Convergys Launches Intervoice Voice Portal 6.5

Convergys today released version 6.5 of its Intervoice Voice Portal (IVP), and the next generation of its Interaction Composer development environment to further enhance the Convergys suite of intelligent interaction solutions. Intervoice Voice Portal (IVP) is a key component of the Convergys Intelligent Self-Service (ISS) solution, which combines intelligent automation with self-service and outbound notification.

IVP from Convergys addresses consumer demand for anywhere, any-channel access to contact centers by enabling contact centers to give their customers the information they need in a timely manner via the media most convenient to them – voice, telephony, Web, fax, email, or mobile device. Visual IVR support, new in IVP 6.5, enhances the power of speech through visual presentation of service options, content, and responses on a mobile phone screen during a voice interaction.

In addition to supporting inbound interactions, IVP can be used to deliver outbound notifications to customers and offer cross-sell and upsell opportunities via phone, text message, or email. IVP 6.5 also features platform improvements such as enhanced hearing-impaired support and robust management and alarm capabilities to meet regulatory and client requirements.

IVP integrates the power of the enterprise-wide policy management capabilities of Convergys Dynamic Decisioning Solution  to create a more intelligent customer interaction. The combination of these two technologies gives contact centers the power to deliver personalized, relevant, multichannel customer interactions, and can provide tangible business results, such as up to 25 percent reduction in cost-to-serve by:

• enabling centralized policy creation and management, supported by closed-loop learning to ensure a consistent customer experience across all channels;
• personalizing the customer experience to increase loyalty and retention while reducing call handle times by up to 20 percent;
• accelerating self-service adoption rates to reduce costs and increase call containment rates by up to 20 percent;
• leveraging cross-sell and upsell opportunities to increase revenue;
• integrating with current business systems to take advantage of existing customer information; and
• eliminating the risk and expense of a “forklift” technology upgrade.

“At Convergys, our focus is on maximizing the value of customer relationships. Our Intelligent Self-Service Solution transforms an IVR from a closed system to a customer-focused business asset by leveraging the power of intelligent interactions to help drive down operating costs, increase revenue opportunities, and maximize customer satisfaction and loyalty,” said Mike Betzer, Convergys' president of relationship technology management.

Available with IVP 6.5, Interaction Composer (IC) is an Eclipse-based, integrated development environment for building, deploying, and managing robust interaction applications. IC from Convergys includes out-of-the box graphical application components and an extensible framework, allowing both contact center programmers and IT developers to develop sophisticated voice and visual interaction applications quickly. These applications leverage mobile phone Web screens as well as other types of message-oriented interactions, such as text messages, to provide an information-rich, multichannel, and multimodal customer experience. 

The new release of IC also includes an option to translate legacy Intervoice IQTalk applications and render them using IC diagramming and graphical components, allowing IQTalk applications to leverage VoiceXML and Visual IVR capabilities.

Ross Gunn, a senior developer at Convergys’ partner Black Box Network Services, attended an Interaction Composer training class last spring, and has since been using IC to migrate clients to the IVP platform. Gunn has enjoyed the benefits of IC, noting, “With its extensive feature set that includes integrated data, host, and CTI components, IC extends the functionality beyond call flow with a common tool. Using IC, I can import a Web Services Description Language (WSDL) directly, without having to know details about the client’s back-end systems. This functionality, coupled with IC’s pre-built application components created with best practice configurations, is a real time-saver.”

According to Graham Allen, director of product development at Convergys, “Everyone benefits from IC. Developers can design user-friendly dialogs in a graphical canvas and palette without having to delve into the details of VoiceXML, Call Control XML, or State Chart XML, and customers can enjoy a consistent and coordinated experience across all channels of interaction.”

New with IVP 6.5 from Convergys, the Developer Zone also now features a runtime “sandbox” that allows developers to test drive IC and their applications before developing the applications for a production environment. The Developer Zone Web site is designed to help Convergys alliance partner developers who want to learn more about Convergys' application development tools, including IC. Developers can download a fully functional version of IC, install it on their workstations, and start building voice and multimodal applications immediately, with no time limits. To help developers get up to speed quickly, the Developer Zone includes an Interaction Composer Cookbook and an online forum where developers can discuss tips and techniques for building applications. “The Developer Zone’s online forum offers many of the benefits of a user group, and the IC Cookbook is a helpful resource for tips and tricks. It is also very entertaining and well-written – a big plus for a technical document,” Gunn said.