The FINANCIAL -- Microsoft Corp. and 24/7 Inc. announced an agreement to jointly bring the power of natural user interfaces and data analytics at cloud scale to enable the future of customer service for businesses.

According to Microsoft , the agreement includes Microsoft merging its interactive self-service assets into 24/7 Inc. The agreement also includes an R&D partnership, long-term IP licensing and Microsoft taking an equity stake in 24/7 Inc.

Microsoft has pioneered the use of NUIs, including gestures and speech, across a broad range of devices, and the broad adoption of NUIs by consumers has changed the way people interact with technology, companies and one another. 24/7 Inc. is a leading innovator in harnessing the power of Big Data for customer service, using Internet-scale data and advanced analytics to help businesses predict customer preferences and deliver proactive, efficient and intuitive consumer experiences.

With this agreement, Microsoft and 24/7 are combining technologies that span interactive self-service across mobile, Web and voice channels, Big Data analytics, and speech and conversational interfaces to create a next-generation cloud platform for customer service.

The combined Predictive Experience platform will manage more than 2.5 billion speech and online self-service interactions annually, enabling large businesses to derive and apply insight and intelligence across these customer service interactions and delivery channels. With this combination, 24/7 Inc. will be positioned to generate total revenues of more than $250 million annually by delivering solutions and services that enable large businesses to anticipate consumer needs, simplify the consumer experience and learn from every consumer interaction.

Consumers today not only expect businesses to deliver service in more natural and intuitive ways but also expect these same businesses to be able to reach out and interact intelligently with them across a wide variety of channels, including on mobile devices, through social media, on the Web and even through the living room TV. This consumer expectation has created a key need for businesses to gather, analyze and gain insight by using Big Data to proactively anticipate and predict customer needs.

Enterprises already working with Microsoft and 24/7 Inc. are applauding the solution and believe it will accelerate their ability to deliver more natural and intuitive customer service experiences, and this agreement will enable 24/7 Inc. to accelerate delivery of solutions and services for the future of customer service.

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