Odigo acquisition boosts ALE Connect hybrid CCaaS push

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise has expanded its ALE Connect contact centre offering after the acquisition of its technology partner Akio by Odigo.

The move deepens a long-standing collaboration in the contact centre as a service market. It also brings Odigo directly into the development of ALE’s hybrid cloud contact centre portfolio.

ALE Connect supports customer service teams across multiple channels. These include email, live web chat, social media, and phone.

The service sits alongside Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise’s OmniPCX Enterprise Purple communications platform. ALE Connect adds cloud-based CCaaS functions for omnichannel interaction management.

The architecture uses a hybrid cloud model. Critical voice and automatic call distribution functions remain on premises or in a private hosting environment. New multimedia functions run in a multi-tenant cloud.

ALE positions this approach as a way for organisations to retain existing telephony investments. It also offers a path towards cloud-based services and AI tools.

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise and Akio began co-developing ALE Connect four years ago. Odigo completed its acquisition of Akio last month.

The transaction brings Akio’s teams and technology under the Odigo brand. Odigo is a French CCaaS vendor with a focus on large enterprises.

Stanislas Corporeau, Director of the Systems and Applications Business Unit at Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise, said the new ownership marks a shift in the joint project.

“Four years after the launch of ALE Connect, co-developed with our strategic partner Akio, a new era is dawning for this project. Odigo's acquisition of Akio propels us toward new opportunities. We will build on the strengths that have made ALE Connect so successful: ALE's unique approach to offering a hybrid cloud omnichannel contact center solution, ensuring that our customers get the most out of their investments in their business communication platforms. And this is just the beginning! Thanks to the synergy with the Akio teams, now Odigo, we will enrich ALE Connect with ever more innovative features to meet our customers' needs and anticipate tomorrow's challenges. This new dynamic marks the beginning of an ambitious adventure, where Agentic AI technologies, human expertise, and the desire for sovereignty combine to offer exceptional customer experiences and a unique offering on the market,” said Corporeau.

The companies plan to increase work on AI-based features. They also highlight a focus on data sovereignty and European regulatory demands.

The development roadmap for ALE Connect places artificial intelligence at its core. The partners reference “agentic AI” as a way to enhance both agents’ work and customer journeys.

AI components in the platform handle core interaction management. They also support routing, analysis of conversations, and automation of some tasks.

Odigo and ALE also plan to add new digital channels. These include Rich Communication Services, which extends messaging functions on smartphones.

Patrick Giudicelli, founder and president of Akio, said the combination of resources within Odigo changes the scale of the offer.

“Odigo's acquisition of Akio opens up new opportunities for our customers and partners, particularly for users of ALE telephony solutions worldwide. Indeed, Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise and Akio have developed an innovative and high-performing hybrid CCaaS offering, further enhanced by this merger, which combines shared expertise, and a strengthened R&D team dedicated to Customer Experience,” said Giudicelli.

The enlarged research and development team will focus on customer experience features in ALE Connect. It will also work on integration with ALE’s installed base of enterprise communications systems.

Odigo describes itself as one of the European leaders in CCaaS. It serves more than 250 large enterprises in over 100 countries.

The group had revenue of more than €160 million and around 680 employees at its last disclosed count. Its platform supports voice and digital channels with a strong focus on reliability.

Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise has its headquarters in France and serves more than one million customers worldwide through 3,400 business partners.

Both companies underline the importance of European data protection rules. They also highlight customer demand for control over data location and processing.

Jean-Michel Breul, co-CEO of Odigo, said the integration of Akio and the closer link with ALE will drive a new wave of product work.

“The integration of Akio's teams and technologies within Odigo opens a new phase of innovation. We are particularly proud to strengthen our collaboration with Alcatel-Lucent Enterprise around ALE Connect, a solution that perfectly embodies the complementarity between hybrid cloud, operational performance and excellence in customer experience. Together, we will take a major step in the integration of agentic AI and new channels such as RCS, to help European companies deeply transform their omnichannel customer experience. This alliance marks a strategic turning point, and we are confident that it will bring unprecedented value to ALE Connect users,” said Breul.

The partners plan further feature releases and integration work on ALE Connect as they extend the joint offering across their global customer and partner networks.