Genesys is excited to announce that the Genesys Cloud™ platform has been certified to run in Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 environments, using Microsoft’s multimedia redirection enhancement. This adds to the list of end-user virtualization options available from Genesys, which include Genesys Cloud WebRTC Media Helper and use of Genesys Cloud in a Citrix environment through the Citrix browser content redirection feature.  

Today’s Dual Mandate Requires Stronger Data Privacy and Governance 

The rapid rise of agentic AI is transforming how businesses orchestrate customer experiences (CX). But these artificial intelligence systems capable of more autonomous decision-making also introduce new risks. Technical leaders today face a dual mandate. They must innovate quickly with AI to meet customer expectations and simultaneously protect against emerging threats.  

In this high-stakes environment, responsible CX practices, including responsible AI, have become mission critical. That means customer experience platforms must build in security, privacy and governance from the ground up so that companies can deploy AI and cloud technologies at scale — while supporting risk mitigation and governance. 

In a recent article, Glenn Nethercutt, Chief Technology Officer at Genesys, outlined five imperatives for responsible CX, including the need to strengthen data privacy and governance. Nowhere is this more relevant than in highly regulated industries such as finance, healthcare and government.  

Organizations are eager to leverage AI-driven, personalized experience orchestration. However, they must do so safely, without compromising customer trust or violating compliance rules. To solve this speed-versus-safety equation, many organizations are increasingly adopting end-user virtualization. 

End-user Virtualization: A Solid Option for Secure, Compliant CX 

End-user virtualization has emerged as a key tactic for highly regulated companies to deliver great customer experiences responsibly. With end-user virtualization, a user’s desktop environment (applications, data and all) runs in a secured cloud or data center, rather than on their local device.  

This architecture is designed to help secure sensitive customer data within the virtualization environment, not on the endpoint. It stays in the controlled environment of the data center or cloud. For regulated sectors, that’s a huge win for data privacy and governance. 

Deploying customer experience applications within a virtual environment can help organizations enforce strict security controls. Companies can prevent unauthorized software installation, copying of data or screen captures, helping to ensure compliance with policies such as PCI and HIPAA.  

In the era of remote and hybrid work, end-user virtualization can provide a consistent, secured workspace for those interacting with customers no matter where they log in. It’s a practical way to embed trust and accountability into the CX delivery stack, aligning with the mandate of protecting customer data and privacy at all costs.  

Voice and video calls are sensitive to network latency and jitter. In a standard end-user virtualization setup, if an employee takes a VoIP call, the audio stream typically passes through the remoting session, which can degrade quality. Traditional protocols weren’t designed for high-fidelity, low-latency audio. Fortunately, Genesys has developed solutions to solve exactly that problem. 

Optimizing End-user Virtualization with Genesys Cloud WebRTC Media Helper 

Genesys has long recognized the importance of supporting end-user virtualization for its cloud customers. Genesys Cloud, our AI-Powered Experience Orchestration platform, is web-based and cloud-native, which means it can be accessed from virtually anywhere, including within a virtual experience.  

To help ensure voice interactions remain crystal clear in end-user virtualization deployments, Genesys developed the WebRTC Media Helper solution. This innovation allows the voice media stream to bypass the end-user virtualization session entirely and directly connect the Genesys Cloud media services and the employee’s local device. In effect, it lets a software phone (WebRTC) function much like a physical hard phone even when the Genesys Cloud interface itself is running inside end-user virtualization. 

This approach has helped to significantly enhance the experience of organizations using end-user virtualization. By taking the audio path out-of-band, it reduces the latency and audio distortion that can occur when sending voice over remote display protocols.  

All sensitive data and CRM screens remain within the virtual environment, but the voice media streams are routed separately using secured protocols. Companies don’t have to choose between compliance and call quality; they can have both.  

In short, Genesys Cloud end user virtualization support is designed to deliver secure customer experience without compromising quality. 

Advanced Integration with Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365    

Many Genesys customers are looking to implement Genesys Cloud in Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 environments. Microsoft provides an option for optimizing multimedia in virtualization environments. Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 offer Microsoft Multimedia Redirection (MMR), a feature which detects media streams (such as web-based voice calls) and offloads them to the client device for processing.  

Recently, Genesys and Microsoft collaborated to certify Genesys Cloud on Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 using the MMR extension. Genesys Cloud is designed to support high-quality, low latency audio, while maintaining a secure virtual environment when deployed with Azure Virtual Desktop or Windows 365.  

During testing, Genesys Cloud supported MMR delivering high Mean Opinion Scores (MOS) call quality ratings. This integrated solution helps address previous call quality issues in end-user virtualization environments, even for users on limited network connections. 

From an architecture perspective, the integration is straightforward. The Genesys Cloud web app inside the virtualization environment works in tandem with a lightweight Microsoft redirection plugin. When a voice call is made, the plugin automatically routes the WebRTC media stream out of the virtualization environment directly to the employee’s endpoint.  

Media streams remain encrypted and secured, but now the heavy lifting of real-time media is handled client-side. Employees don’t need to launch a separate media application. It’s seamless, using native Azure end-user virtualization capabilities.  

Administrators can configure the virtualization environment to restrict access, including preventing users from interacting with the underlying OS. This approach is designed to support strong governance while enabling high-quality voice interactions.  

Benefits of the Genesys–Microsoft End-user Virtualization Solution: (Advanced Multimedia Redirection Option) 

  • Clear audio with near-zero latency: By redirecting voice streams to the employee’s local device, the solution minimizes the lag and quality loss normally associated with end-user virtualization audio. Employees and customers enjoy real-time, natural conversations. 
  • Data stays in the secured environment: All Genesys Cloud application data and third-party desktop apps remain within the virtualization environment. Sensitive customer information stays within the secured Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 sessions, reinforcing compliance with privacy regulations. 
  • No compromise on compliance vs. quality: Organizations can support full compliance without impacting voice quality. Even call recordings and screen recordings can be handled in an end-user virtualization-friendly way, so oversight and audit needs are met without workarounds. 
  • Flexible and easy to deploy: The solution works with or without physical phones and doesn’t require complex network configurations. It leverages standard Genesys Cloud WebRTC technology and supported Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 extensions from Microsoft, making it straightforward for IT teams to implement. 
  • Consistent global experience: Whether employees are in the office, at home, or in a geographically distributed delivery center, those on Azure Virtual Desktop or Windows 365 get a consistent, high-performance experience. This can be especially valuable for business processing outsourcers (BPOs) and large enterprises that standardize on virtual workstations globally. 

“Delivering a great customer experience from within a locked-down virtual environment was once a major hurdle  but not anymore,” says Zach Brettnacher, Vice President of Product Management at Genesys. “Working together with Microsoft, we’ve certified the Genesys Cloud platform for Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365 with Multimedia Redirection (MMR).”

“Our customers in highly regulated sectors can now confidently embrace cloud CX innovation, knowing their data does not leave their secured environment and their voice interactions remain crystal clear,” he added. “It’s about meeting our customers where they are, helping them uphold the highest standards of privacy and quality, without trade-offs.” 

One early adopter of this joint solution is global customer experience outsourcer TP (formerly Teleperformance). In collaboration with both Genesys and Microsoft, TP has been quick to leverage Genesys Cloud via Azure Virtual Desktop to serve its clients. 

Siva Pothi, Global COO, Technology as a Service (TaaS) at TP, noted, “As part of our relationship with Genesys and Microsoft, TP delivers AI-powered experience orchestration through Genesys Cloud from within Microsoft Azure Virtual Desktop. Using the Genesys Cloud Media Helper solution and Microsoft Multimedia Redirection, our customers achieve crystal-clear audio from within a secured end-user virtualization environment.”  

TP customers can orchestrate AI-powered customer journeys on Genesys Cloud within a securely managed desktop environment. For TP clients, many of whom are in financial services, healthcare and other sensitive industries, this approach supports efficient service delivery by remote employees, and the peace of mind that comes with robust data protection measures.

Responsible CX Powered by Collaboration and Innovation 

Trust is the currency of modern customer experiences. Every technology decision, from how you deploy AI to where your employees sign in, should be evaluated through the lens of building and preserving that trust.  

Virtual desktops, once seen mainly as an IT efficiency tool, have become a strategic asset for responsible CX for certain highly regulated enterprises. 

By enabling Genesys Cloud to run seamlessly with Azure Virtual Desktop and Windows 365, we’re helping organizations deliver personalized, AI-enhanced experiences at scale to their customers — responsibly. 

Genesys remains committed to the ethos of responsible innovation. Whether it’s through strategic collaborations, new product features or best-practice frameworks, our goal is to empower organizations to orchestrate exceptional customer experiences that are as safe and trustworthy as they are fast and intelligent.  

Delivering responsible CX isn’t just a tagline, it’s a guiding principle shaping how we design solutions in the age of AI. And as this latest venture demonstrates, when industry leaders work together, we can raise the bar for what’s possible — enabling AI-powered innovation to be delivered with both speed and safety, from anywhere the future of work takes us. 

Learn more about running Genesys Cloud in a virtual desktop infrastructure with the Genesys Cloud WebRTC Media Helper.