After a successful sneak peek at G-Force, Genesys Telecommunication Laboratories offered Opus Research a deep look into its new offering: the Genesys Customer Interaction Portal. Currently positioned to support network-based self-service applications, the Customer Interaction Portal is poised to become a business user friendly design and management front-end for all of Genesys’ products and platforms. Developing this product with support from a partner firm represents a new attitude for this historically ”in-house-technologies-only” firm. The Customer Interaction Portal, in all senses of the term, has become the shining example of the friendly face of Genesys.
Advisories
Voice Authentication Baked into Aeroplan’s Customer Care
Aeroplan, the loyalty program administrator that separated itself from AirCanada, has completed ‘Phase 1’ in rolling out a hosted voice self-service (VSS) application that includes conversational authentication of a caller’s identity based on comparison of spoken words with a stored voiceprint. Voiceprints are designed to take the place of personal identification numbers and simplify the log-in process.
Last Man Standing: The Future of Independent Application Development Tools
With Cisco’s recent purchase of Audium, the number of independent, voice-application development tool providers in
the market has been reduced to one: Vicorp. As the independent tool market dissolves, the focus shifts towards providers of niche functionality and service differentiation that hasn’t been addressed by the classic tool vendors. Being the last man standing, Vicorp is now positioned to build OEM relationships with Nortel, Intervoice and Genesys – the three voice self-service platform vendors with multiple platforms and without an appropriate developer tool strategy – or even become an acquisition target. As the last of the independent tool providers, Vicorp still has plenty of value.
Cisco Announces Acquisition of Audium and Metreos
Cisco’s announced acquisition of venerable VoiceXML development tool vendor Audium and five-year-old VoIP application vendor Metreos creates one of the first global players equipped to supply its customers a complete servicesoriented stack. These new acquisitions reflect renewed emphasis on opening up the Cisco platforms, focusing on standard protocols and interfaces and fulfilling Cisco’s promise to add applications and value to its offerings.
Spain’s Ydilo Hosts “Vodafone Interactive Care”
Vodafone Spain’s groundbreaking portal provides a real-life glimpse into the new generation of customer-care platforms that combine voice, text-messaging (SMS), and multimedia messaging (MMS) to better respond to emerging customer needs in real-time.
Spotlight on Speech Enabled Search: Mobile Applications Gaining Legitimacy
Mobile subscribers are poised to help consummate the marriage between speech recognition (aka “dictationâ€) and local, Web-based search. Nuance, VoiceSignal, InfoNXX have used venues in Europe and the U.S. to show the power of automated speech and multiple modalities to enhance mobile search and messaging services. When the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted Google a patent for speech-based search, it added legitimacy (and a working business model) to the business plans for mobile search.
CAT’s Vertical Leap
Horizontal applications — such as self-service, call steering and dictation — propelled Conversational Access Technologies’ past growth. But it’s increasingly evident that a deeper understanding of the requirements, grammars and business processes underlying specific verticals are key to future success.
Enhanced Content Lands Amp’d for INFONXX
Super-hip, mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) Amp’d selected INFONXX as its directory assistance provider, rather than a similar service from Verizon’s captive LiveSource service. The selection vaults the INFONXX into a new level of the service delivery ecosystem.
Intervoice Acquires Edify: Better Positioned for “The Road Ahead”
However, the purchase price of Edify shows that little or no premium can be attached to players that are essentially serving a niche in an already niche market.
Speech plus Search equals New Business Possibilities (S+S=NBP)
Search service providers like Yahoo!, want to use emerging audio search technologies to mine the ever-growing repository of spoken media, ranging from Internet radio to podcasts. Unless the current vendors can build a compelling business case, the search engines are poised to displace directory assistance vendors for on-demand, 411-type services.