- Second SpeechStorm customer in 2 years to be recognised as top innovator in customer service –
Belfast & London – June 15th, 2009 – SpeechStorm, (www.speechstorm.com), the specialist provider of phone self-service solutions, has today announced that its middle east based customer, Etisalat, has been recognised as one of the world’s top innovators in customer service by an international group of industry experts in the fourth annual Customer Innovation Awards, sponsored by Genesys, an Alcatel-Lucent company (Euronext Paris and NYSE: ALU).
The Customer Innovation Awards programme competition recognises outstanding companies for their use of technology to deliver innovative customer service in highly dynamic environments. Etisalat was presented with its award at the G-Force event held in Barcelona last week.
Etisalat Egypt was selected for a Customer Innovations Award because it created one of the world’s most advanced multimedia contact centers, combining video, voice, and SMS, with voice recognition, avatars, and other advanced self-service choices. This IVR and video call centre technology provided by SpeechStorm and Genesys respectively enabled the fast growing telecommunications provider to provide its seven million Egyptian customers with live agent interaction via their video enabled mobile phones 24-hours a day.
SpeechStorm has played a pivotal role by providing the self-service application that greets customers when they access the service. This includes a range of commonly used features such as retrieving the phone un-lock code and getting access to billing and balance information, all available in both in English and Arabic, with the ability for the customer to change his or her language preference instantly on the call. The SpeechStorm application also enables Etisalat to deliver up-to-the minute promotional content, including tariff plan details and current offers in audio and full-motion video.
Using Genesys’s video call centre solutions Etisalat customers can now talk face-to-face with agents making customer care more friendly. Customers can switch with ease from the video self service system direct to a live agent dramatically improving the customer experience.
Damian Kelly is SpeechStorm’s Director for Video IVR and comments. “We launched our Video IVR applications earlier this year and Etisalat is our first major customer to deploy the technology. The benefits that it is delivering to their customers are considerable. The video self service system is highly intuitive and overcomes traditional audio touchtone service barriers and combined with speech recognition it is even quicker. Customers just say which option they want without having to press their option into the phone.” Damian continues, “Etisalat’s first contact resolution has reached 98% which means that almost every call is processed to the customer’s satisfaction on their first call!. We are delighted that this truly world class service has been recognised as a top innovator in customer service.”
To find out more about SpeechStorm’s Interactive Video solutions please visit www.speechstorm.com or to follow Damian Kelly’s Video IVR updates on twitter visit www.twitter.com/damianjjk
About Etisalat
Etisalat stands 140th among the Financial Times Top 500 Corporations in the world in terms of market capitalization, and is ranked by The Middle East magazine as the 6th largest company in the Middle East in terms of capitalization and revenues. Etisalat operates in 16 countries with a combined population of over 446 million, some among which are UAE Pakistan Saudi Arabia Sudan and Egypt. The Corporation is the largest contributor outside the oil sector to development programmes of the UAE Federal Government, and is an award-winning socially responsible corporation. Etisalat has also won accolades from across the region for its nationalization programme.
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 fulfill 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 http://www.genesyslab.com or visit the industry blog at http://www.betterinteractions.com
About SpeechStorm
SpeechStorm specialises in self-service solutions that manage customer interactions over the phone.
The SpeechStorm portfolio provides a combination of best-fit solutions that give customers the service they want; whether touchtone, SMS, Video or Voice. SpeechStorm transforms the simple phone into a rich interactive tool for accessing content, finding information and interacting with an organisation to fulfil customer requests and optimise customer care goals.
Organisations including Dixons Stores Group International (DSGI), SITA Suez, eircom, Northern Ireland Electricity and Comet rely on SpeechStorm solutions to underpin their business performance and improve the overall customer experience.
Backed by a professional services capability of more than 250 consultants, SpeechStorm is part of Kainos, a leading IT consulting and Systems Integrator. For over 20 years Kainos has been deploying critical customer interaction solutions giving SpeechStorm distinctive edge over most phone self-service specialists. SpeechStorm has offices in the UK and Ireland.
For more information please visit the corporate website on www.speechstorm.com .
