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INDIANAPOLIS & JOHANNESBURG, Jan 13, 2012 -- Interactive Intelligence Group Inc., a global provider of unified IP business communications solutions, has signed an agreement to purchase select Interactive Intelligence-related contact center assets of its South African-based reseller, ATIO Corp. Pty Ltd.

Under the terms of the agreement, effective Jan. 1, 2012, these assets are now owned by Interactive Intelligence Group Inc. The new company will operate as Interactive Intelligence South Africa Pty Ltd.

As part of the all-cash transaction, Interactive Intelligence South Africa Pty Ltd. will employ approximately 40 ATIO team members, and will begin direct support of nearly 40 joint ATIO and Interactive Intelligence customers located throughout South Africa and sub-Saharan Africa.

ATIO was founded in 1986 and is a privately held provider of information and communications technology services. It had been an Interactive Intelligence reseller since 2002.

"ATIO has ranked among our top revenue-generating resellers of all partners throughout Europe, Middle East, and Africa each year since it first began offering our solutions," said Interactive Intelligence founder and CEO, Don Brown. "This successful track record, combined with a talented support and services team, mature infrastructure, and expertise in key industries such as financial services, telecommunications and government, makes ATIO's Interactive Intelligence business an ideal acquisition choice.

"This acquisition marks our continued strategy to more effectively grow our existing operations in key international geographies, which began early last year with reseller acquisitions in Germany and Australia. This acquisition also lays a strong foundation for planned investments in the region that support our rapidly growing cloud-based communications-as-a-service business," Brown concluded.

"Africa is increasingly popular as a preferred destination of contact centers," said Frost & Sullivan's business unit leader, ICT Africa, Birgitta Cederstrom. "South Africa specifically has been a natural choice for contact centers due to its large and articulate English-speaking population and service-oriented business culture. Another strength is its expanding broadband connectivity, thus ensuring that the latest unified communications and collaboration tools will run efficiently."

As part of the transaction, Interactive Intelligence South Africa Pty Ltd. will occupy one of ATIO's buildings in Johannesburg, which will now function as its regional headquarters serving all of Africa.

The new company will continue offering the complete Interactive Intelligence all-in-one IP communications software suite, which includes applications for contact center automation, unified communications, and business process automation.

Interactive Intelligence South Africa Pty Ltd. will sell its solutions both directly and through authorized channel partners.

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: http://www.marketwatch.com

About Interactive Intelligence:
Interactive Intelligence offers unified business communications solutions for contact center automation, enterprise IP telephony, and business process automation. More than 3,500 organizations worldwide currently benefit from the company’s open, standards-based, all-in-one IP communications software suite, which can be deployed as a premise-based or Communications as a Service (CaaS) solution.

About Atio:
ATIO is an ICT services company that has been providing solutions for over two decades. ATIO’s business units are designed to help tailor-make solutions to suit specific business requirements. ATIO’s interactive division provides integrated communication services such as contact centres, self-service automation, workforce optimisation, converged networks, unified communications, mobility and IP Telephony.