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Tuesday, Mar 19, 2024

Customer Software Firm Fetches $215 Million

Customer service software provider TouchCommerce has been acquired by Nuance Communications in a deal valued at $215 million. TouchCommerce in Agoura Hills develops software for consumer engagement through online advertising, social media and retail outlets for a multiple of industries, including retail, hospitality and technology. Nuance, in Burlington, Mass., develops speech recognition and automated (or virtual) assistance technology used in smart phones, vehicles and in hospital settings. Mobile apps and websites for Domino’s Pizza and FedEx uses Nuance technology as well. “If you have ever called a phone system and it allows you to navigate by voice that is almost certainly our technology,” said Robert Weideman, general manager and executive vice president, Nuance Enterprise Division. The addition of TouchCommerce will expand Nuance’s customer care products with a range of new digital offerings, including live chat and customer analytics. The benefit of bringing together virtual chat with the added human component is that customer service can be offered 24 hours a day. A consumer can start a conversation on a website or mobile device virtually and if there is a question or issue needing human assistance they can be switched over seamlessly, Weideman said. “There is no calling the contact center, no hold times,” he added. “It is a better customer experience.” George Skaff, chief marketing officer at TouchCommerce, said the company was not looking to be sold. The acquisition came about after the two companies partnered on TouchCommerce’s new virtual assistant product, Touch Assist, released last month. Bringing together the live assistance services of TouchCommerce with the automated assistance services offered by Nuance was what customers had been asking for, he added. “The combination of the two companies made a lot of sense for our customers, for our companies, for our shareholders and our employees as well,” Skaff said. Nuance is a publicly traded company with revenue in the $2 billion range. To buy TouchCommerce it will pay $110 million in cash and $85 million in a combination of cash and Nuance common stock for TouchCommerce. The remaining $20 million will be paid at the conclusion of an indemnity period. TouchCommerce offices will remain in Agoura Hills and all employees, including executive leadership, will stay. In a year, Nuance expects there will be more people in the Conejo Valley location than there are today, Weideman said. “This is an investment in growth for Nuance,” he added. “They will be our strategic business unit for assisted service for the company.” Broadcaster Software Facility management software developer Xytech has launched a new division that will handle global video transmission services. The Broadcast Services Division of the Mission Hills company will be headed by Daniel Lynch, who had been overseeing Xytech’s Europe, Middle East and Africa Division for five years. Xytech, founded in 1988, develops software applications tailored to media- and entertainment-type companies that streamline every day functions such as scheduling for employees and equipment; accounting; timecard management; and tracking of physical and digital assets. Broadcast Services will software that can better handle the increasing volume of content broadcasters are making in a unified approach. “It is our mission to provide a powerful platform compatible with the nature of today’s applications,” Lynch said in a prepared statement. Xytech Chief Operating Officer Greg Dolan added that for Xytech to stay relevant in the market, it needs to innovate faster than its clients, which include broadcast and cable networks, post-production houses and studios. Virtual Reality Test Quality assurance and compliance firm Testronic Laboratories has opened a virtual reality test center at its Burbank location. This is the second virtual reality testing center operated by Testronic with the first being opened in March in Warsaw, Poland. Testronic is a subsidiary of Catalis Group, a technical services company based in the Netherlands serving the entertainment and digital media industries. It provides quality assurance testing for major Hollywood studios, television studios and gaming companies. Jason Gish, senior vice president for Film & Television at Testronic, said that while consumer virtual reality – the creating of artificial sensory experiences by replicating an environment, either real or imagined – is still in its infancy, expectations will grow as the technology evolves and that requires an innovative test approach. The virtual reality testing lab will look for functionality imperfections as well as work out the bugs in the content, he added. “It is critical to have an understanding of aspects like head tracking, and other core VR functions, in order to develop a thorough test approach,” Gish said in a prepared statement. “Issues in (virtual reality) cannot only take you out of the experience, but can cause simulator sickness.” Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or [email protected].

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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