with voice systems in order to enhance telephone services. For example, automatic number identification (ANI) allows a caller's records to be retrieved from the database while the call is routed to the appropriate party. and outbound capabilities. Hong also highlighted that Intervoice is now able to offer customers a total solution that is completely switch-independent. It is the optimal solution match-up to compete in the broader contact center market. Intervoice serves over 5,000 customers worldwide, providing contact centers with deep domain expertise in IVR and speech applications. Adding the Nuasis product suite and the NuContact Center routing software provides for the expansion of the applications expertise of the company while also opening new product opportunities within the contact center. Positioned as offering competitive advantages over traditional CTI/ACD vendors, the seamless integration An addition of a new application, routine or device that works smoothly with the existing system. It implies that the new feature or program can be installed and used without problems. Contrast with "transparent," which implies that there is no discernible change after installation. of self-service and live assistance allows customers greater flexibility to move from one service model to another as necessary. The NuContact Center product combined with the Intervoice services methodology will complete the Intervoice technology offering for the contact center. Nuasis brings contact center expertise, along with a rapid approach to design, configuration and deployment for solutions that synthesize the call process and provide a seamless customer experience across multiple communication channels. Intervoice President and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. , Bob Ritchey, commented that several years ago the company began to transition Intervoice to a new direction, one based on open standards Specifications for hardware and software that are developed by a standards organization or a consortium involved in supporting a standard. Available to the public for developing compliant products, open standards imply "open systems;" that an existing component in a system can be replaced and converged voice and data networks. The objective behind this asset purchase was to accelerate Intervoice's multichannel Using two or more paths for transmission or processing. It can refer to a variety of architectures including (1) multiple I/O channels between the CPU and peripheral devices, (2) multiple wires in a cable, (3) multiple "logical" channels within a single wire or fiber or (4) multiple automation and IP contact center product strategy. Ritchey added that Intervoice is enhancing the value that the company brings to its customers by providing a solution that expands its reach into the contact center. Intervoice is also able to immediately lead the way in helping customers to reduce contact center operating costs operating costs npl → gastos mpl operacionales and improve customer service. Intervoice is taking a position that it is a direct answer to the needs displayed by contact centers across the board--lowering costs and improving customer service. By focusing integration on multichannel communication and enterprisewide applications, Intervoice will be able to present its offering as the only solution that the contact center will need. The company will have the challenge of meeting the expectations of current Nuasis customers. To prevent defection, the transition must be seamless for all customers and service must be at a new and improved level. Intervoice can offer a powerful solution, but service will still dictate its success. Susan J. Campbell is a contributing editor A contributing editor is a magazine job title that varies in responsibilities. Most often, a contributing editor is a freelancer who has proven ability and readership draw. for TMCnet and has also written for eastbiz.com. By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor |
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