Genesys, @genesyslab, has announced it is acquiring Angel, @angelcorporate, to improve its ability to deliver voice self-service applications more quickly and cost effectively. Genesys currently offers a market-leading voice platform, GVP, and has a strong presence in the large enterprise market. Angel, a SaaS voice portal provider, has earned a solid reputation in mid-size vertical markets. Angel’s experience in delivering high reliable cloud solutions will support Genesys’ ability to offer rapid deployment speech applications to a broader customer base on its Cloud Connect platform. This acquisition signals the second significant purchase by Genesys in the last month. Genesys also acquired UTOPY-a speech analytic firm- to add to its product portfolio. Both purchases highlight the importance of natural language speech applications, as a key enabler for delivering successful self-service solutions.
Angel’s acquisition will help Genesys increase its flexibility to deploy speech applications to the mid-market segment. Many mid-market companies have delayed upgrading their Interactive Voice Response (IVR) applications from DTMF to voice due to the expense of developing custom speech applications. Angel has been successful in creating rapid deployment speech applications with its Customer Experience (CX) builder interface. Its CX builder creates applications on reusable components, which reduces development time. This capability should enable Genesys to provide its voice portal customers with lower cost entry for building their speech applications.
Speech applications also play an important role in mobile application development. As more customers use their smartphone applications to contact companies and transact business, firms that deploy mobile apps need to ensure their apps provide easy access for customer support directly from within the mobile app. Based on the rapid growth of smartphones mobile app customer support will grow more quickly than the standard voice portal for customer support operations. This acquisition appears to be a good move for Genesys, as it broadens its reach to a larger customer base and becomes more agile in serving the self-service needs for its customers.