Call Center Firm Sues After IVR System Provider Plans Early Sunsetting of Platform

Genesys Cloud Services pushed up the shutoff date for its cloud services by nine months, to October, and has refused to provide requested assurances that cloud services would continue to the agreed date of July 2025, alleged a breach-of-contract complaint Friday (docket 1:24-cv-11379) in U.S. District Court for Massachusetts.

Arbella Service Co. contracted with Genesys in 2017 to provide and maintain the telecommunications platform and services the insurance company uses to operate its contact centers, the “communications hub” that handles inquiries regarding insurance claims, payments, policy changes and other customer service functions, the complaint said. Genesys' interactive voice response system allows callers to interact with Arbella’s telecom network via voice commands or keypad inputs; the plaintiff also uses PureConnect to route inbound email and internal chat messages, the complaint said.

The parties extended the contracts several times for PureConnect services, said the complaint. A Sept. 29, 2017, services order had a three-year-term and month-to-month automatic renewals; the June 15, 2021, agreement had a two-year term and automatic annual renewals thereafter, the complaint said. On May 16, 2022, Genesys announced that PureConnect services were at their end of life and would be retired effective July 31, 2025, said the complaint. Their Aug. 15, 2023, agreement was for one year, with a renewal option allowing Arbella to extend the 2023 service order on a month-by-month basis until July 15, 2025, it said.

Genesys publicly announced PureConnect Cloud Services would be retired in July 2025, and then “suddenly and without warning,” the provider said it was accelerating the retirement date of the services to October, alleged the complaint. Arbella demanded that Genesys “retract the accelerated retirement” of the cloud services and provide it with “adequate assurances that Genesys will perform under the relevant agreements through July 2025,” but Genesys “has repeatedly refused to provide the requested assurances, in knowing breach of its contractual obligations,” it said.

The plaintiff is attempting to mitigate its damages “at great burden and expense,” said the complaint, but early cessation of PureConnect cloud services in October “will irreparably harm Arbella because a suitable replacement service is unlikely to be implemented by that date,” said the complaint. Arbella, which provides administrative services to Arbella Mutual Insurance, “will no longer be able to effectively function,” and its workflow management system “will be lost,” leading to disruptions and claim cost increases, “the extent of which are difficult to quantify,” said the complaint.

Loss of workflow management systems will result in delays in servicing policies and claims, harming both Arbella and its customers, the complaint said. Service interruptions will “irreparably harm Arbella’s relationships with its policyholders and agents” that it has spent “decades developing and cultivating,” the complaint said. The company’s brand and reputation will be “damaged as a result of Genesys’ conduct,” it said.

In 2022, Arbella’s contact centers received about 695,000 policyholder and agent phone and chat inquiries; nearly all of its 1,000-plus employees rely on the services provided by the contact centers every day, the complaint said. Promptly receiving and responding to policyholder claims is good business and required under the law, said the complaint. The inability to respond to and process claims due to the shutdown of the Genesys system “could have devastating consequences on” the insurer’s business, it said.

Arbella “reasonably believes” that it won’t be able to implement a suitable replacement and fully transition service platforms before October, said the complaint. Even if the plaintiff is able to find a replacement provider, it doesn’t believe it will be able to complete the transition to a new service provider by October, and if that happens, it will be “irreparably injured,” said the complaint. “Cessation of the PureConnect Cloud Services without a suitable replacement will render Arbella’s Contact Centers inoperable and bring Arbella’s ability to support its policyholders, agents, and employees to a standstill,” it said.

Arbella asserts claims of anticipatory breach of contract, breach of contract and breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing. It requests compensatory, incidental and consequential damages; preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, requiring Genesys to perform its obligations for the duration of the agreements; pre- and post-judgment interest; and attorneys’ fees and legal costs. Genesys didn't comment Tuesday.