Genesys and IBM Expand Call Center Solutions to China

Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories and IBM last week announced the collaborative introduction of IBM Contact Center in a Box into the Chinese marketplace, thereby expanding their Strategic Alliance for Contact Center Solutions. Contact Center in a Box is a scalable solution, deployable in as little as 90 days, and geared for both SMBs and enterprise-levelinstitutions.

This collaboration between Genesys and IBM will provide a full suite of customer care functionality. such as customer queries and complaints, up-sells, and activity management. Targeted verticals include financial institutions, insurance, telecommunications, and government.

China is a particularly promising market due to a recent emphasis on quality care as a means to retain customer loyalty. A Frost & Sullivan report quoted in the release noted that sales from contact center applications grew from 15.6 percent in 2006 over 2005, and projected an annual growth of 18.2 percent in 2007 and 20.9 percent in 2008.

Under the alliance, IBM will provide technical expertise on Genesys technology and both companies will co-develop industry-specific solutions for localized products.

"Throughout our eight-year history together, IBM and Genesys have delivered innovative contact center and self-service solutions to the global marketplace, with more than 13,000 agent seats deployed together worldwide," Michael McBrien, senior vice president of Asia Pacific,Genesys, said in a release. "We're now tapping into IBM's sales and marketing expertise to expand our presence in the Greater China market."

Pending success, IBM and Genesys will expand their offerings to other regions in and around Asia. Over the past few years, there’s been increased interest in emerging markets in Russia and India.