RingCentral and NiCE have extended their global partnership through a new multi-year agreement focused on integrated AI-powered communications and contact centre solutions for enterprises in Australia and worldwide.
The companies have worked together globally for a decade, and the relationship has included the Australian market since RingCentral's local launch in 2018. The renewed partnership aims to strengthen their collaboration on unified communications as a service (UCaaS) and contact centre as a service (CCaaS), with a shared emphasis on accelerating the deployment of AI-driven capabilities for customers and employees.
Seven years in Australia
Adam Boreham, Australia Country Manager at RingCentral, said the collaboration has developed strongly within the region. "We've developed a robust and highly collaborative relationship with NiCE in Australia over the last seven years, which we can see only becoming stronger," he said. "NiCE and RingCentral are the leading innovators in the contact centre space globally and we have complementary AI capabilities that are creating seamless customer and employee experiences for our joint Australian enterprise customers."
The partnership extension involves both go-to-market and post-sales processes and is intended to allow customers to further modernise how they connect and serve clients using integrated solutions. RingCentral will continue to market and sell the RingCentral Contact Centre solution, powered by NiCE CXone Mpower, as part of the agreement.
Integration of AI capabilities
According to RingCentral, the combined offer provides an enterprise-grade customer engagement platform drawing on the experience of both companies in their respective markets. RingCentral has held a position in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications as a Service for ten consecutive years. Similarly, NiCE, under various brand designations, has featured in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Contact Centre as a Service since 2015.
Vlad Shmunis, Founder, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of RingCentral, underlined the significance of the extended collaboration:
We're thrilled to extend our partnership with NiCE and double down on continuing to offer NiCE's renowned industry-leading CX platform powered by AI to RingCentral's enterprise customers. Our customers greatly benefit from the integration of two recognised industry leaders that no other vendors are able to deliver. This partnership extension marks an important next chapter, and we look forward to working with the NiCE team offering our AI-powered integrated solution streamlining customer interactions and boosting overall efficiency.
Scott Russell, Chief Executive Officer of NiCE, commented on the direction of the partnership as it enters its next phase:
RingCentral is a recognised leader in cloud business communications, and we're excited to work together to take our partnership with RingCentral to the next level – one defined by the seamless convergence of AI powered customer and employee experiences. The path ahead is about working together collaboratively to unlock more opportunities - and meet businesses wherever they are in their AI journey to modernise how they connect, collaborate, and serve their customers.
Channel partner focus
The renewed agreement will also see a strategic effort to strengthen the partner ecosystem, which has played a significant role in driving adoption of the RingCentral Contact Centre powered by NiCE CXone Mpower in Australia and other markets.
Joe Rittenhouse, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Converged Technology Professionals, observed the benefits seen by partners and clients through the partnership:
The NiCE and RingCentral partnership extension is a significant win-win. We're great supporters of this partnership and have successfully sold and deployed many large enterprise deals based on their integrated UCaaS and CCaaS solutions. We look forward to the next steps and their focus on working together with us to make our clients super successful.
Zeus Kerravala, Founder and Principal Analyst at ZK Research, provided further perspective, stating:
The past 10 years of the NiCE and RingCentral partnership has been an interesting journey, and one that has seen notable success. Few other vendors in the UCaaS and CCaaS market have been able to integrate that deeply and reach a level of success seen by this partnership, so I look forward to seeing what's next and how NiCE and RingCentral will help customers in their AI powered EX and CX journeys.
Under the extended partnership, both companies will continue to collaborate closely with their established partner networks, aiming to deliver AI-powered experiences for customers and employees to a broader base within Australia and internationally.
