There is probably not a technology in the call center that could potentially cause more problems and red faces if it's improperly implemented than speech/voice technology. It's frustrating being misrouted by an IVR, but not quite so obvious. After all..."maybe I pushed the wrong button? Perhaps I didn't listen to the choices carefully?" Testing, testing and more testing is vital before deployment of any self-service system; with speech it becomes more critical. Monday morning brings us an announcement that Genesys and Empirix have been busy as of late and have completed testing of Genesys' Voice Platform, it's VXML-based IVR product. TES
EMPIRIX AND GENESYS LAUNCH FIRST INTEGRATED TESTING AND MONITORING SOLUTIONS FOR GENESYS VOICE PLATFORM Companies jointly offer solutions to speed quality rollouts and integration of GVP in contact centers BEDFORD, Mass. and SAN FRANCISCO, Calif. - July 18, 2005 - Today Empirix® Inc., the leader in helping organizations strengthen customer loyalty through assured Web and voice application performance, and Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc., an Alcatel company (NYSE: ALA, Paris: CGEP.PA), jointly announced the first integrated testing and monitoring solutions for Genesys Voice Platform (GVP) environments. This announcement builds upon an existing relationship between Empirix and Genesys. Genesys Voice Platform is an advanced software-only product that brings Internet technologies to the world of voice enabling a new breed of voice self-service applications based on Voice XML (VXML). Empirix testing and monitoring solutions ensure that GVP seamlessly interoperates with existing contact center components and applications. Pre-deployment testing ensures that the contact center is running smoothly and efficiently before the official technology launch date, while monitoring ensures that technology components continue to work properly once in production. VXML-based IVRs provide new application and architecture advantages, however, they are part of a complex infrastructure requiring new deployment and maintenance techniques and tools. "When using these new technologies, companies have to get their house in order first, and ensure that it stays in order," says consultant Lori Bocklund, president of Strategic Contact Inc. "Buyers need to make smart technology purchase decisions that consider integration and compatibility with the rest of the infrastructure. Good testing and monitoring practices should be applied at implementation and ongoing these steps will ensure end-to-end performance is acceptable under normal and heavy call loads." Specific Empirix solutions for GVP include Hammer Performance Assurance for Genesys voice self-service, which is used for diagnostics and automated load and functional testing of GVP. A second solution, OneSight Telephony Monitors for GVP, enables organizations to proactively monitor and manage GVP, and correlate performance with data on related components, voice and VXML transactions, and the underlying infrastructure quickly and easily. Combined, they enable organizations to manage GVP across the lifecycle from pre-deployment through production. "Genesys and Empirix share a firm commitment to ensuring customer success," said Dan Nordale, Director of Voice Services at Genesys. "These testing and monitoring solutions are designed to ensure that Genesys customers are getting maximum performance out of their Genesys investments by helping to quickly identify the source of potential problems wherever they lie in the contact center infrastructure. Our experience with Empirix to date has been terrific, and we're excited to be working with them to effectively test new and existing deployments of the Genesys Voice Platform." "Genesys solutions are nearly ubiquitous in contact centers," said Larry Timm, Vice President of Business Development at Empirix. "In developing solutions specifically for the Genesys platform, we can help our joint customers provide better quality service to their customers, less expensively. We look forward to working with Genesys in the future to further expand this suite." For more information on Empirix testing and management solutions, call 1-866-EMPIRIX or e-mail [email protected]. About Genesys Genesys, an Alcatel company is 100 percent focused on software for contact centers. Leading companies in the Global 2000 and Fortune 1000 use Genesys to deliver interactions that drive better business. With 3000 customers in 80 countries, Genesys directs more than 100 million customer interactions every day. Genesys allows enterprises to achieve key business objectives by tying together customer interactions, people, and customer information in both traditional telephony and IP environments. Sophisticated routing and reporting across voice, e-mail, documents and Web interactions, coupled with integrated self service, ensure that customers are quickly connected to the right resource the first time. Genesys solutions stop customer frustration and allow enterprises to deliver superior customer satisfaction and improved business results. For more information visit us at www.genesyslab.com. About Alcatel Alcatel provides communications solutions to telecommunication carriers, Internet service providers and enterprises for delivery of voice, data and video applications to their customers or employees. Alcatel brings its leading position in fixed and mobile broadband networks; applications and services, to help its partners and customers build a user-centric broadband world. With sales of EURO 12.3 billion and 56,000 employees in 2004, Alcatel operates in more than 130 countries. For more information, visit Alcatel on the Internet: http://www.alcatel.com About Empirix Empirix Inc. helps organizations strengthen customer loyalty through assured Web and voice application performance. Based on patented technologies, Empirix solutions are known for providing the deepest, most accurate insight into what customers actually experience, and enabling organizations to be proactive about identifying and addressing potential technology problems before customers are impacted. Empirix has thousands of customers around the world, with operations throughout North America, Europe and Asia. To learn more, visit www.empirix.com or call 1-866-EMPIRIX.
