SSQ Financial Group Deploys Unified IP Business Communications Software from Interactive Intelligence

Leading Canadian financial and insurance company completes first phase of communications software deployment to consolidate infrastructure and add functionality

INDIANAPOLIS, IN and QUEBEC CITY, April 5, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - SSQ Financial Group, one of Canada's largest financial and insurance institutions, has consolidated its communications infrastructure and added functionality as a result of deploying unified IP business communications software from Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ININ).

The Interactive Intelligence software, Customer Interaction Center^™ (CIC), which is being deployed in phases, is replacing three Avaya PBX systems and a mix of other third-party products.

"CIC is enabling us to replace multiple products with one system so we can streamline our infrastructure for increased operational efficiencies and reduced costs," said senior director of enterprise architecture for SSQ, Eric Savard. "At the same time, the software is giving us more functionality so we can serve our customers better."

Savard cites CIC's presence management as one feature that's helping improve customer service. "CIC's presence management, which lets our business users and contact center agents see the status of colleagues, means we can more quickly get customers to the right person," he said.

SSQ has completed the first phase of its deployment, which will ultimately see CIC used by its nearly 2,000 employees across six regional offices throughout Canada, and by its work-at-home employees.

The first phase began as a result of SSQ's purchase of AXA Life Insurance a little more than a year ago, which had 200 business users and numerous contact center agents. "When we purchased AXA, we needed to get its employees on a communications system that was compatible with ours," Savard said. "At the same time, we were contemplating a replacement of our own system. This accelerated our selection process."

SSQ evaluated systems from Avaya, Cisco, Genesys and Interactive Intelligence. It selected the Interactive Intelligence system based on its overall value to price ratio.

"Interactive Intelligence offered us a single-platform system that ran a wide range of customizable applications, offered ease-of-interoperability with our existing systems, and was quick and easy to deploy," Savard said. "It also maximized the benefits of our virtualized environment."

As SSQ continues to roll out CIC to all of its offices, it will be leveraging additional applications, such as those for multichannel routing, speech analytics, quality monitoring, workforce management, and customer feedback surveys.

"The first phase of our CIC deployment has exceeded our expectations and we have only begun to scratch the surface," Savard said. "We're anxious to continue rolling it out to all our locations to realize even greater benefits."

About SSQ Financial Group
With over $3 billion in annual revenue and over $10 billion in assets under management, SSQ Financial Group is a leading mutual diversified financial institution in Canada. The Group serves over 1 million customers and provides jobs to over 1,900 employees. SSQ, Life Insurance Company Inc., the Group's principal company, is recognized as a leader in the group insurance industry and as an expert in the investment and retirement sector. SSQ Financial Group is also a rising star in home and auto insurance under the SSQ General Insurance Company Inc. banner and has recently expanded into the individual insurance market thanks to its new subsidiary, SSQ Insurance Company Inc. For more information, please visit ssq.ca.

About Interactive Intelligence
Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. (Nasdaq: ININ) is a global provider of contact center, unified communications, and business process automation software and services. The company's unified IP business communications solutions, which can be deployed on-premises or via the cloud, are ideal for industries such as financial services, insurance, outsourcers, collections, and utilities. Interactive Intelligence was founded in 1994 and has more than 5,000 customers worldwide. The company is among Forbes Magazine's 2011 Best Small Companies in America and Software Magazine's 2012 Top 500 Global Software and Service Providers. It employs more than 1,400 people and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The company has offices throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Interactive Intelligence can be reached at +1 317.872.3000 or [email protected]; on the Net: www.inin.com.

This release may contain certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are described in the company's SEC filings.

Interactive Intelligence is the owner of the marks INTERACTIVE INTELLIGENCE, its associated LOGO and numerous other marks. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.

SOURCE: SSQ FINANCIAL GROUP

Christine Holley
Senior Director of Market Communications
Interactive Intelligence
+1 317.715.8220
[email protected]

Marie Lamontagne
Senior Vice-President of Corporate Communications and Marketing
SSQ Financial Group
[phone]
[email protected]