Avaya’s Israeli subsidiary won the tender to build a VoIP-based contact center for cable-TV operator HOT Cable Systems Media Ltd, an order said to be the largest of its kind in the history of that country.
Under terms of the order, Avaya will equip a contact-center operation handling some 2,000 sales and service representatives located at several sites around the country. Avaya subcontractor IT Navigator Ltd. actually will install the system, with local IT firm Netcom Ltd. also contracted for part of the job. HOT did not disclose the competing bidders for the tender, which was valued at about $750,000.
The decision to upgrade its contact-center operations is a direct reflection of the birth of HOT last year out of the merger of what had been Israel’s three cable providers – Matav, Tevel and Golden Channels. Even before that happened, HOT was jointly owned by the three and was busily launching an aggressive VoIP telephony challenge to Israel’s incumbent operator, Bezeq (TelecomWeb news break, May 16, 2006). The cable companies also were already competing with Bezeq for the delivery of broadband. Although Bezeq has yet to mount a counter-offensive in terms of IPTV, HOT faces strong competition in the form of direct to home (DTH) satellite TV.
With the new contact center, HOT is hoping to substantially upgrade its customer service as it competes on all fronts. The system it ordered from Avaya will let HOT representatives speak to its customers either via VoIP or Internet chat. Also included is an integrated voice recognition-based router and voice mailbox so that customers can «talk» to the system (which, of course, will reply in its computerized pseudo-human voice).
Separately, the European Commission (EC) formally announced it has given the green light to Avaya’s planned acquisition by TPG Capital LLP and Silver Lake Partners for approximately $8.2 billion (TelecomWeb news break, June 5). Late last week in a statement to shareholders, Avaya said late last week it had received the EC stamp of approval, making this morning’s announcement essentially a formality. The company said that, with the EC action, it now has all needed approvals, and the deal should close by the end of this month.
Fuente: TelecomWeb
