Genesys Cloud – Permission-based, usage-driven billing for speech and text analytics (STA) and voice transcription

In a future release, Genesys Cloud will introduce a permission-based, usage-driven billing model for speech and text analytics (STA) transcription to give administrators more explicit control over who triggers workforce engagement management (WEM) and STA add-on charges and how Genesys bills for transcription usage. This update decouples transcription usage from automatic license activation so that billing is based on assigned permissions and actual usage.

What will change

• Billing behavior will be based on new permissions:
  • Billing:User:WEMUpgrade – for users who need WEM-related transcription allocation.
  • Billing:User:STAUpgrade – for users who need STA-related transcription allocation.
• Customers can use both the WEM add-on and the STA add-on within a single organization. Administrators can assign only one add-on per user at a time. Because the WEM add-on includes a broader set of features, this license always takes precedence over the STA add-on.
• Transcription alone will no longer trigger WEM add-on or STA add-on license charges.
• Genesys will bill users with the new permissions for the assigned add-on and will add voice transcription minutes to the organization’s global transcription pool.
• Users without the new permissions can still consume transcription minutes from the same global pool.
• Transcription minutes used beyond the organization’s pooled allocation will incur an overage charge. The current overage rate is listed in the Genesys Cloud fair use policy in the Resource Center.

Why this matters

• Admins can enable transcription for users without assigning full WEM or STA licenses.
• Billing is predictable and reflects actual user activity.
• Helps avoid unexpected charges caused by incidental or minimal transcription use.

Guidance for affected customers

Genesys Cloud CX 1 or Genesys Cloud CX 2 customers with WEM Add-on

• If users actively use WEM capabilities such as coaching, evaluations, gamification, or surveys, then no action is required. These users receive a WEM license and continue to receive transcription allocation based on your organization’s transcription SKU.
• If users only consume transcription, do not use other WEM capabilities, and require transcription on every interaction to support conversation intelligence and insights, then Genesys recommends that you assign the Billing > User > WEMUpgrade permission to the user. This permission grants the WEM Add-on license to the user and ensures that they have transcription allocation.
• If a user actively participates in a customer interaction (for example, through a blind transfer, warm transfer, or conference) and does not have a WEM add-on license or the Billing > User > WEMUpgrade permission, Genesys applies the consumed transcription minutes to the organization’s total fair use allocation.

Genesys Cloud CX 1 or Genesys Cloud CX 2 customers with Genesys Cloud CX AI Experience (includes STA)

• If users only consume transcription, do not use other WEM capabilities, and require transcription on every interaction to support conversation intelligence and insights, then Genesys recommends that you assign the Billing > User > STAUpgrade permission to the user. This permission grants the WEM license to the user and ensures that they have transcription allocation. 
• If a user actively participates in a customer interaction (for example, through a blind transfer, warm transfer, or conference) and does not have an STA license or the Billing > User > STAUpgrade permission, Genesys applies the consumed transcription minutes to the organization’s total fair use allocation. After the organization consumes the transcription pool, Genesys bills any transcription overage at the contracted overage rate.