Recent Witness Systems User Event, Attended by More than 300 Global Customers, Highlights Opportunity for Speech Analytics, Survey and Workforce Optimization Solutions Across Contact Center, Back-Office and Branch Operations
MELVILLE, N.Y.– Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT.PK), a leading provider of analytic software-based solutions for workforce-enterprise optimization and security, today announced results from a customer survey conducted at Witness Systems’ annual user conference last month. The recent combination of Verint and Witness Systems created a leading global provider of workforce and enterprise optimization solutions, providing organizations with powerful new visibility into the effectiveness of the enterprise customer service value chain.
‘Witness Systems’ annual user conference was attended by more than 300 global customers, demonstrating the company’s leadership and commitment to understanding customers’ business priorities,” said Dan Bodner, President and CEO of Verint Systems. “These survey results support our belief that the customer experience remains a key priority in today’s contact center and enterprise operations.”
The survey, conducted by Witness Systems at the Orlando, Fla. event revealed that, as customer service has become an increasingly important differentiator for enterprises, contact center managers and executives are rising to the challenge by proactively implementing technology and processes – including surveys to capture customer feedback, speech analytics for mining and identifying root cause of recurring interactions, and workforce optimization (WFO) solutions to better integrate and streamline contact center and enterprise sales/service activities.
The findings of the survey also demonstrate that customer loyalty and satisfaction was of the utmost importance to contact center managers, with half of attendees tagging this measurement as a primary objective. Building upon a requirement for delivering world-class service, first-call resolution was cited as the number one challenge facing contact centers today by 33 percent of respondents. However, almost 60 percent of respondents report that their organizations do not currently capture feedback following a customer interaction/transaction.
An exciting new trend, the Witness customer survey findings indicate a growing interest by more and more companies in speech technology for mining and analyzing their calls, with almost 30 percent of respondents planning to invest in speech analytics in the coming year.
The survey also points out a keen focus on trends including training and home-based agents. When asked how managers categorize their organizations’ investment in staff training this year as compared to last year, nearly half reported that training efforts have increased. When asked if they employ home-based agents, 45 percent said they currently do or plan to next year.
In addition, the survey showed a strong belief that WFO solutions – including quality monitoring, workforce management, performance management and eLearning – and actionable intelligence solutions – that include speech and data analytics – should be implemented outside the contact center as a key business initiative.
It also noted that executive management is taking notice of the forward-thinking practices being employed in the contact center. A majority of respondents – 52 percent – report sharing captured interactions with members of the executive management team. To view the complete survey results, visit www.verint.com/disurvey.
Concluded Bodner, “We are pleased to hear our customers express a clear need for our industry-defining portfolio of solutions that optimize workforce, contact center and enterprise performance. Verint’s new Witness Actionable Solutions business line is committed to delivering innovative solutions to help enterprises address their most important customer service objectives.”
About Verint Witness Actionable Solutions
Verint Witness Actionable Solutions was formed as a result of the company’s successful combination with workforce optimization provider, Witness Systems. Verint Witness Actionable Solutions enables organizations to capture and analyze customer interactions, improve workforce performance and optimize service processes in contact center, branch and back-office operations. With the industry’s broadest portfolio of innovative solutions for customer service analytics, workforce optimization, quality monitoring/full-time recording, workforce management, eLearning, performance management and customer surveys, Verint Witness Actionable Solutions helps companies uncover business trends, discover the root cause of employee and customer behavior, and power the right decisions to ensure service excellence and achieve continuous performance improvement across every aspect of customer operations.
About Verint Systems Inc.
Verint Systems Inc. (VRNT.PK), headquartered in Melville, New York, is a leading provider of analytic software-based solutions for workforce-enterprise optimization and security. Verint software, which is used by over 5,000 organizations in over 100 countries worldwide, generates actionable intelligence through the collection, retention and analysis of voice, fax, video, email, Internet and data transmissions from multiple communications networks. Visit us at our website www.verint.com.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: Certain statements and information in this release that involve expectations, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. They are often identified by words such as “will”, “anticipates”, “expects”, “intends”, “plans”, “believes”, “estimates” and similar expressions and statements about present trends and conditions that may extend into the future. These statements are not facts and are based upon information available to the Company as of the date of this release. The Company assumes no obligation to revise or update any such forward-looking statement except as otherwise required by law. Forward-looking statements believed true when made may ultimately prove to be incorrect. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, some of which are beyond our control and may cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations. Some of the factors that could cause actual future results or conditions to differ materially from current expectations include the impact on Verint’s financial results of the Comverse Special Committee’s review of matters relating to grants of Comverse stock options and other non-options related accounting matters; the impact on Verint’s financial results, if any, arising from Verint’s internal review of certain accounting matters; the impact of governmental inquiries arising out of or related to option grants and practices and/or other accounting areas under investigation by Comverse and Verint and the risk of regulatory action or private litigation relating to the same; the effect of Verint’s failure to timely file all required reports under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934; Verint’s ability to have its common stock relisted on The NASDAQ Global Market; risk that Verint’s recent merger with Witness Systems disrupts current plans and operations and the potential difficulties in employee retention as a result of the merger; the ability to recognize the expected benefits of the merger; the impact of the substantial indebtedness incurred to finance the consummation of the merger; risks relating to current and potential future litigation or regulatory inquiries or actions inherited in connection with the merger, including with respect to Witness option grants and alleged patent infringement; introducing quality products on a timely basis that satisfy customer requirements and achieve market acceptance; lengthy and variable sales cycles create difficulty in forecasting the timing of revenue; integrating the business and personnel of Verint’s other acquisitions, including implementation of adequate internal controls; risks associated with significant foreign operations, including fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; aggressive competition in all of Verint’s markets, which creates pricing pressure; managing our expansion in the Asia Pacific region; risks that Verint’s intellectual property rights may not be adequate to protect its business or that others may claim that Verint or its subsidiaries infringe upon their intellectual property rights; risks associated with Verint’s ability to retain existing personnel and recruit and retain qualified personnel in all geographies in which Verint operates; decline in information technology spending; changes in the demand for Verint’s products; challenges in increasing gross margins; risks associated with changes in the competitive or regulatory environment in which Verint operates; dependence on government contracts; expected increase in Verint’s effective tax rate; risk that Verint improperly handles sensitive or confidential information or risk of misperception of such mishandling; inability to maintain relationships with value added resellers and systems integrators; difficulty of improving Verint’s infrastructure to support growth; risks associated with Comverse Technology, Inc. controlling Verint’s business and affairs; and other risks described in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Current Report on Form 8-K filed June 11, 2007. All documents are available through the SEC’s Electronic Data Gathering Analysis and Retrieval system (EDGAR) at www.sec.gov or from Verint’s website at www.verint.com.
VERINT, the VERINT logo, ACTIONABLE INTELLIGENCE, POWERING ACTIONABLE INTELLIGENCE, STAR-GATE, RELIANT, VANTAGE, X-TRACT, NEXTIVA, ULTRA, AUDIOLOG, WITNESS, the WITNESS logo, IMPACT 360, the IMPACT 360 logo, IMPROVE EVERYTHING, EQUALITY, CONTACTSTORE, EYRETEL, BLUE PUMPKIN SOFTWARE, BLUE PUMPKIN, the BLUE PUMPKIN logo, EXAMETRIC and the EXAMETRIC logo, CLICK2STAFF, DEMOS, DEMOS SOLUTIONS,STAFFSMART, AMAE SOFTWARE and the AMAE logo are trademarks and registered trademarks of Verint Systems Inc. Other trademarks mentioned are the property of their respective owners.
