From a potential bankruptcy to entering a Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA), here are some extracts from our most popular news stories over the last seven days.
Genesys and AWS Commit to Reimagine Customer Experiences
Genesys has entered a Strategic Collaboration Agreement (SCA) with Amazon Web Services (AMS) to help organisations create deeper coordination of technologies and intelligent, automated solutions.
The two organisations are doubling down on their commitment to helping joint customers reimagine the experiences they deliver.
As a result of the SCA, Genesys and AWS plan to expand joint development and their go-to-market relationship to empower organisations to accelerate their digital transformation and cloud customer experience strategies.
Olivier Jouve, Chief Product Officer, Genesys, commented:
“At Genesys, our aim is to enable organizations to orchestrate differentiated customer and employee experiences; today, this is only made possible through seamless coordination of technologies, touchpoints and channels.
“As one of our foundational partners, our collaboration with AWS is central to our strategy for empowering customers with the capabilities and innovation they need to thrive.”
According to Genesys, more than 4,000 customers are already personalising customer experiences via the Genesys Cloud CX platform, a cloud-native solution built on AWS.
Genesys also states that over 800,000 users are leveraging the combined power of the two global technology companies across 13 AWS regions.
Verint Acquires Appointment Scheduling Tools from Qudini
Verint has expanded its Customer Engagement Platform with appointment scheduling capabilities from Qudini.
The new capabilities are available within a single solution that also offers virtual appointment, live video conversation, and event booking features.
Users may also harness tools within the platform for clienteling, virtual queuing, task management, and much more.
The following video showcases further capabilities now available to users of the Verint Customer Engagement Platform.
As these suggest, customers may use the solution in contact centers, branches, and stores, with Verint seemingly targeting retail.
Indeed, the CX vendor is framing the platform as its “retail choreography software”.
Nevertheless, it has applications in other sectors. Imogen Wethered, Founder and CEO of Qudini, will attest to this, alongside the ~20 employees joining Verint as part of the deal.
Indeed, Wethered noted the possibility for financial institutions to harness the technology when announcing the agreement on social media.
Salesforce Integrates Playvox Customer Engagement Tools
Workplace engagement solutions provider Playvox officially integrated its tools into the Salesforce Contact Center platform this Monday.
The move allows Salesforce to provide its AppExchange customers with Playvox tools alongside 7000 applications available via its Service Cloud network.
Salesforce’s cloud-based marketplace hosts various third-party enterprise applications to aggregate Customer 360 data, enhance customer & workforce engagement, and accelerate a company’s digital transformation journey.
The move transfers Playvox’s tools to give Salesforce’s enterprise end-users access to real-time scheduling and management tools. Moreover, the alliance integrates Playvox’s AI infrastructure into the service.
By using a Playvox application, Salesforce users can more efficiently manage customer data. Ryan Nichols, the SVP and GM of Contact Center, Salesforce, said his firm’s Service Cloud solution provides organizations with tools that drive service efficiencies “in days and weeks, not months and years.”
Nichols added:
With Salesforce Contact Center and Playvox, organizations are enabled to get the right people on the right channels at the right time to deliver new levels of service efficiency and effectiveness.
Additionally, the partnership includes Playvox’s quality management and coaching services alongside similar Salesforce Appexhange solutions like access to industry experts and resources.
Avaya Could Hand Control to Lenders as Bankruptcy Looms – Reports
Avaya is reportedly “in talks to hand control to lenders” as it continues battling financial pressures.
The vendor is facing Chapter 11 reorganization proceedings for the second time, as reported by UC Today late last year.
Bloomberg reports that people close to the negotiations have said bankruptcy could be filed by the end of January, with ongoing talks with investors Apollo Global Management, Ares Management, and Invesco.
The resulting financial security actions may ease investors’ concerns regarding Avaya’s recent troubled history.
In 2023, Avaya’s share price fell nearly 97 percent, bringing the company’s market cap down to about $45 million from $2 billion two years ago.
Avaya announced in September that impending job cuts would cost $26 million. On the other hand, the vendor anticipates significant savings, as stated in a filing with the SEC.
A Bumpy 2022
Avaya fired its CEO, Jim Chirico, in July last year, with Alan Masarek, a former boss at Vonage, taking his place.
The new boss said that a key task in the short and medium term is to simplify Avaya’s portfolio and clarify its proposition to existing and potential customers.
