May 2000

Magic Software Enterprises Introducs eService
Magic Software Enterprises has introduced Magic eService, its new Web-based, enterprise-level customer service management system designed to allow companies to manage their service departments as profit centers. The new product, which marks the debut of Magic's new customer relationship management (CRM) suite, helps streamline service workflow and provide companies a comprehensive picture of their service departments in real-time. Magic eService is a completely Web-based customer service solution that can handle long-term service for complex problems, automatically documenting the service and allowing both the service agent and customer to track performance. In addition, it allows the service manager to evaluate and measure the quality of the long-term service. The product includes comprehensive workflow of technical or specialized service through Web and e-mail; personalized customer service based upon service contracts and customer characteristics; Web-based self-service for customers; online tracking of all customer interactions, both service agent and customer; and service center management tools designed to allow the service department to be managed as a profit or cost center. Using a system of alerts, Magic eService automatically identifies profitable customers, helping ensure they receive quick and satisfactory treatment. The system also alerts service agents to "exceptions" requiring special problem resolution, and sales managers to specific problems with their accounts. In addition, Magic eService can reduce costs by making it possible for companies to employ cost-effective "virtual support centers," where service agents can work from their homes. Virtual support centers also allow the organization to easily provide 24-hour, seven-day-a-week support through "follow-the-sun" service that uses the availability of the Internet.
No. 500, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

eAssist.com And Wireless Knowledge Form Alliance
eAssist.com, a provider of interactive e-customer support and electronic assistance, announced an agreement with Wireless Knowledge LLC to offer software products that enable customers to interact wirelessly with eAssist.com's Web-based customer support and electronic assistance. The purpose of the agreement is to extend eAssist.com's live customer support to any Internet-ready device, such as a mobile phone or PDA, over any wireless airlink. Online shoppers, traders and other e-commerce customers will be able to interact with live support representatives from any wireless Internet device. eAssist.com offers its customers an outsourced solution including Web support representatives to facilitate multichannel, live customer interaction via e-mail, chat and voice over IP (VoIP). In addition, eAssist.com will support direct marketing campaigns based on customer information being logged into an eCRM knowledge base of repeat transactions, brand recognition and loyalty. Wireless Knowledge LLC, a joint venture between Microsoft and Qualcomm, provides platforms and services to corporate customers and application providers to enable applications for the mobile Internet.
No. 501, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

IslandData Unveils ExpressionResponse 4.5
IslandData, an e-business solutions provider for the online customer service market, has announced the availability of ExpressResponse 4.5. The upgraded product was designed to help corporations manage large volumes of end user e-mail and Web requests. ExpressResponse uses natural language processing techniques and automatically reads and analyzes user inquiries and presents the requested information or the next best course of action to the user within 10 seconds. It has 24-hour-a-day ASP-hosted delivery and can be implemented rapidly, helping enhance any call center infrastructure and workflow. New to this version of the product are enhanced categorization and message analysis, enterprise-level security and outbound message capabilities. These features were implemented to help allow users to respond to customer communications with a high level of accuracy and quality of service while maintaining a closed-loop feedback mechanism by using automated surveys and follow-ups. An optional addition to version 4.5 is French, Spanish, German and Kanji language capabilities.
No. 502, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

Phonetic Systems Aims To Extend Web Site And E-Commerce Applications
Phonetic Systems, a developer of large-scale speech recognition solutions, has announced enhancements to its PhoneticOperator platform designed to enable voice access to Web site and e-commerce applications. The PhoneticPortal allows companies to extend the reach of their applications with PhoneticOperator by leveraging their network infrastructure and giving users easy voice access to Web content and associated services over the telephone. Voice-enabling Web and e-commerce applications with PhoneticOperator can help businesses to deliver new self-service conduits for customers to gain access to services available on their Web site. E-commerce companies can have an option to extend the reach of their offerings to the telephone while taking advantage of the infrastructure already in place for their Internet-based applications. A customer can pick up a telephone at any time of day to retrieve product or company information, place an order or check order status without using touch-tone menus or dial-by-name directories.
No. 503, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

Intarka Introduces System To Generate Targeted Leads From The Internet
Intarka, a provider of Web mining technologies for business, has announced ProspectMiner 2.0, an intelligent agent for Internet-based sales lead generation. ProspectMiner provides an automated solution to the tasks of identifying, preparing and distributing targeted sales lead information. ProspectMiner pulls information from multiple search engines in parallel, looking for all companies that match a user-specified profile. To eliminate unneeded information, the product applies topic-specific filtering to the metasearch findings. The result is an initial target market list, composed of the desired type located in the desired places. The target market is then refined and customized by user interaction in a learning feedback loop. System "training" continues until the user is satisfied that ProspectMiner can accurately distinguish the best prospects for the specific purpose in the given target market. The product uses natural language processing to convert the relevant business information about a company into an actionable company profile containing pertinent and current information. A typical profile contains a company's address and phone number, multiple contact names, recent news about the company, financial data and product information.
No. 504, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

ServiceWare Partners With Support.com To Provide Support
ServiceWare, Inc., a provider of e-service solutions, announced a partnership with Support.com, a supplier of e-support solutions, to develop an integrated support solution, helping provide support analysts and end users with solutions and one-click activation capabilities. As part of the agreement, Support.com will license and integrate ServiceWare's RightAnswers.com knowledge channels into its eSupport Infrastructure, helping provide immediate access to ServiceWare's repository of support solutions. This integration combines RightAnswers.com's Internet-available answers to technology-related questions from various vendors with Support.com's e-support technology and infrastructure. The goal is to enable customers to have the ability to find the right answers to problems and more effectively resolve problems once the answer is found. RightAnswers.com is a knowledge portal that integrates solutions from companies such as Microsoft, offering a selection of support content for Windows NT, Windows 2000, Internet Explorer and Microsoft Exchange. ServiceWare, in turn, creates many of its custom solutions based on content it receives from Microsoft that is enhanced and republished on Microsoft's Web site. Additional RightAnswers.com solutions include Apple Computer, Novell, 3Com and ServiceWare's own knowledge engineering staff.
No. 505, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

GFI Launches Free Five-User Version Of LANguard
GFI is offering a free, five-user version of its Internet access control tool, LANguard. LANguard was designed to ensure productive use of the Internet, monitors internal traffic for threats and helps secure the network against unauthorized access. LANguard also includes a feature that can prevent Web searches for specified words and phrases. LANguard helps enable a company to monitor Internet use on its network and allows the company to block types of external traffic or specific sites that it deems nonproductive. Through LANguard, an organization can set up its own network policy and block types of traffic as well as prevent access to specific sites. The product was also designed to help protect against internal security threats, such as users accessing confidential data and hacking into share directories to which entry is barred. LANguard also helps block all TCP/IP external traffic from the Internet and helps protect the network from electronic break-ins, penetration attacks, hackers and other threats.
No. 506, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

Contigo And Envoyglobal.com Partner To Create Internet Conferencing Services
Contigo Software, a provider of Web-based conferencing products for sales, marketing and training applications, has announced that Contigo's i2i Internet conferencing system will be offered as a platform for clients of Envoyglobal.com, an application solution provider for Internet conferencing. The two companies plan to jointly offer a process designed to make "online events" more successful for presenters and participants. Using Contigo's technology, Envoyglobal aims to set up custom electronic conferences, training sessions, seminars and product demonstrations for groups as small as two or as large as 2,500 participants. Contigo's i2i includes features and flexible configurations such as enhanced security and boarding controls, which help ensure privacy, and lead capture, which allows companies to reap the benefits of seminar efforts quickly and for as long as they make a seminar or presentation available for playback. With JavaScript, FollowMe Web Tour and live application viewing capabilities, a variety of features can be integrated into a company's Web-based event. i2i's host software is 100 percent Java and can run on most platforms, including Windows NT and Unix-based servers.
No. 507, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

VocalTec Unveils Surf&Call Network Services
VocalTec Communications Ltd. announced the availability of Surf&Call Network Services for limited free trial to qualified customers. The recently formed business unit is an application service provider (ASP) aimed at enabling e-commerce storefronts to provide integrated voice (Internet telephony), co-browsing, text chat and form completion assistance directly to customers via the Web. The service can assist Web-based businesses in improving customer acquisition and retention and increase revenues, all while bypassing the complexity and cost of on-site technology installation and maintenance. Prior to the start date of full commercial service, scheduled for later in 2000, qualified e-commerce companies can apply to use Surf&Call Network Services for a limited period at no cost. The service offers new features to help e-commerce businesses extend their Web presence: simple, direct and instantaneous voice communication (instant "click and talk") from the customer's computer while shopping, multiple choices in the means of achieving live, human interaction (voice from the PC, co-browsing, text chat and forms completion), and a platform that can be integrated without disruption to current operations.
No. 508, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo

Sagent Announces Information Service For Real-Time Web-Based Prospecting And Selling
Sagent Technology Inc., a provider of real-time e-business intelligence solutions, has introduced Centrus Real-Time, an XML-based information service designed to deliver value-added information at the point of customer interaction to help companies make smarter business decisions. Centrus Real-Time helps enable companies better understand and predict customer needs and behavior, compare existing information with current market trends and allocate resources to retain the most valuable customers and acquire new ones. Centrus Real-Time can add value for businesses that want to augment their customer data with value-added geographic, business-to-business and demographic information. Centrus Real-Time can also be used to solve a variety of industry-specific problems, such as DSL loop qualification in the telecommunications market, automated underwriting in the insurance industry and address validation and verification to reduce fraud and increase customer satisfaction in e-business.
No. 509, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo