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Genesys Leverages VXML to Alleviate Call Center Snafus
[August 03, 2006]

Genesys Leverages VXML to Alleviate Call Center Snafus


TMCnet Contributing Editor
 
Have you ever called an automated customer service center, input your name, account number, address, date of birth and who knows what else, only to have to repeat the entire sequence for a live operator?

The reason is non-interoperable software residing in the automated and live operator platforms.

Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories wants to put an end to that and a host of other call center and customer service problems. The company is gearing up for the release of the latest version of its Genesys (News - Alert) voice platform, which it bills as a major shift away from proprietary interactive voice response systems (IVRs).



The new platform will be unveiled at SpeechTEK in New York City August 7-10.

According to Brian Bischoff, global vice president for platform sales and solutions at Genesys, the system is a logical next step for companies that are being forced to replace aging IVR equipment, most of which are losing manufacturer support over the next 18 months.


“The majority of customers out there are faced with the issue of a manufacturer, whom they have been using for the past five years, discontinuing the product,” he said. “If enterprises are faced with moving to a new platform, why not make it more customer-friendly?”

The Genesys system leverages the VoiceXML standard to bridge the gap between voice and data platforms that reside in most call centers.

“What makes this a next-generation platform is that it allows enterprises to bring voice services to applications already developed for the web,” Bischoff said.

While this eliminates the need for customers to repeat information over the phone, it also opens up numerous sales and marketing opportunities for the enterprise. Companies could use customer information from the web to present a range of menus for up-selling or cross-selling any number of applicable products. And whether the customer is using the telephone or a PC, they are dealing with a single application.

“Our platform allows you to have a voice browser, rather than a PC browser, to exploit those applications,” Bischoff said. “So there is a common development team and the customer gets a common experience.”

Bischoff said Genesys, a unit of Alcatel (News - Alert), spent the last five years developing the system, leveraging the company’s experience in devising routing systems that are compatible with the numerous automated call distribution systems (ACDs), telephony systems and CRM platforms. A breakthrough came earlier this year when the company acquired VoiceGenie.

“Both companies were pioneers of this kind of technology and we both had a leading amount of people on the standards boards that were driving all this,” Bischoff said. “But while Genesys was centered around the enterprise and the call center, VoiceGenie focused on the phone companies and service providers. The merger brought together capabilities that each company didn’t have separately.”

Genesys operates primarily in North America and Asia, with approximately 70 percent of its systems sold through ISVs, VARS and system integrators. Primary vertical markets are financial services, telephone providers, healthcare, outsourcing firms and government.

While the company has traditionally served top-tier organizations, Bischoff said standardized servers and new development tools are opening up the mid-level market.

“Enterprises and businesses are looking for self-service solutions,” he said. “This is a cost-effective way to accomplish that.”

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Arthur Cole is a freelance writer specializing in high-tech information and communications.

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