Jacada announced an expanded relationship with Telefonica 02, which has decided to standardise the Jacada unified desktop system throughout the company’s UK customer service operations.
The value of the deal was not disclosed but Jacada described it as material, which is often taken to mean that it could account for 10% or more of Jacada’s quarterly revenue. Jacada said most of the revenue from the deal will be recognised in its current quarter.
Jacada first won 02 as a client when it streamlined and automated critical call processes within its UK Pay and Go division in 2007. The success of that project is said to have led to Jacada introducing a solution to the retentions group in the Pay Monthly consumer area of the UK business, and now the company is rolling it out across all of its customer service operations.
Jacada says its unified service desktop offerings simplify and automate customer service processes – bridging disconnected systems into a single, ‘intelligent workspace’, without requiring modification or replacement of existing systems.
We are very pleased with the results of our unified desktop initiatives and are experiencing an excellent return on the investment we have made with Jacada, said Cheryl Black, customer service director for Telefónica O2 UK. We are focused on providing the best customer service possible to satisfy and retain our valuable customers. The Jacada solution has allowed us to have automated and simplified call centre processes, resulting in a better customer experience and lower operating costs.
Jacada claims contact centres use Jacada unified desktop systems to automate complex processes, improve customer satisfaction and loyalty, reduce operational costs, and enforce and monitor compliance with regulatory policies and procedures. Analyst firm Datamonitor recently found in a research report that investing in unified agent desktops improves customer retention.
In its latest quarter Jacada posted revenue up 164% to $5.6m, and profit of $2.3m. Nevertheless the firm in early December announced a series of cost cuts it said are aimed at aligning costs with its revenue expectations for 2009. It cut 14% of its workforce worldwide as part of that exercise.
