EXHIBIT 99.1

              GENESYS APPOINTS ORI SASSON CEO AND MEMBER OF THE
                     BOARD; WILL ACQUIRE PLATO SOFTWARE

SAN FRANCISCO, DECEMBER 9, 1998 -- Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc.
(NASDAQ: GCTI) today announced the appointment of Ori Sasson as CEO and a member
of the Board of Directors.

Prior to joining Genesys, Mr. Sasson was Chairman and CEO of Scopus Technology,
Inc. a leading provider of enterprise software solutions for the enterprise
relationship management market. Under his leadership, Scopus maintained
consistent growth and profitability from inception until its acquisition in
April 1998 by Siebel Systems, Inc.

In connection with the appointment of Mr. Sasson, Genesys will acquire Plato
Software Corporation, an early stage company engaged in the development of agent
based technology for delivering superior web-based solutions. Mr. Sasson is a
principal shareholder of Plato. Genesys will integrate the agent technology into
the Genesys suite as part of its strategy to offer seamless integration of its
products with the Web. Genesys will acquire Plato in exchange for approximately
200,000 shares of Common Stock.

Genesys also announced that Greg Shenkman, a founder and Board member, has been
appointed the Chairman of the Board. Former Chairman Jim Jordan will continue to
serve the company in an advisory capacity.

Greg Shenkman, stated that, "We are delighted that we could attract an executive
of Mr. Sasson's caliber. Genesys is poised to develop into a major enterprise
software company, and Mr. Sasson has the experience and skills to carry Genesys
forward. We also thank Jim Jordan for his contribution in helping lead Genesys
to become a leading enterprise software company."

According to Mr. Sasson, "I am extremely excited to be joining Genesys and to
have the chance to exploit the fantastic market here. The combination of
industry leading products and broad worldwide distribution capability provide
Genesys with a strong basis upon which to expand our current market position.
Additionally, I will focus on extending our strategy into the sales of
complimentary application products by leveraging the Web and other new
technologies as we build Genesys into a major enterprise software company".

Michael McCloskey, the Company's President, will continue in his current
position, reporting to Mr. Sasson.

ABOUT GENESYS 
Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Inc. (Nasdaq "GCTI") combines computer
and telephone systems to improve interactions between companies and their
customers. The Genesys Suite- an innovative suite of inbound, outbound, blended,
network-based and Internet-based call center products - enables organizations to
optimally manage customer interactions and employee communications to increase
productivity, lower costs and achieve greater customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Headquartered in San Francisco, Genesys serves 300 customers in the North
American, European, Asia/Pacific and Latin American regions directly from 27
sales offices and indirectly through a select group of industry-leading
solutions providers. For more information please visit Genesys at
http://www.genesyslab.com or call 1-888-GENESYS (in the U.S).