Colloquis, which sells automated online support solutions that mimic a person in a real chat session, has been acquired by Microsoft. The company will resell Colloquis's customer support solution, incorporate its agent technology into its own support offerings, and add automated agents to Windows Live Messenger (the company's text, voice, and video messaging client and service for consumers).

Automated Support

Colloquis's Automated Service Agent solution helps companies lower support costs by providing automated responses to the most common support questions. Support seekers participate in text-based chat with an online "agent," which is programmed to provide responses based on keywords and phrases in the user's questions. The solution can refer users to other forms of support if they are not satisfied with the responses. Colloquis has several major customers in the telecommunications industry, including Cingular Wireless, Comcast, Cox Communications, Time Warner Cable, and Vonage, as well as consumer electronics company Panasonic of North America.

Colloquis also offers separate tools that allow developers to extend instant messaging applications with automated-chat functionality. Most notably, in Feb. 2006, Colloquis began offering a free SDK to extend MSN Messenger (since renamed Windows Live Messenger) in this fashion.

Microsoft will rename Colloquis's support solution to Windows Live Service Agents and incorporate it into its Customer Care Framework, a combination of software and services for call centers that Microsoft sells to telecommunications customers through its Communications Sector sales group. Microsoft will also use the solution to provide support for its own products, starting with Xbox. Finally, Microsoft will use Colloquis's technology for other purposes, including entertainment and advertising. For example, Microsoft will extend Windows Live Messenger with a new service called Windows Live Agents (not to be confused with Windows Live Service Agents), which will guide users to sponsored content, advertisements, or other Microsoft Web sites and services.

Colloquis's 36 employees will be hired by Microsoft. The company, which is based in New York, NY, and Sunnyvale, CA, was privately held, and terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.