In 2020, fundraising of 12 million euros will enable Wisper to acquire XiVO, which offers telephony and unified communication solutions for contact centers. The company then adds an important branch to its existing offer, a way to deploy PCs with a single click anywhere in the world in an economic and ecological way, since the solution frees itself from infrastructure and therefore from data centers.
It was around the same time that Bertrand Michaud came to Wisper. “My mission at Wisper is to really instill this scale-up side and help the company accelerate even stronger, especially internationally”, says the daily manager.
An alternative to GAFAM for France and Europe
XiVO offers a business service similar to Google Meet, Zoom or Microsoft Teams, but in open source and on a traditional telephony basis, where GAFAM is full web.
The solution is highly valued by the French public sector, as Bertrand Michaud explains. “We have the same operation, but our ‘open source’ sensibility means that, in terms of sovereignty, the French state is very interested in companies like ours, rather than the GAFAMs, which remain on the doorstep of the big ministries. and local authorities .”
Among their customers are private companies such as Chanel or LVMH, who use the solution to manage their customer support, but also the firefighters’ call center. When you call 18, XiVO manages the relationship. “We used to say a minute is a lifetime”, welcomes Bertrand Michaud.
Alongside, we find the company’s other product: ceBox, an operating system similar to Windows, but virtual. It is a PC system without server infrastructure that works on all types of computers, laptops and workstations: at work or at home.
“Our solution is very practical when you are on the move and when you have a large fleet of computers. You can have all your data anytime, anywhere, and it is very easy to implement updates anywhere in the world”. explains Bertrand Michaud.
An arrival in the UK to reach the world’s largest call center market
Ahead of India, the UK has the largest number of call centers in the world. Which may seem surprising when you compare labor costs in the two countries. However, premium companies want to have operators whose native language is English. “That’s why the British have deployed hundreds of thousands of agents to answer the phone and provide support,” states Bertrand Michaud.
By establishing itself in the UK, Wisper’s aim is also to reach the South African market, “which is much cheaper than England, but where you can also find native English speakers”, says the Frenchman.
Establishing a cross-channel presence is nevertheless a major challenge for Wisper, as the market is very competitive with customers often committed to 24, 36 or 48 months with their solution. “So we try to take small pieces, a contact center that uses our solution for 100 workstations to secure its European plate for example”, says the daily manager. WHO resumes: “We have a step-by-step strategy that is much more pronounced in the UK market compared to other markets such as Morocco, where the commitments are shorter and where the customer is able to switch providers in three to four months.”
Feature Image: Wisper board