Communications and Financial Services Companies Lead Other Industries in Type and Depth of Contact Center Technologies

SAN FRANCISCO, CA, Jul 23 (MARKET WIRE) --
Most companies claim to put a lot of emphasis on quality customer service
and maintaining customer loyalty. Currently, communication and financial
services companies are doing a better job than other industries at using
customer service as a strategic differentiator because they are most
sophisticated and proactive in terms of the type and depth of contact
center technologies implemented.

A study commissioned among US companies by Genesys Communications
Laboratories, Inc., an Alcatel-Lucent company (Euronext Paris: ALU)
(NYSE: ALU), has shed new light on which industries are leading the
charge in customer service offerings, and which are lagging behind. The
study polled 385 contact center managers from communication, financial
services, insurance, government, utilities and healthcare organizations
to determine what business practices and technologies were being deployed
or planned for improving the customer experience.

One common characteristic -- a strong likelihood that companies not
currently using an IP-based contact center will implement one in the next
two to three years. In fact, 66 percent of financial services companies,
45 percent of communications companies, 58 percent of utilities and 83
percent of healthcare companies not using the technology are moving
toward IP installations.

"Consumers often have intuition about which industries offer the best
customer service experience, and which ones use more dynamic customer
service technologies," said Paul Segre, CEO, Genesys. "This research gives
us insight into where each vertical segment is in the adoption continuum."

The research also indicates that government organizations have more
clearly defined measurements for contact center performance, agreed upon
by both contact center managers and executive management. However, they
still lag behind other industries, having fewer installations of dynamic
contact center technologies, such as outbound calling, customer-to-agent
e-mail, instant messaging or Web callback.

Utilities also fared well for an internal agreement of contact center
measurement, while the other industries examined showed a significant
disconnect between the goals and objectives of the contact center manager
and that of senior management.

Additional key industry findings from the research included:

-- Although almost two-thirds of the Financial Services companies are not
currently using an IP-based contact center, over half of them are likely to
implement one in the next two to three years, enabling them to integrate
multiple channels of customer contact.
-- Insurance companies are the highest users of touchtone IVR as 92
percent of those surveyed are using the technology.
-- Communication companies are leading in use of SMS/text messaging and
Web chat, significantly higher than any other industry.
-- Only 23 percent of healthcare contact centers are likely to attempt up-
or cross selling because they view the practice as "not appropriate" or
because it would involve time-consuming training requirements.
-- Customer satisfaction measures are least important to government
agencies when judging the success of the contact center.
-- Utilities have the highest levels of outsourced staff -- 31 percent.
An additional 30 percent are considering outsourcing in the future.

For the full results of the research, to learn about the Contact
Center Capabilities Maturity Model or for specific findings for a
particular industry, please contact Amy Fisher at +1 612-455-1773 or
afisher@psbpr.com.

About Genesys Communications Laboratories, Inc.

Genesys, an Alcatel-Lucent company, is the only company that focuses 100%
on software to manage customer interactions over the phone, web and in
e-mail. The Genesys software suite dynamically connects customers with the
right resources -- self-service or assisted-service -- to fulfill customer
requests, optimize customer care goals and efficiently use resources.
Genesys software directs more than 100 million customer interactions every
day for 4,000 companies and government agencies in 80 countries. These
companies and agencies can leverage their entire organization, from the
contact center to the back office, to improve the overall customer
experience. As a result, Genesys helps stop customer frustration, drive
efficiency, and accelerate business innovation. For more information, go
to www.genesyslab.com or visit the industry blog at
www.betterinteractions.com

About Alcatel-Lucent

Alcatel-Lucent (Euronext Paris: ALU) (NYSE: ALU) provides solutions that
enable service providers, enterprise and governments worldwide, to deliver
voice, data and video communication services to end-users. As a leader in
fixed, mobile and converged broadband networking, IP technologies,
applications and services, Alcatel-Lucent offers the end-to-end solutions
that enable compelling communications services for people at home, at work
and on the move. With operations in more than 130 countries,
Alcatel-Lucent is a local partner with global reach. The company has the
most experienced global services team in the industry, and one of the
largest research, technology and innovation organizations in the
telecommunications industry. Alcatel-Lucent achieved revenues of Euro
17.8 billion in 2007 and is incorporated in France, with executive
offices located in Paris. For more information, visit Alcatel-Lucent on
the Internet: http://www.alcatel-lucent.com.

Media Contact:
David Radoff
Genesys
+1 650.466.1078
dradoff@genesyslab.com

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