Genesys joins with Nuance at Call Centre Expo to preview independent Speech Community

  • New online community 'speech-community.com' to help educate businesses about new speech applications
  • Mirrors efforts of German 'Voice-Community.de', which has almost 2000 members
  • Call Centre Expo 2007. Visit Stands F30 or E20
WOKINGHAM - 12 September 2007 - Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, an Alcatel-Lucent company (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU), has announced it will co-host a preview of the up-coming Speech Community project, at this year’s Call Centre Expo 2007. The Speech Community project will provide a wide range of resources on speech technology for businesses throughout the UK and globally and is set to be sponsored by leaders in the contact centre market. It mirrors a successful model created by the German Voice Community, which now has almost 2000 members.

The online community project aims to increase the participation in this rapidly maturing and highly valuable contact centre applications market and at the show Genesys will co-operate with Nuance to demonstrate the advantages for users. Both Genesys and Nuance are founding partners of the community and other vendors and systems integrators are invited to join this initiative.

"Phase One of the project - which will be the launch of the website, with information on the technology and examples of applications already live - will be launched in October, after Call Centre Expo, and Phase Two will be launched some time in the new year," said Bernhard Steimel, Director of Mind, the organisation responsible for coordinating the Speech Community, and architects of 'Voice-Community.de'. "Phase Two will provide facilities for business managers to view and test sample speech applications, enabling them to specify their own particular business requirements. They can then deploy the application, either on premise or in a hosted capacity."

"One of the greatest failings of speech technology is that too few businesses realise the significant benefits that an intelligent deployment will give them," Bernhard Steimel continued. "The Speech Community aims to provide all the insight and information that an organisation needs to undertake a speech deployment that will boost agent productivity, enhance customer satisfaction and grow the bottom line."

"Speech technology is an important element of building a Dynamic Contact Centre," added Mark Turner, Vice President and Managing Director of Genesys UK and Ireland. "The ability to offer customers an effective automated option helps to alleviate the pressure on agent resources, and also enhance the experience for the customer - if the experience is quick and painless. Implementing an effective speech solution improves the quality of the customer service operation within the business."

About speech-community.com
The SPEECH Community is the first competence network devoted exclusively to speech applications. Our goal is to provide decision-makers, designers and developers with a comprehensive palette of services, to propagate best practice, and offer assistance. In 2004 two German consulting firms Mind Business Consultants and STRATECO performed in-depth research for a market report about speech business. With the support of key market players, they launched the web based VOICE Community in early 2005. Today it boasts close to 2000 active members. The SPEECH Community is currently supported by Genesys and Nuance.

About Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc.
Genesys, an Alcatel-Lucent company, is the only company that focuses 100 per cent on software to manage customer interactions over the phone, web and in e-mail. The Genesys software suite dynamically connects customers with the right resources – self-service or assisted-service – to fulfil customer requests, optimise customer care goals and efficiently use resources. Genesys software directs more than 100 million customer interactions every day for 4,000 companies and government agencies in 80 countries. These companies and agencies can leverage their entire organisation, from the contact centre to the back office, to improve the overall customer experience. As a result, Genesys helps stop customer frustration, drive efficiency, and accelerate business innovation. For more information, go to www.genesyslab.com or visit the industry blog at www.betterinteractions.com

About Alcatel-Lucent
Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that enable service providers, enterprises and governments worldwide, to deliver voice, data and video communication services to end-users.  As a leader in fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies, applications, and services, Alcatel-Lucent offers the end-to-end solutions that enable compelling communications services for people at home, at work and on the move.  With operations in more than 130 countries, Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The company has the most experienced global services team in the industry, and one of the largest research, technology and innovation organizations in the telecommunications industry. Alcatel-Lucent achieved adjusted proforma revenues of Euro 18.3 billion in 2006 and is incorporated in France, with executive offices located in Paris. [All figures exclude impact of activities transferred to Thales]. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com

Media Contact:
Duncan Burford, PR for Genesys, 01780 721 433, dburford@iba-europe.com


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