Arise Virtual Solutions Inc., the leading global provider of virtual business process outsourcing (BPO) and crowdsourcing solutions, announced today that Direct Energy, one of North America’s largest competitive energy and energy-related services providers, selected Arise to help deliver strong inbound sales results for residential customers. Arise will be selling a variety of products and services to current and prospective Direct Energy customers.

“Direct Energy continues to invest for growth across the industry, and providing the best products to market and a strong customer experience is a critical aspect of our growth strategy,” said Jack Meek, Senior Director Telesales, Direct Energy. “We selected Arise as a key partner because it provides us the ability to utilize small businesses and their highly skilled sales experts with deep product and utilities sales knowledge. Together, we can deliver on our promise to bring the best energy products to our customers offering a better customer experience, saving customers time, effort and money.”

At Direct Energy, a family of brands work together to provide electricity, natural gas and other energy services to more than 13 million residential homes and business across North America. The energy provider awarded Arise with a multi-year contract to use virtual BPO and crowdsourcing solutions to leverage small businesses and their sales professionals who are highly skilled and experienced in the energy industry.

“Direct Energy represents the next generation of energy and energy-related services, and we are pleased to be selected by an industry leader,” said Dan Kusel, Vice President and General Manager at Arise Virtual Solutions. “Arise will help Direct Energy offer a better customer experience, become more flexible to meet unexpected spikes in volume, and drive greater sales at a lower cost. We look forward to working with Direct Energy to bring to market in the most efficient and effective way.”

About Arise Virtual Solutions Inc.:

Arise Virtual Solutions Inc. is the world’s leading provider of virtual business process outsourcing and crowdsourcing solutions for brands seeking to improve their customer experience and results. Arise customizes and delivers high quality voice, e-mail, chat, and mobile customer service solutions through its network of thousands of small businesses in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland.

No other company better understands how to bring the virtual BPO and crowdsourcing model to life for premium brands. To learn more about “No Boundaries, Better Results” and how Arise Virtual Solutions can help you, please visit www.arise.com.

About Direct Energy:

Direct Energy is one of North America's largest energy and energy-related services providers with more than 6 million residential and commercial customer relationships. Direct Energy provides customers with choice and support in managing their energy costs through a portfolio of innovative products and services. A subsidiary of Centrica plc, one of the world's leading integrated energy companies, Direct Energy operates in 46 U.S. states plus the District of Columbia and 10 provinces in Canada.

For more information about Direct Energy, please go to www.directenergy.com.