Nuance Communications (News - Alert), a provider of voice and language solutions for businesses and consumers around the world, has signed an agreement to acquire Varolii, a provider of cloud-based outbound call center software solutions.
The acquisition will add to the capabilities of Varolii and Nuance as it will create a comprehensive cloud-based solution that brings together the best of inbound and outbound customer service, resulting in a complete, scalable, secure and cost-effective platform.
In addition, it will bring a full outbound communication portfolio to the Nuance OnDemand Customer Service Cloud, which includes hosted IVR and Nina virtual assistant solutions.
With this acquisition, Nuance also expects to strengthen and broaden its participation in the growing customer service solutions market. A recent survey by Forrester (News - Alert) Research finds that 25 percent of enterprises are considering proactive outbound as a key contact center investment in the next year and that proactive outbound is expected to show excellent growth as more and more enterprises adopt it.
Varolii’s cloud platform is used by many large companies in the world to manage outbound customer service communications via automated phone, e-mail and text messages.
The acquisition will especially help the common customers of Nuance and Varolii. Many of Varolii’s customers have implemented complementary solutions from Nuance, including Alaska Airlines, Southern California Edison (News - Alert), SunTrust, and Time Warner Cable. Nuance supports leading brands including AT&T, Barclay’s Wealth & Investment Management, FedEx, Geico, Telstra (News - Alert), T-Mobile, USAA and others.
Robert Weideman, executive vice president and general manager, Nuance Enterprise Division said, “The combination of Nuance and Varolii not only represents the best of inbound customer service with the best in outbound customer communications, but the opportunity to deliver automated yet natural conversations with customers that are more compelling and effective.”
Edited by Stefania Viscusi