Xura, Inc., a leading provider of digital communications services and innovator in Web Real-Time Communications (WebRTC) technology, is today pleased to announce its partnership with Wikot, a leading digital marketing agency. Specializing in creating innovative communication and digital experiences for businesses and consumers based on IP technology, Wikot's app development expertise, combined with Xura's real-time web and mobile engagement technology, will deliver tomorrow's click-to-communicate interactive solutions to industries such as the financial sector. By incorporating this technology into digital apps, banks can offer an authenticated and contextual messaging experience to customers, resulting in a reduced hold time and an improved customer experience.

The collaboration provides joint expertise in building rich and compelling communication apps, which enterprises can rapidly prototype and deploy to meet the needs of today's digitally educated end user. By integrating Xura's forge SDK with Wikot's digital contact center, HiOi, the two companies can deliver highly secure, commercial-grade, omni-channel engagement, with contextual communications at the core. Working together, Wikot and Xura created the 'digital' branch; showcasing how a customer can connect directly to an available customer service representative at their bank from a mobile, tablet or kiosk application using IM/chat, voice, video or data transfer. In addition, the partnership is currently exploring opportunities to provide a dedicated 'digital' branch to one of the leading banks in Latin America.

"Today, consumers want a communication experience from their banks that feel as familiar as popular over-the-top messaging services. With Xura and Wikot, retail banks and financial services companies can easily launch richer communication apps and websites with the added element of the human touch, providing immediate, authenticated interaction with appropriate bank personnel, without customers having to visit a branch," commented Eric Bilange, EVP Enterprise, Xura.

"Our new digital branch is fully functioning and demonstrates how financial services organizations can differentiate themselves by connecting to customers in richer, more efficient ways. By integrating Xura's forge SDK with Wikot's call center app, the partnership perfectly complements the banking market as it moves to real-time, digital interaction, to streamline customer engagement, drive increased satisfaction and generate cost savings. Additionally, as one of the leading independent digital agencies in the Americas, Wikot can help support the continued expansion of Xura's enterprise portfolio across this region."

The Xura / Wikot platform highlights a scenario, where a customer needs support while browsing a banking website or application.  By clicking the "Live Support" button, the customer can connect with a banking representative either in branch or in a call center and start a live chat session. With user context at the core of the offering, the customer is already authenticated from the app or website log in process, and the customer's transaction history can be accessed easily by the agent, who can then resolve issues by pulling relevant contextual information from customer's mobile app or web screen. All this translates to a faster call resolution and a more personalized service.  

Camilo Iturra, CTO, at Wikot, said: "By working with Xura and utilizing its forge platform, together we can build innovative solutions that enable enterprises, such as those in the banking sector, to establish more effective two-way communication with their customers. Xura has a clearly defined strategy around digital real-time communications and the scale and experience to serve retail banks with a comprehensive platform that encompasses secure video, voice, data and messaging. With these enriched communications, customers can see and talk with advisers over their device without the customer needing to visit a branch.  Together we can demonstrate the true value of "click-to-communicate" solutions, which enables an unparalleled direct interaction experience, where a user can get answers to queries immediately, reducing waiting time to speak to a call center agent or visit a branch."