Enghouse to Acquire Envox Worldwide for $14 Million

Enterprise software solutions provider Enghouse Systems, the parent company of contact center solutions provider Syntellect, has announced its acquisition of Envox Worldwide for $14 million.

The move will bring Syntellect and Envox together under one umbrella, delivering what one executive called Envox's "global reach, distribution channels, market focus, and technology portfolio." Combined, the two companies have more than 40 years of experience serving the interactive voice response (IVR) and contact center industries.

This latest move comes on the heels of Enghouse's June acquisition of Fluency Voice Technologies, a London-based provider of on-premises and hosted packaged speech recognition solutions for call centers.

Envox, which is headquartered in Westborough, Mass., generates about $16 million in revenue annually from its hosted and on-premises IP-based voice self-service and contact center solutions. More than 1.25 million ports of Envox’s IVR solutions have been deployed globally, and more than 1 million contact center agents worldwide use the intelligent-routing, screen-pop, and call-monitoring functionalities provided by Envox’s computer-telephony integration (CTI) software.

According to a number of industry analysts, the strong reputation enjoyed by Envox in those areas made it an attractive option for Ontario, Canada–based Enghouse. While Envox has been considered a leader and innovator in speech technology, platform, and toolkit development, Enghouse's Phoenix-based Syntellect has not enjoyed the same reputation, according to Bill Meisel, president of analyst firm TMA Associates. For that reason, Meisel thinks the acquisition "makes a lot of sense for Syntellect."

The move also further expands Syntellect's global reach and market share. "The acquisition of a well-known industry leader like Envox will allow us to continue our global presence and expand to new territories," Steve Sadler, chairman and chief executive officer of Enghouse, said in a statement. The company particularly plans to focus on Europe and the Asia-Pacific region.

Steve Dodenhoff, president of Syntellect, agreed. "Envox’s global reach, distribution channels, market focus, and technology portfolio are a perfect complement to Syntellect’s core business," he said in a press release. "The combined organization, capabilities, and product portfolio will be able to address the full spectrum of market opportunities in the contact center space. We are excited about this acquisition, as it will accelerate our next-generation Customer Interaction Management initiatives."

That's a sentiment shared by Meisel. "The Envox acquisition will help Syntellect provide more options for its customers to roll out automation more easily," he says. "For both companies, it makes financial sense."

Meisel sees other benefits, though, especially for contact center managers and operators. The deal "gives more options to contact center managers with the integration of Syntellect and Envox products," he says, noting that "integrated systems will become increasingly important as companies try to rein in costs."

News relevant to the customer relationship management industry is posted several times a day on destinationCRM.com, in addition to the news section Insight that appears every month in the pages of CRM magazine. You may leave a public comment regarding this article by clicking on "Comments" at the top; to contact the editors, please email editor@destinationCRM.com.

Related Articles

Syntellect Brings Together Past and Present

The company's new offering is the first major release since it acquired Envox Worldwide in October 2008.

VCG Launches Biometric Payments System

The new service offers biometrically authorized payments via phone, providing convenience and security.

Gartner Eyes IVR and EVP Vendors

Magic Quadrant findings ping Avaya, Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Intervoice, and Nortel as leading the sector; reduced complexity and tight integration are hallmarks of advancement.

September 30, 2005

Nortel realigns its organization; TuVox dives deeper into speech analytics; SER Solutions unveils a new outbound call management tool; and more.

October 28, 2005

Earnings Roundup: Siebel CEO praises progress; Amdocs hits milestones; Open Solutions looks to global expansion; and more.

Gartner Slots Contact Center Infrastructure Vendors

The market is expected to become more integrated and to reflect more specific differentiating business objectives.

Speak Up!

11 strategies to ensure that you're hearing your customers loud and clear.

Microsoft and Nuance Get Muted By Gartner Magic Quadrant for IVR

The two vendors are removed from contention in the research firm's latest assessment of the interactive voice response marketplace.

Avoiding the Speech Rec. Wreck

Speech recognition has struggled to move into the mainstream, but these applications are picking up where touch tone IVR leaves off.

Gartner Restores a Leader to Its Magic Quadrant for Contact Center Infrastructure

Interactive Intelligence moves back into the top quadrant, joining Aspect, Avaya, Cisco, Genesys, and Nortel.

Speech Gets Loud and Clear

Two sessions at SpeechTEK 2007 center on the importance of speech as a self-service enabler and its ability to serve as a gateway to CRM applications.

Product Roundup: SpeechTEK 2006

Aspect Software readies CSS 7.2; TuVox launches OnDemand 6.0; OpenMethods adds tools to the open source voice toolkit; and more.