I've been following Intervoice as a service provider messaging/wireless platform and application vendor for years, and was hoping I would hear more about Convergys's plans for this part of the company. As I mentioned to the Intervoice folks last week, I hope Convergys recognizes that it has a great asset in terms of Intervoice's wireless carrier products and that Convergys needs to get better acquainted with this part of Intervoice's business. They responded that one of the reasons Convergys acquired Intervoice is because of its mobile offerings and the growth of Intervoice's service provider business, so this is promising.
From a customer relationship management perspective, the acquisition of Intervoice makes perfect sense for Convergys, and the company will now be able to offer more choices and options for customers--from premise-based solutions to hosted offerings to shared or multi-tenant services (which is where Convergys has focused). Now customers have a choice of which model they want, and can use the same vendor for any of these approaches. Both the Intervoice and Convergys sales teams and partners are being cross trained on the other parties' products, and will be able to approach customers with a range of solution offerings, ensuring that customers can use whichever approach works best for them. The folks at Convergys note that they now have the most comprehensive offering, providing customers with more of a choice.
Convergys can also take advantage of Intervoice's Media Exchange platform going forward, especially the network IVR application, bringing new offerings to customers to build richer applications. Customers with this platform in place can justify expenses for additional applications that can be supported by Media Exchange, and can expand to offerings such as video for self service; for example. I was assured by the Intervoice folks that Intervoice will continue to move forward with its Media Exchange platform, and that the platform will continue to be used for additional enhanced applications like prepaid, network IVR, and messaging. This is good news, since I would hate to see that product go away (I especially like the Home Zone element of the product).
Convergys says that it's very excited about the wireless business, but the company needs to get this message out. While I'm optimistic about the company going forward in the customer service/relationship management arena, and feel that the merger will provide more options for customers, I hope Convergys recognizes the other products and capabilities that Intervoice brings to the table and leverages them as well. Intervoice has always had strong offerings for service providers and carriers, and I hope that Convergys does indeed continue supporting Intervoice's roadmap and these offerings.
