Genesys, a provider of omnichannel customer experience and contact center solutions, has become a Microsoft Gold Partner, with its Genesys Customer Experience Platform now certified for Skype for Business Server 2015.
"Our collaboration with Microsoft continues to bring value to our customers as we jointly strengthen the integration of Skype for Business and the Genesys Customer Experience Platform," said Steve Rutledge, senior vice president of product management and marketing at Genesys, in a statement. "Genesys has taken care of all integration challenges so that customers can leverage Skype channels as part of an omnichannel customer experience."
The Skype for Business Certification Program is designed to offer Microsoft customers the added assurance of third-party solutions that have demonstrated a high quality experience and compatibility when deployed with Skype for Business.
"We are pleased to see Genesys certify the Genesys Customer Experience Platform for Skype for Business Server 2015 and extend the communication experience for organizations to achieve more," said Andrew Bybee, principal GPM, Skype for Business, in a statement.
A 2015 T3i Group study found that 79 percent of U.S. enterprises are deploying or planning to deploy Skype for Business. Skype for Business applications are validated against specific test cases to ensure they meet the Microsoft quality bar, including core functionality, interoperability, performance, and scale within Skype for Business topologies.
As noted in a May 2015 announcement, Genesys is one of the first contact center solutions providers to achieve a native integration with Skype for Business using the Unified Communications Managed API, part of the Skype Developer Platform. It provides uninterrupted channel transitions, enabling customers and agents to move their interactions seamlessly between voice, video and instant message in Skype for Business.
"Our customers are looking towards the next generation of customer service, with contact center and unified communication solutions leading the way. The game is changing with combined solutions from Genesys and Microsoft, and our customers can now take advantage of the synergy between the most innovative platforms on the market today," said Mike Fiorina, Microsoft practice director with Integration Partners, a national network and communication engineering services company. "With the native integration between the Genesys Customer Experience Platform and Skype for Business, our customers can now reach companies through multiple Skype modalities—voice, chat, or video—on any device, and agents can instantly find an available expert across the enterprise to bring into the conversation. This drives first contact resolution and high customer satisfaction."
In addition to its recent dual certification of Genesys, Microsoft is deploying a cloud-based contact center from Genesys for its own global contact center, as announced in October 2015. Anticipated to be one of the world's largest contact center systems, it will extend the Skype for Business PBX, conferencing, and messaging system already used daily by approximately 100,000 Microsoft employees globally.