The partnership also means that NEC Australia can now offer managed services which span on-premise and hosted systems, or a mix of the two, cementing its position in the contact centre market.  According to latest figures from Datamonitor, NEC holds 24.3% of the contact centre market, almost four times greater than that of its nearest competitor.

Under the arrangement NEC Australia can now it deliver parts of its Genesys software suite as a hosted solution while Global Speech Networks gains access to NEC’s market leading technology alongside its other hosted services. The NEC and GSN combination delivers a complete contact centre system for any size of organisation.

Craig Norton, General Manager, Marketing, NEC Australia said: “Today, more than ever, contact centres need to remain flexible in terms of the number of operators they have as they respond to rapid fluctuations in their business requirements as a result of seasonality or unforseen spikes in customer contact. Being able to quickly increase capacity when it is needed is far more cost effective and efficient than buying capacity up front which may be largely unused.  The partnership with Global Speech Networks allows customers to pay only for what they use, quickly and easily scaling their technology requirements to match their customer needs.”

Nick Rodda, Managing Director, Global Speech Networks said:  “This deal brings together NEC’s leading contact centre services with our expertise and heritage in providing hosted services.  SaaS is more than just a buzz-word, it’s rapidly become an established and popular way of deploying software – and none more so than in the contact centre market.  Being able to expand our offering to provide NEC’s market leading service offering will only benefit our customers.”

Demand for hosted contact centre solutions is growing.  Frost & Sullivan predict that the market for hosted contact centres will enjoy a double digit CAGR (Compound Annual Growth Rate) of 31.8% across APAC to 2013.

For media enquiries, pictures & interviews please contact:

Will Clarke
NEC Australia Pty Ltd
Tel: 03 92714172
Email: will.clarke@nec.com.au

Alec Stanwell
n2n Communications
02 9213 2305
astanwell@n2n.com.au 

Visit http://www.nec.com.au/mediaroom/default.htm for more information

About NEC Corporation

NEC Corporation (TSE: 6701) is one of the world's leading providers of Internet, broadband network and enterprise business solutions dedicated to meeting the specialised needs of a diversified global base of customers. NEC delivers tailored solutions in the key fields of computer, networking and electron devices, by integrating its technical strengths in IT and Networks, and by providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NEC Electronics Corporation. The NEC Group employs more than 150,000 people worldwide. For additional information, please visit the NEC website at: http://www.nec.com
About Global Speech Networks

With an extensive investment in the research and development of innovative contact centre technologies, GSN have pioneered a hosted virtual contact centre solution including fully integrated IVR, speech recognition, WFM and call recording technologies. Our unique delivery model enables businesses to benefit from rapid deployments and lower costs, while leveraging best of breed technology such as Genesys to improve the overall customer experience.
Based in Melbourne, Australia, Global Speech Networks delivers a seamless technology path integrating existing premise based infrastructure with advanced network solutions. For more information, visit Global Speech Networks at www.globalspeechnetworks.com.au.