×

SUBSCRIBE TO TMCnet
TMCnet - World's Largest Communications and Technology Community

CHANNEL BY TOPICS


QUICK LINKS




 

Call Center News
April 2000

 

newproducts.gif (1170 bytes)

people.gif (910 bytes)

mergersacquisitions.gif (1526 bytes)

mergersacquisitions.gif (1526 bytes)

internationalnews.gif (1342 bytes)

strategicalliances.gif (1417 bytes)

Expansions


newproducts.gif (1170 bytes)

Comverse Infosys Introduces e-Cording, New Analytical Tools
Comverse Infosys, Inc., a provider of digital recording technology and solutions for contact centers, recently introduced e-Cording, a multimedia capture technology. The new application is designed for contact centers to monitor and analyze e-commerce interactions and assess the effectiveness of their Web offerings, self-help programs and agent interactions. The company said that e-Cording is equipped with rules-based triggers and automated analysis to define, manage and enhance customer and agent interaction in a multimedia contact center. Comverse Infosys also announced the availability of Customer Xperience Suite (CXS) and OpenStorage Portal, its new analytical tools developed for extracting business intelligence from recorded calls. Customer Xperience Suite is a set of server-based software applications intended to analyze recordings of customer interactions and furnish a summary analysis that can be used for quantifying customer buying habits, preferences and events that may influence them. Additionally, CXS can provide any recording type (e.g., voice, e-mail, Web chat or fax) in the CRM database to anyone needing access within the enterprise. The intent is to take customer information, formerly available only in the call center, and provide access to it throughout the enterprise. OpenStorage Portal (OSP), used with CXS, is a conversion technology that aims at transforming proprietary recordings to standard file format for storage in existing CRM databases. Both applications run on ULTRA, Comverse's recording solution that runs multiple multimedia contact center applications on a single platform.
No. 511, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

RightNow Releases Upgrade Version
RightNow Technologies, a provider of Internet customer care systems, has released RightNow 3.1, described as a major upgrade to its product suite. The company said that Version 3.1 provides new modules for e-mail management, live customer interaction and contracts management. The new modules are: RightNow E-Mail, a utility for analyzing e-mail messages that can either respond with a suggested list of solutions or send them to the appropriate agent based on message content; RightNow Live, a Java-based interactive utility that allows customers to launch live chat sessions with a support agent, initiate a telephone call and enable the support agent to remotely control the customer's viewable Web page; and RightNow Contracts, designed for managing service contracts. The modules are integrated with RightNow Web's self-help database, designed to enable customers to find their own answers to questions. RightNow Web allows support personnel to publish the question and answer into the knowledge base and make the solution accessible to future visitors to the Web site.
No. 512, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo 

Natural MicroSystems Unveils PacketMedia Solution
Natural MicroSystems, provider of convergence technologies to communications solutions suppliers, introduced PacketMedia, a standards-based, carrier-class IP media server solution. PacketMedia is designed to enable communications equipment providers to deliver new hardware and software platforms capable of supporting IP-based applications and enhanced services. The company said that PacketMedia offers this support by means of real-time media streaming with simultaneous play and record for carrier-grade sound quality and functionality. The product is designed to support media streaming on existing and future Natural MicroSystems' Open Telecommunications platforms.
No. 513, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo 

Telescan Introduces EarthNet To Healthcare Industry
Telescan Corporation has introduced its EarthNet call center system. Intended to meet the healthcare industry's telecommunications needs, the EarthNet system is meant to provide call routing and automatic call distribution (ACD) capabilities using Natural MicroSystems technology. As an IP, the EarthNet's digital switching platform can stand alone or front-end a legacy analog switch, enabling ISDN service without replacing an existing phone system. EarthNet features a point-and-click workstation interface and an integrated Web browser to allow call attendants to enter messages or retrieve data from the Internet or a local network. The EarthNet workstation is designed to multitask with other Windows-based software, import data from SQL databases and accommodate help desk applications. The company said that its system can be customized for automatic message delivery options, such as ISMSC, fax, e-mail and voice mail.
No. 514, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

CLARITECH Enters North American Market With Text Analysis Tools
CLARITECH Corporation, a developer of business productivity software for the Japanese market, announced its entry into the North American market. During the second quarter of 2000, CLARITECH expects to provide a series of text analysis tools for Internet and Intranet applications. The products will use its CLARIT suite of text mining technologies, which convert unstructured text into data for analyzing customer habits and preferences. The intended results are better knowledge of customers' needs, increased responsiveness by service representatives and business decisions based on automated analysis of increased volumes of information.
No. 515, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo 

Motivation Online: Improvement And Incentive System
Motivation Online recently launched an online employee performance improvement and sales incentive system; Web-based applications designed to track and recognize performance. After a company creates its productivity program on the system, Motivation Online's program monitors performance and notifies employees of the point awards and the behaviors that earned them. Through direct links with online retailers, employees can select and obtain their chosen rewards. Employees can access Motivation Online's system from their desktops and home computers and check their progress toward rewards or cash points. Motivation Online can be modified to new themes, point structures, metrics and goals, and provides reporting tools that assess individual or company performance metrics. The system also offers tools for direct communication with employees to reinforce performance and productivity.
No. 516, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

APEX Announces Switch Manager For The Cisco VCO/4K
Apex Voice Communications announced the availability of the APEX Switch Manager, a graphical-based service creation environment and control processor for the Cisco VCO/4K open programmable switch. Switch Manager is designed to provide application developers with a Java-based graphical user interface (GUI) for "drag-and-drop" programming. Apex said that, packaged with the carrier-class VCO/4K and a host processor, the Switch Manager delivers a fault tolerant and scalable intelligent peripheral for both circuit- and packet-based networks. The Switch Manager's browser-based GUI also aims to provide remote administration of the Cisco VCO/4K switch through a LAN/WAN or the Web. As an intelligent peripheral within a network, Switch Manager can perform network and bulk announcement services, call holding and switching, prompt management, conferencing DTMF collection and dynamic messaging using supplementary media platforms behind the VCO/4K. Other features include an asynchronous programming model, a "C-Hook" interface for custom programming, an OBDC database interface that can run up to 2,000 concurrent database users and an SS7 interface for call set up and tear down.
No. 517, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

Name And Address Transcription Product From VoiceLog
VoiceLog LLC, a provider of third-party verification services, announced the availability of database-enhanced name and address transcription from recordings using its integrated verification and recording platform. The system is supported by the VoiceLog Web interface and Acxiom Corporation's InfoBase database for name and address information. After the system captures a customer's telephone number it is transmitted, over the Internet, to Acxiom Corporation. Based on the telephone number, Acxiom transmits the name and address to VoiceLog, where transcribers compare the data from the Internet recording with the Acxiom-provided address and make any necessary changes. The corrected information is then transmitted to the client. VoiceLog said that it developed the transcription service to meet the needs of marketers who want customers to leave information on an automated system and free salespersons from gathering names and addresses.
No. 518, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

Siemens Enhances Its CRM Solution
Siemens Information and Com-munication Networks Inc., an integrator of voice and data network solutions, announced the addition of e-service and multimedia to its CRM solution offering. Based on Siemens' R�sum�Routing CRM platform, the new solution combines Siemens' Xpressions 470 unified messaging system, Microsoft NetMeeting software and Siemens' ProCenter MX Email application. It will provide e-service and multimedia call center support, such as messaging, routing, agent scheduling, reporting and forecasting. Siemens hopes that the new CRM solution will assist in transforming a call center into a contact center by giving customers multimedia access options to agents.
No. 519, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo 

Ericsson Launches Cenaxis
Ericsson Inc. recently introduced its network-based customer interaction solution, Cenaxis, designed to meet the needs of network operators, service providers and their customers. The Cenaxis product portfolio is intended for implementation in public networks, such as fixed, mobile, IN, non-IN and Internet/Extranet. Cenaxis incorporates multimedia capabilities and centralized routing with automatic call distribution (ACD) functionality. Ericcson intends for network operators and service providers to be able to offer new services to their customers, such as outsourced call center capabilities, while using the same network-based call center functionality to address their own customer service needs. Part of the Cenaxis portfolio is Ericsson's Customer Interaction Platform. Some of the Platform's features are distributed call center architecture, centralized routing, virtual call center support, multiple network integration capabilities and computer-telephony integration in the public network.
No. 520, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo 

Panamax Surges Forth With POWERMAX 8
Panamax, a manufacturer of power protection products, recently introduced its POWERMAX 8 surge protector. Panamax guarantees that the POWERMAX 8 will protect equipment from the largest surges. The unit absorbs and reroutes the surge energy to ground or, in the event of a surge in excess of 1020 joules, disconnects the power to the equipment. The POWERMAX 8 has eight protected AC outlets, four switched and four "always on." It has EMI/RFI noise filtration and a diagnostic light that indicates proper grounding. In case of extended over-voltage, thermal fuses shut off power to connected equipment, preventing fire hazard. The POWERMAX 8 carries a lifetime product and $100,000 connected equipment warranty that includes lightning coverage.
No. 521, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

Aculab Integrates Prosody With Philips SpeechPearl99
Aculab PLC, a developer and manufacturer of computer-telephony solutions and components, announced the release of a software interface that integrates Philips Speech Processing's SpeechPearl99 and its associated Voice Activity Detector (VAD) with the Aculab Prosody speech-processing card. Philips SpeechPearl99 is a multi-channel speech recognition and understanding engine for telephony applications. Words can be added either by voice or orthographic transcription, making it possible to change vocabularies for different applications. The new software interface is designed to enable Prosody to acquire audio data and feed it to SpeechPearl99 and the VAD. The interface is capable of running in multiple threads, allowing multi-channel speech recognition. For developers wanting to integrate SpeechPearl99 into a solution, the software interface is also available as source code, permitting modifications to suit a solution. The functionality can work with any current Prosody firmware build. Other algorithms, including echo cancellation, fax, record and playback, conferencing and DTMF tone detection/generation may be run simultaneously. Aculab said that these could be obtained, without additional cost, from its FTP site.
No. 522, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

Enhanced Enterprise Edition From Talisma
Talisma Corporation, a provider of electronic customer service and relationship management solutions, announced the release if its Enterprise Edition, version 2.02. The company said that Version 2.02 incorporates customer feedback to provide improved Web access functionality. Other features include: inbound customer communication tracking and integrated direct marketing functionality; automation and productivity features in user-defined rules, canned responses, auto text and categories; customizable customer database; monitoring and analysis features; and integration capabilities with CRM, help desk, call center, knowledge base and Web collaboration applications.
No. 523, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

MCK Introduces Remote Voice PC Client
MCK Communications, Inc. announced that customer evaluations had begun for EXTender 100, their latest software client solution. MCK develops and markets products that provide remote voice solutions for branch offices and telecommuters. EXTender 100 was developed for use with MCK's PBXgateway product, which is designed as a platform to extend corporate PBX and supported applications to remote clients. EXTender 100 aims at providing access for remote users and PC-centric call centers to their company's voice system and related applications. MCK said that EXTender 100 does not require a server. The product supports various forms of network access; e.g., dial up, leased line or IP, and connects the corporate or call center PBX via the MCK PBXgateway.
No. 524, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo 

Clarify Delivers E-Business Solution
Clarify Inc. announced the release of eFrontOffice 9.0, an integrated CRM and e-business suite. Clarify eFrontOffice includes the company's existing front office applications for sales, marketing and service plus a new group of applications aimed at personalizing customer interactions. The product is intended to give customers a single place to go to configure and order products, learn about promotions and check the status of orders and support requests. Among the eFrontOffice 9.0 applications are: Clarify Customer Portal, a personalized Web site providing purchase, information and agent/contact support; Clarify eOrder, meant to enable companies to set up a Web storefront for taking and managing orders online and to give customers product information and choices for online purchases; Clarify eMerchandising, an application designed to allow companies to personalize product and service offerings for each customer based on their clicks and preferences; and Clarify eResponse Manager, designed to provide automated classification, suggestion and response capabilities to fulfill online customer requests.
No. 525, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

Anixter Freebie: Network Performance Guide
Anixter Inc., a distributor of data communications products, electrical wire and cable, announced the release of its Network Performance Guide, available for free from the company. The Guide is designed to help systems managers and installers. It addresses issues such as product compatibility, installation and component quality in network channels. Much of the information provided in the Guide is based on product tests and analyses performed in the Anixter Levels Lab.
No. 526, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

RedSky Automates ALI
RedSky Technologies, Inc. recently launched E-911 AutoPilot, software intended to monitor, support and update Automatic Location Identification (ALI) information across a company's telecommunications network. E-911 AutoPilot is designed for automated import of station information from PBX, Centrex service or other external databases on a user-determined schedule. It updates its own database and then transfers ALI information to the E-911 service center, monitoring the acceptance and verification of ALI data. The software is designed to create exception and error reports and confirm the successful transmission and acceptance of data via e-mail or printed reports. E-911 AutoPilot maintains a historical log of file transfer activities. RedSky develops and markets software meant to automatically track and route telecommunications database changes.
No. 527, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

Viking To The Rescue
Viking Electronics, Inc. announced the introduction of several phone line privacy devices designed to prevent data crashes. The devices install on shared line phones that may be inadvertently picked up during data transmissions. They are designed to sense when a line is in use and block the protected phones from gaining line access. Aimed at the home office and small business market, the products can also be used to prevent data transmissions during phone conversations.
No. 528, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

Comfy Mouse Is Hardy Relief From Carpal Tunnel Syndrome
Hardy Innovations has introduced Comfy Mouse, a product that it hopes will provide relief for chronic mouse-clickers and keyboarders. Repetitive strain injury/cumulative trauma disorder, commonly known as carpal tunnel syndrome, accounts for about 60 percent of workplace injuries, according to the U.S. Department of Labor statistics. The product consists of soft sponge rubber with a pressure-sensitive adhesive backing that can be applied to any mouse or keyboard button.
No. 529, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

Morf Your Mouse!
Tired of that rounded wedge of plastic on your desktop? Could you use a new promotional tool for your business? Morf Products LTD. may have a solution with its mousemorf family of computer mouse covers designed to brighten up any workspace. They are intended as gifts and, with the addition of company logos or promotional details, amusing marketing tools.
No. 530, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo 

people.gif (910 bytes)

GN Netcom, Inc. announced the appointment of James P. Lucivero as vice president of sales. He will be responsible for all sales activities, including core business and new market initiatives. Lucivero's most recent position was senior vice president of sales and marketing with Nexar Technologies. In a separate announcement, Michael W. Ferguson was named vice president of marketing. His responsibilities include product marketing, communications and e-commerce. Ferguson joined GN Netcom in 1995 and has held several executive sales and marketing positions with the company.

Rodger Weismann has joined ObjectSwitch Corporation as its new chief financial officer. Weismann's most recent position was CFO at NONSTOP Solutions.

iSKY announced the appointment of Lorraine Miano-Fike to vice president of human resources. Miano-Fike was formerly senior director of human resources and development at Jones Communications. She will report to iSKY CEO, Rich Hebert. Her responsibilities include global recruitment and training initiatives, internal communications, management development and benchmarking and general corporate policies and procedures.

Bill Kerrey has been appointed executive vice president for e-commerce content licensing at infoUSA.com, Inc. Kerrey's most recent position at infoUSA.com was president of the license group. In addition to his new responsibilities at the Internet-based startup, he will continue to oversee licensing deals at the parent company. Himanshu Baral was appointed vice president of business development. His responsibilities will include developing strategic partnerships for infoUSA.com. Mr. Baral's prior position was assistant vice president for marketing, business development and strategy for CNA Companies.

Protocol Communications, Inc. has expanded its corporate management team with two recent promotions. Richard Kommit was named as vice president of marketing and is responsible for the company's national marketing program. His most recent position was executive vice president of marketing services. Mitchell Cornell was named vice president of sales and will direct company activities in its four sales regions. Cornell was previously director of sales. Both positions report to Kevin N. Blayne, vice president of sales and marketing.

PDS/Worldwide recently announced that Thomas J. Ferranti, who joined the company in 1999, was named vice president of information systems. He will oversee PDS's Web site development activities and direct the information management, call center and communications networks. Thomas J. Truillo, Jr. was named vice president of e-business and outsourcing solutions. His previous position was general manager of PDS's Accr-A-Data division. Walter E. Borden III joined PDS as its vice president of sales and marketing. His previous position was director of sales at Uniform Information Systems, Inc. Borden will direct corporate sales and marketing functions, including the national sales organization.

Angelo P. Macchia was appointed chief technology officer for Aegis Communications Group, Inc., reporting to Richard M. Interdonato, chief operating officer of the company. Macchia's responsibilities include directing the company's client service center information systems and managing the applications development, telecommunications and business requirements organizations. Prior to joining Aegis Communications, Macchia was managing partner of Guardian Technology and Consulting.

Roska Direct, a direct marketing and advertising agency, has named Bobbie Hagen as vice president of account management. Hagen's most recent position was president of DMW Worldwide's New York office.

PanaSite Software Inc., a provider of Web site content management software, recently added two executives to its management team. David E. Cummings was appointed senior vice president of sales and marketing, and named to its board of directors. Cummings most recently was chief technology officer of Oxygen.com. William A. Strenge, Esq. was named chief financial officer and general counsel. Before joining the company, Strenge was senior financial executive for Global Asset Management.

Lynn Muzik was appointed to the position of vice president of corporate development at Franklin Communications Corporation. Muzik will lead a marketing initiative to address the communications needs of non-telecom enterprises, such as financial services firms, the transportation and lodging industries and retail merchants. Prior to her appointment, Muzik was vice president of Morgan Stanley Dean Witter's Discover Card unit.

John Meiling was named as vice president of worldwide marketing for telephony by Philips Speech Processing. Meiling's responsibilities include global marketing strategies for Philips Speech Processing's telephony-based speech recognition business. Meiling previously was general manager for Lucent Technologies' AUDIX messaging business in Europe, Africa and the Middle East.

eShare Technologies promoted Jerry Hatton to senior vice president of worldwide sales for eShare's e360 Solutions business unit. Hatton's most recent position with eShare was vice president of international sales. Hatton will be responsible for domestic and international sales operations, growth of the business unit and its expansion into new interactive technologies.

Williams Communications Group Inc.'s president and CEO, Howard E. Janzen, announced several organizational changes at the company. Gordon Martin, formerly senior vice president of sales and marketing was promoted to president of carrier services. Laura Kenny was appointed president of Vyvx services, Williams' video transmission service. Previously, Kenny was vice president and general manager of Vyvx. Jeff Storey was promoted to vice president of access services. Storey's most recent position was executive director of voice services. Sharon Crow was appointed vice president of bandwidth markets. Crow had been with Louis Dreyfus before joining Williams in 1995. Greg Floerke was named senior vice president of fiber operations. Floerke joined Williams in 1987 has held various business development and engineering positions. Patti Schmigle, president of Williams Communications Solutions, announced that Larry Satterfield was promoted to senior vice president and general manager responsible for U.S. sales profit centers. Dan Miller was promoted to senior vice president and chief operations officer.

Donald J. Slusarski was named as chief executive officer of Worldtrak, a provider of CRM solutions. With the appointment, Worldtrak founder, Clark Dircz, becomes president and chief technology officer. Previously, Slusarski was vice president of field operations for Lawson Software, Inc.

Teltrust, Inc. has appointed its new senior management team. Daniel Balistierri was named as senior vice president of new business and marketing. Balistierri is former vice president of Complete Business Solutions, Inc. Brian Mitkowski was appointed senior vice president and chief technology officer. Mitkowski was most recently the senior director of Complete Business Solutions, Inc. David Rutberg has assumed the post of senior vice president, recurring sales and account management. Rutberg was formerly vice president of professional services and customer support with eShare Technologies, Inc. Carole Anne Bailo, most recently director of finance and administration for eShare Technologies, Inc., was appointed as senior vice president and chief financial officer. David Lewis was named as senior vice president of operations. He was previously president and CEO of Strategic Focus, Inc., a marketing research services company.

ASC Telecom, L.P., a provider of voice and data recording, named Steve Arcoleo as vice president of new business development. Before joining ASC Telecom, Arcoleo managed alternate channels of distribution for TEAC America.

Octane Software, Inc. a provider of Internet Relationship Management (iRM) applications and infrastructure, recently announced several appointments to its management team. Bill Walsh, recently president of PeopleSoft International, was appointed president and chief operating officer. James Doehrman was named senior vice president and chief financial officer. Most recently, Doehrman was vice president and CFO of IDG Books Worldwide. Andy Sherman, previously head of PeopleSoft International's international legal organization, was appointed as vice president and general consul. Todd Rowe was named vice president of business development. Rowe's most recent position was vice president of business development at PeopleSoft International.

Dr. G. Wayne Clough, president of the Georgia Institute of Technology, was named to the board of directors of Total System Services, Inc. Richard W. Ussery, CEO of Total System Services and chairman of the board, said that Dr. Clough's initiatives in technological research will prove invaluable to the company.

Vyyo Inc. announced that Nasser Sharabianlou joined as Vyyo's vice president of marketing, and John Ramsey became its vice president of worldwide sales. Sharabianlou's most recent position was vice president of telecom services at American Telecasting. Most recently, Ramsey was manager of strategic development for Newbridge Networks.

Ericsson Inc. recently announced several changes in its executive management. Jan W�reby, currently executive vice president and head of market area Europe, Middle East and Africa, was appointed vice president and head of business segment consumer products, replacing Johan Siberg. Siberg will assume a new position as coordinator of Swedish operations. Additionally, Ragnar B�ck was appointed executive vice president and head of market area Western Europe and member of the corporate executive team. B�ck is currently president and country manager of Ericsson in Italy. Massimo Gentili, currently vice president and general manager for public operators, was named president and country manager of Ericsson Italy.

Austin Logistics, Inc. named Carl Ramey as its head of Latin American and Asian efforts. He will be responsible for running Austin Logistics' customer relationships and business development operations in those regions. Ramey's most recent position was solutions architect for international channels at Lucent Technologies' business communications systems unit.

Lori Laurent has been promoted to the position of vice president of e-business development at Harte-Hankes Direct Marketing, a provider of direct and interactive marketing services. Prior to her promotion, Laurent was responsible for creating and implementing e-commerce and e-market solutions for Harte-Hankes' retail clients.

TeleDirect International promoted M. Wayne Wisehart to chief executive officer of the company, succeeding Kathleen Kelly, who was appointed chairman of TeleDirect's board of directors. Before joining TeleDirect in 1999, Wisehart served as CFO for Palmer Wireless, Inc. Kelly has been president and CEO of the company since 1987.

myNetsales.com appointed Michael J. Doyle as chief executive officer. Doyle was co-founder, director and chief executive officer with The Standish Care Company, which merged with CareMatrix Corporation in 1996.

Knowlagent, a provider of training and evaluation solutions, named Thomas Laudisi vice president of sales. Laudisi comes to Knowlagent from eShare/Melita where he was involved in the sales and marketing of telephony solutions

mergersacquisitions.gif (1526 bytes)

Intel Acquires VTG
Intel Corporation announced that it would acquire Voice Technologies Group, Inc. of Buffalo, New York. Specific terms of the transaction were not disclosed. Intel expects the acquisition to expand the PBX product portfolio of Dialogic Corporation, its subsidiary, and provide access to engineering expertise and PBX switch and phone technology. Dialogic Corporation products are used in voice, fax, data, speech recognition and synthesis, call center management and Internet Protocol (IP) telephony applications. Intel said that the Voice Technologies acquisition will further Dialogic's objective of helping to integrate applications such as IP telephony, unified messaging, speech-based auto attendant and call center applications with PBX systems. The Voice Technologies Group will continue to manage the development and support of new and existing PBX products. Intel expects the purchase to be completed in the second quarter of this year.

CenterPoint Purchased By NICE
NICE Systems Ltd., a provider of integrated digital recording and quality management solutions, has agreed to purchase CenterPoint Solutions, Inc., a developer of Web-enabled applications for measuring the performance of contact centers. NICE expects to integrate several of CenterPoint's products into its CRM solutions, including customer callback automation and voice response survey tools using interactive voice response (IVR) technology. NICE said that CenterPoint's CentreVu Explorer provides a link between PBX/ACD and its CRM applications. The deal closed at the end of March 2000.

Sprint Purchases Nashville Cable Joint Venture
Sprint Corporation completed its purchase of Nashville Cable Joint Venture in Nashville, Tennessee. The company adds the unit to a list of broadband wireless companies it has purchased over the past year. Sprint said it is in the planning and development stage of building a broadband wireless operation that will complement its Digital Subscriber Line (DSL) business. Sprint hopes to provide a variety of high-speed, wireless services to residential and small business customers; in particular, Internet service that will deliver at speeds over 50 times faster than traditional dial-up connections.

DTS And Telcor Will Merge
Digital Transmission Systems, a manufacturer of components to access and monitor high-speed telecommunications networks, announced that it entered into a merger agreement with Telcor Communications. Telcor resells new and refurbished telecommunications equipment and services to telecom service providers. The acquisition is intended to provide DTS with a sales and marketing distribution channel to wireless service providers, who represent over 60 percent of Telcor's sales.

Remedy To Aquire Assets Of Ostream
Remedy Corporation, a supplier of e-CRM and e-business solutions, agreed to acquire certain assets of Ostream Software Inc. Under the agreement, Remedy will acquire Ostream's development team and the Ostream Migrator product, which is a companion to Remedy's product line. Prior to the acquisition, Remedy and Ostream development teams worked together to create complementary products. The company said that the acquisition will enhance its current products and future development of e-commerce service solutions.

mergersacquisitions.gif (1526 bytes)

iMagic Changes Its Name
iMagic Infomedia Technology has changed its name to PowerPhone Network HK Ltd. The name reflects the company's desire to better identify itself with its PowerPhone interactive, multimedia payphone. In North America, the company will be represented by PowerPhone Network U.S. Inc.

TCIM Launches New Venture
TCIM Services, a teleservices company that provides marketing support ranging from direct outbound sales to customer care programs, announced the start-up of The Interaction Center. The new venture was implemented to create interactive, Web-enabled call centers with combined features, such as e-mail, Web callback, chat, VoIP, computer-telephony integration and fax. The Interaction Center will be led by William Thompson, previously executive vice president for marketing at TCIM Services. Lee E. Bye, Jr. was named to Thompson's vacated post. Prior to joining TCIM, Bye was a global account director for AT&T.

Call Sciences States Wireless Initiative
Call Sciences, Inc. announced its intent to provide outsourced, telco-grade enhanced services to national and regional wireless carriers in the United States. The company plans to contract with at least one national and two regional carriers by the end of this year. Call Sciences said that it has conducted extensive research and development on anticipated demands for services and features, and has gained experience delivering its integrated services into eight wireless networks in the U.S. and Europe. Additionally, Call Sciences said that it can offer wireless carriers and their customers one local number for use in place of the consumers' previous wireless, wireline and fax numbers through its Unified Communications Management application.

internationalnews.gif (1342 bytes)

Fujitsu Announces Investment In Northern Ireland
Fujitsu Ltd., a provider of information and telecommunications technology, announced that it invested $46 million in Northern Ireland. The company said that it would open a new engineering center in Belfast. The facility will be used for developing and testing telecommunications products for North American and European markets. The center will also incorporate the company's existing software operation in Belfast. This represents Fujitsu's fourth investment in Northern Ireland since 1996. Last year, Fujitsu's ICL subsidiary established a software "solution center" in Northern Ireland under an alliance with Microsoft. The center develops software for international markets based on Microsoft SQL server technology.

UnitedGlobalCom Unit To Merge With Telstra
UnitedGlobalCom, Inc. announced that its Australian subsidiary, Austar United Communications Limited (Austar), would merge its New Zealand operations with those of Telstra Corporation Limited to form a 50:50 joint venture. The new company, Telstra Saturn Limited, will offer voice data, Internet, mobile and pay television services to New Zealand's business and residential markets. The merger hopes to take advantage of the complementary service offerings of the two businesses; namely, broadband video, voice and data services.

Global One Partners With I-Team For Argentine E-Commerce
Global One, a unit of France Telecom, and I-Team, an Argentine Internet systems formulator, formed a partnership to provide turnkey e-commerce solutions in the Americas. Initially, the program expects to serve six market areas: Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Mexico and Venezuela. Global One "aims to be the first global carrier in the Americas with the capability to provide business-to-business and business-to-consumer e-commerce applications."

Nortel Invests In Northern Ireland
Nortel Networks announced it has invested $48 million in Monkstown, Northern Ireland to manufacture high-speed optical transmission equipment. This represents Nortel Networks' sixth investment in Monkstown since 1992. Other Nortel operations in Northern Ireland include NITEC, its research and development unit, and a telecommunications production and testing facility.

Witness Establishes Nordic Presence
Witness Systems, Inc., a provider of CRM recording and analysis software, has opened an office in Stockholm, Sweden. The company expects that the new office will strengthen its market presence in Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Norway and Iceland. Witness Systems views Sweden as a center of growth for contact center operations, so the Northern European region is part of its strategy for capitalizing on the growing international contact center market. Ulf Castegren, Nordic sales director, will lead operations of the Stockholm office. Prior to joining Witness Systems, Castegren was managing director of a Swedish computer networking company.

strategicalliances.gif (1417 bytes)

TBC And Advent On SamePage For Enhancements
TBC Consulting Group announced that it had partnered with Advertech Ltd. to enhance SamePage, TBC's Web-based monitoring management and performance coaching application. Advertech, a developer of customized call center solutions, will design and integrate digital recording capabilities to the SamePage platform. The intent is to allow remote access to a client's automated call distribution network and record all agents, either randomly or on a pre-determined schedule. This would give TBC supervisors use of the recordings for training and professional development of client coaches and provide clients with remote access for their feedback on monitoring performance. The recordings could be archived and used for complaint resolution. Clients may access SamePage from any location having Internet service and retrieve various performance and evaluation reports.

Hipbone Allies With Lipstream
Hipbone, Inc., a developer of Internet co-navigation services for e-commerce customer service applications, and Lipstream Networks, Inc., a provider of live voice communication over the Internet, have agreed to integrate Lipstream's VoIP technology into Hipbone's Java-based Web co-navigation service. The alliance aims at providing a customer service solution that enables simultaneous co-navigation of the Web and live voice chat between a customer service agent and a consumer. The companies said that the service does not require any special equipment at a company's facility and, since the service's user interface is integrated into current Web browsers, training considerations should be minor.

SITEL To Provide Online Support For expertcity.com
SITEL Corporation, a provider of e-CRM solutions, agreed to provide live-agent, text chat support for expertcity.com, an online marketplace for live computer help and training. The contract initially entails staffing by Microsoft-certified support engineers to solve problems related to hardware, software and Internet connectivity. expertcity.com said that SITEL's technical support and deployment should provide the flexibility and expertise needed to sustain its growth. expertcity.com users submit online computer-related questions that it sends to its base of technicians, who respond with bids. Bids consist of price, time estimate and availability. Users then choose the appropriate technician. Using expertcity.com's screen sharing software, the chosen "expert" can view the user's computer screen and share the user's mouse and keyboard to solve problems and teach technical skills.

Pathnet Signs Agreement With MetaSolv
Pathnet and MetaSolv Software, Inc. announced that Pathnet would license MetaSolv's Telecom Business Solution (TBS) for a portion of its operational support system (OSS) infrastructure. Pathnet is a supplier of high capacity, digital transport and access services to inter-exchange and local exchange carriers, Internet service providers regional phone companies, cellular operators and resellers. MetaSolv said that its TBS product integrates a communications company's business, from network planning and engineering to operations and customer care. The software is expected to enable Pathnet to enhance management of its inventory and network design, service provisioning, trouble ticketing, gateway interconnections and workflow management business functions. MetaSolv furnishes order management and service fulfillment solutions for communications providers.

RADCOM And Comverse Infosys Team
RADCOM Ltd., a manufacturer of network test and quality monitoring equipment for convergence technologies, announced a collaborative agreement with Comverse Infosys, Inc., a provider of digital recording technology and call center solutions. The agreement aims to integrate RADCOM's online protocol filtering and varied data line interface capabilities with Comverse's delivery and recording systems and provide a solution for lawful monitoring of data lines, voice over IP and cellular communications. Both companies said that service providers require solutions that enable compliance with legal interception requirements, such as the Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Act (CLEA) in the United States.

Andrea And Symbol To Co-Develop Products
Andrea Electronics Corporation announced that it has agreed with Symbol Technologies, Inc. to develop Andrea Electronics' headset products customized for Symbol Technologies' NetVision phone product line. NetVision phone is Symbol Technologies' latest addition to its Symbol Spectrum 24 products, adding voice communications to the data communications capabilities of a Spectrum 24 network. The agreement also commits the companies to work together on future development projects. The combination of technologies is intended to provide low noise and productivity solutions to users of wireless and mobile communications products.

Kanisa In Partnership With FaceTime
Kanisa Inc., a provider of e-service solutions, recently announced its partnership with FaceTime Communications, Inc., a developer of custom interaction services for the Web. FaceTime will provide instant messaging for the Kanisa ESP solution. Kanisa ESP is designed to channel customers to the proper interactive messaging queue. The addition of FaceTime Communications' instant messaging is intended to shorten interaction times for service agents and relieve customers of conversations with multiple service agents. Whenever a customer selects the instant messaging option, Kanisa ESP will provide the agent with relevant customer information and conversation history to minimize repetition.

Epicor And Clarus To Provide B2B E-Procurement For The Midmarket
Clarus Corporation, a provider of business-to-business e-commerce solutions, and Epicor Software Corporation, furnisher of business performance software for midmarket companies, announced that Epicor will integrate the Clarus eProcurement solution across its products as a Web commerce component. The eProcurement application connects buyers and suppliers of goods and services via the Internet. Clarus connects trading partners through SupplierUniverse, its trading network. SupplierUniverse provides marketplace services, content and transaction processing. The alliance should give Clarus an opportunity to reach midmarket enterprises and provide Epicor's customers with an integrated, Web-based procurement solution in its suite of e-business applications, e by Epicor. 

BusinessEdge Partners With Daleen
Daleen Technologies Inc., a provider of e-business solutions, and BusinessEdge Solutions, Inc., a provider of e-business integration and solutions, have allied to offer an e-business Operations Support System solution for the telecommunications industry. The solution incorporates Daleen Technologies' BillPlex customer management and billing software. Daleen and BusinessEdge will work together to provide convergent solutions for integrated communications providers that offer both voice and data services. Additionally, the BillPlex solution will be deployed as part of BusinessEdge's velOSSity.com, an e-business and OSS integration center. The alliance aims at providing a flexible solution that offers support for voice, complex data and IP usage-based services. 

Solunet And MCK Ally For Remote Voice Solutions
Solunet, Inc., a value-added network integrator, announced an alliance with MCK Communications, a provider of remote voice and access products. The company said that it will add MCK Communications' complete line of remote voice solutions to its network solutions. Solunet said that it sees an increased demand for telephony-based converged network technologies, and the addition of MCK's products will enable it to leverage the technology for its increasing services for the CLEC industry and offer expanded voice, broadband and IP-centric technologies.

FirePond Forms Alliance With Akamai
FirePond, a provider of integrated e-business sales and marketing solutions, announced a strategic alliance with Akamai Technologies, Inc. Akamai provides services for the delivery of Internet content, streaming media and applications. Under the terms of the agreement, FirePond and Akamai will offer interactive selling solutions for business-to-business e-commerce. FirePond customers can elect to take advantage of Akamai's FreeFlow Internet content delivery capabilities without modifying their Web sites. The addition of FreeFlow to its application suite is intended to allow FirePond customers to deliver authenticated and streaming media to end users and enhance the online experience.

Expansions

CSI Forms U.S. Subsidiary
Convergent Software Limited, of Bangalore, India, announced the formation of a U.S. subsidiary, Convergent Software, Inc. Convergent Software is a provider of software development service and solutions, including, IT strategy, customer and package software deployment and network integration services. The subsidiary is headquartered in Garland, Texas, under the stewardship of Robert Berman, president of North American operations.

iSKY Opens Center In Oregon
iSKY announced that it will open a new customer contact center in Bend, Oregon. The facility, scheduled to open at the end of March 2000, can accommodate about 900 workstations and is equipped with Windows-based customer interaction software and computer-telephony technologies. The Bend location is iSky's fifth communications center. Each center provides support through telephone, VoIP, Web-based chat, data-form sharing, e-mail and fax interactions.

Synergy Opens In Phoenix
Synergy Solutions, Inc., a provider of outsourced customer contact solutions, recently opened its first contact center in Phoenix, Arizona. The 200-seat center currently implements outbound teleservices and customer acquisition programs, with future plans to expand into Web-based customer contact and support. The center expects to employ up to 500 customer contact representatives.

InfoCision Expands Clarksburg Facility
InfoCision Management Corporation opened its second call center in Clarksburg, West Virginia. InfoCision said that the center effectively doubles the size of its Clarksburg operations. The company provides in- and outbound marketing services for commercial and nonprofit organizations.

ICT Creates E-Solutions Subsidiary
ICT Group, Inc. announced the incorporation of iCT Connected-Touch.com, a wholly owned subsidiary formed to provide interconnected solutions and consistent service levels across all customer communication points. The subsidiary's e-solutions are intended to maximize CRM for business-to-business and business-to-consumer e-business sales and service operations. iCT ConnectedTouch.com will focus on supporting newly established e-commerce companies, Internet support service providers and traditional direct marketing service companies that have added an Internet channel for sales and services.

Business Response Expands St. Louis Operations
Business Response, Inc., a teleservices company headquartered in St. Louis, Missouri, expanded two of its St. Louis area call centers, adding 120 employees and beginning a technology upgrade at both facilities. The company said that the expansion and upgrade are intended to handle increased volumes of activity its clients are expected to generate this year.

Millennium Celebrates Arrival In Ohio
Millennium Teleservices opened a call center in Wellston, Ohio. This, the 28th center for the company, is part of its planned 40 percent expansion for 2000. Millennium Teleservices also announced the March opening of its Central City, Kentucky call center, which expects to employ about 200 telephone and e-commerce representatives.

Gemma Launches Toronto Call Center
Gemma Communications, Inc. launched a new telecommunications firm in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that will offer outsource call center solutions. The company said that its call center is supported by a six-server computer-telephony integration configuration and fully digitized voice-logging capability and handle both inbound and outbound calls. Gemma Communications indicated that its initial market focus is directed at national and international corporations having large in-house customer service call center operations and established outsource call center budgets.







Technology Marketing Corporation

2 Trap Falls Road Suite 106, Shelton, CT 06484 USA
Ph: +1-203-852-6800, 800-243-6002

General comments: [email protected].
Comments about this site: [email protected].

STAY CURRENT YOUR WAY

© 2023 Technology Marketing Corporation. All rights reserved | Privacy Policy