Microsoft goes after the call centre market

Stuart Corner
Wednesday, 19 March 2008 15:43

IT Industry - Strategy

Microsoft has launched a full scale assault on the call centre market,  announcing joint product development with and taking equity in Aspect Software,  the world's largest software developer focussed solely on contact centres.

CThe deal will give Microsoft an immediate entry to upper echelons of the call centre market. Aspect claims to have installations at more than 5,000 customer sites worldwide, including two thirds of the Fortune Global 100, eight of the top 10 global banks, eight of the top 10 global telcos, the top seven global airlines and eight of the top 10 Indian call centre outsourcers.

Microsoft's equity share and the price paid have not been disclosed. Aspect is privately held and majority owned by San Francisco-based private equity firm Golden Gate Capital. Microsoft says its equity investment in Aspect will "accelerate the development and adoption of the new solutions and services."

Under the deal, Aspect will design its Aspect Unified IP contact centre solution to interoperate with Microsoft's unified communications platform. "Our alliance and the resulting joint solutions are designed to enhance sales, service and support capabilities for organisations of all types and sizes, across many industries," said Jim Foy, president and CEO of Aspect. "We strongly believe that the combination of Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007 and Aspect Unified IP will redefine the way companies interact with their customers. With this alliance and its equity investment, Microsoft recognises Aspect Unified IP as an ideal fit with its software-powered voice platform."

Microsoft is already strongly committed to Nortel through their Innovative Communications Alliance, and it is not clear how much its teaming with Nortel will compete with joint Nortel-Microsoft offerings.

Aspect says it will begin development of the optimised solutions immediately. It plans to release in 2008 a new version of its NET-based Aspect Unified IP product which delivers interoperability with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007, and which will include "powerful ask-an-expert capability using instant messaging and presence technology in Office Communications Server 2007."

Aspect plans to extend the interoperability of its Unified IP with Office Communications Server to include software-powered voice in subsequent releases. This, it says "will enable contact centres to seamlessly escalate customer interactions to different channels - phone, instant messaging, e-mail or conferencing - while addressing reliability, scalability and reporting needs."

Aspect will also build a professional services and systems integration practice for Microsoft's unified communications software to help customers deploy, customise and manage Office Communications Server.