Genesys Mobile Engagement Links Mobile Apps to AgentsGenesys Mobile Engagement Links Mobile Apps to Agents

Up to now, the agent had no idea what the customer has been doing on the web. The smart phone may become the easiest place to bridge the divide.

We all have an increasing number of apps on our mobile devices, be they iPhones, iPads or Android-based. But after navigating through a series of screens without finding the right answer, reaching out to the contact center traditionally means starting from scratch.

In a video posted on No Jitter in February, Genesys VP for Product Management and Marketing Merijn Te Booij and CTO Slava Zhakov discussed plans for Genesys mobile customer care solutions to link company web applications to the contact center. Today at G-Force in Seattle, the Mobile Customer Engagement was formally launched.

Specifically, Mobile Customer Engagement enables four extensions of mobile applications to the contact center using the Genesys suite:

* Live Connect: Through a "smart button" within the mobile app, customers can request the assistance of a live agent via voice, chat, SMS or video. Context, history and customer information are shared between the mobile device and the contact center.

* Locate Me: Location and GPS provide the customer's location to help agents assist with customer service decisions.

* Snooze Me: Customers can schedule when they should be contacted.

* Alert Me: Proactively notifies the customer of the relevant service updates within the mobile application by SMS or automated voice call.

Note the use of the word "enables" in the description of these mobile customer care applications. While marketed as solutions, the capabilities are APIs that allow customer-built applications to both receive and share data with existing mobile applications. For example, early user American Airlines talks about its deployment of Genesys Mobile Customer Engagement as a way to add innovation to their current web applications.

The chasm between assisted customer service through a contact center agent and web-based self-service has been a tough one for vendors and customers alike to bridge. Companies typically have completely separate web and contact center organizations and for customers this has meant the agent has no idea what the customer has been doing on the web. With applications such as Genesys Mobile Engagement, the smart phone may become the easiest place to bridge the divide.

Another divide needs to be bridged as well--between contact center vendor sales forces and the mobile application teams within enterprises. It's not surprising to see Genesys--who has always been successful selling to business owners rather than the telecom manager--able to use their existing customer relationships to not only find the web application business owner but close the deal.