Communication Solutions

Genesys (News - Alert) Telecommunications Laboratories, an Alcatel-Lucent company, and IBM have significantly expanded their global Strategic Alliance for Contact Center Solutions. Under the agreement, both companies will co-develop, implement and sell a new collaborative solution in China.

 

This is the first time both IBM (News - Alert) and Genesys are offering a solution targeting the growing call center market in this region, while also continuing their global work together. The companies explain that contact centers have become increasingly strategic assets for businesses worldwide, as customer service continues to play a major role in establishing competitive differentiation and building long-term customer loyalty.

 

According to a Frost & Sullivan (News - Alert) report, the contact center application revenue in China grew 15.6 percent in 2006 vs. 2005, and is projected to annually grow 18.2 percent in 2007 and 20.9 percent in 2008.

 

Thanks to the new IBM Contact Center in a Box solution, businesses can easily deploy a simplified contact center solution, in 90 days or less. This scalable solution aims to

meet the needs of small, mid-sized and enterprise-level businesses as needed. IBM and Genesys will synergize to deliver full functionality in one solution. This will provide critical customer service functions such as customer enquiry and complaints, product promotion, sales, appointment management, and activity management.

 

IBM market research surveyed over 300 small, mid-sized and enterprise customers. The research report revealed that clients in the China region are searching for contact center solutions that are easy to upgrade and maintain, have a lower overall implementation cost and are stable and reliable. In addition to bringing together all of these components, the new IBM Contact Center in a Box solution boasts system security, scalability, and a low total cost of ownership.

 

Genesys provides the technology for advanced call routing with Session Initiation Protocol (News - Alert) (SIP) support, computer telephony integration and self-service capabilities, directing the incoming customer call to the proper agent or resource. In addition, Siebel Call Center Applications from Oracle (News - Alert) offer the sales and after sales support to this bundled solution. This assist companies to analyze and provide support based on the data collected on the call and stored in the database.

 

Michael McBrien, senior vice president, Asia Pacific, Genesys said in a statement that throughout their 8-year history together, IBM and Genesys have delivered innovative contact center and self-service solutions to the global marketplace with more than 13,000 agent seats deployed together worldwide.

 

“We're now tapping into IBM's sales and marketing expertise to expand our presence in the Greater China market,” he added.

 

By expanding this partnership, both IBM and Genesys will focus on further growing business in the Greater China region in core verticals such as banking, insurance, telecommunications and government.

 

IBM's strong presence in this region is expected to contribute significantly to the growth and sale of Genesys' solutions to new customers, as well as creating value for their existing customers in the region.

 

Mark Hanny, vice president of strategic partnerships, IBM said that the new contact center solution presents an enormous opportunity for both companies to deliver support to their current customers worldwide, and capture new customers in this growing segment of the Greater China market.