VIPdesk Wins Interactive Intelligence "People's Choice Award"
INDIANAPOLIS & ALEXANDRIA, Va., June 20, 2007 - VIPdesk, a national provider of virtual concierge services, received the Interactive Intelligence (NASDAQ: ININ) People's Choice Award for its pioneering use of the vendor's IP-based business communications software to support its work-at-home Brand Ambassadors™.
VIPdesk was selected for the People's Choice Award by several hundred of its peers during the Interactive Intelligence annual User Forum held in May at the vendor's world headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana.
VIPdesk showed pioneering use of the Interactive Intelligence software by creating a 100-percent virtual workplace comprised of more than 300 home-based customer service representatives called "Brand Ambassadors™," which resulted in increased operational efficiencies and reduced costs, according to VIPdesk president and co-founder, Sally Hurley.
"The Interactive Intelligence software's unique unified communications architecture gave our home-based Brand Ambassadors™ access to a wide variety of multi-channel applications via a single, intuitive user interface," Hurley said. "This has resulted in decreased training time, increased productivity, and reduced team frustration by eliminating the need to manage a variety of applications. This ultimately enabled us to retain terrific people who are equipped to deliver an enhanced customer experience."
VIPdesk deployed the Interactive Intelligence all-software, SIP-based contact center automation product called Customer Interaction Center® (CIC), along with add-on outbound dialing and multimedia recording and quality monitoring modules. It also deployed the Interactive Intelligence Interaction Gateway™ -- a device that enables connections between traditional telephone trunk lines and voice-over-IP networks -- along with the vendor's hosted disaster recovery services.
"Before CIC, our e-mail and Web chat applications were separate from the rest of our system, which made it challenging to route the right interactions to the right Brand Ambassadors™," Hurley said. "CIC's universal queuing feature, which runs on the same platform as its multimedia recording, reporting and other applications, enables us to set routing rules across interaction types and then monitor them. The net result is that our work-at-home team is more productive, our customers are better served, and our quality standards are maintained. In addition, fewer devices to install, integrate, and manage have helped us lower costs."
According to Hurley, CIC has met the company's objectives since installing it in 2003 when VIPdesk replaced its existing hosted soft-switch that supported a partial virtual workforce. "We were driven to find a new solution based on the need for more control over customization of applications, and the speed with which we rolled out new programs for premium brands," she said. "CIC has addressed these challenges with its unified, open, software-based architecture that empowers us to quickly create applications, and easily administer and manage the system remotely based on dynamic, high-end client requirements."
VIPdesk plans to grow its home-based staff to several thousand by January 2008. It believes that CIC will continue to be an integral part of this growth.
"Perhaps the most important advantage of CIC is its modular, highly scalable and reliable architecture, which can incrementally grow with us," Hurley said. "This means we are assured of reaping the full benefits of an at-home workforce - including lower turnover rates and top-talent team members- without compromising the reliability of service we guarantee to our clients."
About VIPdesk
VIPdesk is the leading provider of virtual contact center and loyalty solutions for national brand leaders, providing premium customer experiences through our home-based Concierges and Brand Ambassadors.
VIPdesk specializes in delivering premium Virtual Contact Center Solutions and Concierge Services for brand-conscious companies in the financial services, retail, travel, and luxury automotive industries. A proven premium service provider with over 20 years of experience, VIPdesk develops and delivers loyalty solutions that create value for clients by providing high-touch, high-tech branded service platforms that deliver real results and real return on investment. The company can be reached at +1 703.837.3525; on the Net: http://www.vipdesk.com.
About Interactive Intelligence
Interactive Intelligence Inc. (Nasdaq: ININ) is a global provider of business communications software and services for contact center automation and enterprise IP telephony. The company was founded in 1994 and has more than 2,500 customers worldwide. Recent awards include the 2006 Network World 200, CRM Magazine's 2006 Rising Star Excellence Award, Network Computing Magazine's 2006 Well-Connected Award, and Software Magazine's 2006 Top 500 Global Software and Services Companies. Interactive Intelligence employs approximately 525 people and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company has five global corporate offices, with additional sales offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia Pacific. Interactive Intelligence can be reached at +1 317.872.3000 or info@inin.com; on the Net: http://www.inin.com.
This release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are described in the company's SEC filings.
Interactive Intelligence Inc. is the owner of the marks INTERACTIVE INTELLIGENCE, its associated LOGO and numerous other marks. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
Contacts:
Ali Smith
Account Coordinator for VIPdesk
SpeakerBox Communications
+1 703.287.7800
Christine Holley
Director of Market Communications
Interactive Intelligence Inc.
+1 317.715.8220
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