Southwest Gas Deploys IP-based Communications Software Suite From Interactive Intelligence

Southwest Gas (NYSE: SWX), in partnership with Altivon ( www.altivon.com), has deployed an all-in-one IP-based communications software suite from Interactive Intelligence (Nasdaq: ININ).

As a result of the deployment, Southwest Gas has been able to improve customer service while increasing operational efficiencies, according to the company’s senior manager of business operations and technology support, Kate Mitchell.

“The virtual support model of voice over IP has enabled us to consolidate five call center sites into three,” Mitchell said. “This, combined with the software’s unique architecture that runs all applications on a single platform, has helped us increase operational efficiencies, while providing our customers with better service and more features.

“For example, the new system enables our customers to request a callback rather than waiting in-queue for an agent. As a result, customer satisfaction is up and we’re able to assist more people more efficiently – and that’s very important to our company.”

The communications software, Customer Interaction Center ^™ (CIC), was deployed by Interactive Intelligence reseller, Altivon. Altivon has worked closely with Southwest Gas to provide ongoing support and service for CIC.

CIC provides Southwest Gas with call routing and queuing, interactive voice response, workforce management, call and screen recording, supervisory monitoring, and reporting.

CIC replaced five disparate automatic call distribution systems and, today, supports about 150 contact center agents located across the company’s three contact center sites in Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Tucson.

Southwest Gas chose CIC based on its all-in-one architecture and the value-added services of Altivon. “We were impressed with the simplicity and cost-effectiveness of the single-platform approach, along with Altivon’s expert design options that were specifically built for our unique needs,” Mitchell said.

Planned CIC enhancements include automated dialing for notifications, and multichannel routing that will enable Southwest Gas customers to interact with it via e-mail and Web chat.

About Southwest GasSouthwest Gas Corp. (NYSE: SWX) provides natural gas service to approximately 1.8 million customers in Arizona, Nevada, and California. Its service territories are centered in the fastest-growing region of the country. For more information about Southwest Gas, visit www.swgas.com.

About AltivonAltivon delivers high-value, high-impact unified communications solutions to contact centers and enterprises. Focused on elevating the experience of an organization’s employees, partners and customers, Altivon handles all aspects of solution design, deployment, support and on-going improvement. The solution set includes multi-media customer interaction management, enterprise IP telephony, and business process automation. Founded in 1989, Altivon is headquartered in Phoenix, Arizona with offices across America and Canada. For more information, visit the Altivon Web site at www.altivon.com.

About Interactive IntelligenceInteractive Intelligence Inc. (Nasdaq: ININ) is a global provider of unified business communications solutions for contact center automation, enterprise IP telephony, and business process automation. The company was founded in 1994 and has more than 3,500 customers worldwide. Interactive Intelligence is among Software Magazine’s top 500 global software and services suppliers, is a BusinessWeek “hot growth 50” company, and is among Fortune Small Business magazine’s top 100 fastest growing companies. The company is also positioned in the leaders’ quadrant of the Gartner 2009 Contact Center Infrastructure, Worldwide Magic Quadrant report. Interactive Intelligence employs approximately 650 people and is headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. It has 14 offices throughout North America, Latin America, Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia Pacific. Interactive Intelligence can be reached at +1 317.872.3000 or [e-mail]; 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.