October 1998

• Novazen Interactive Customer Care Software
• Saratoga Unveils AvenueService
• Customer E-mail Management From Kana
• Interactive Voice And Information Response
  System From CCS
• Customer Interaction Software From Mitel

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Novazen Interactive Customer Care software is designed to allow companies to deploy solutions for customer identification, account management, credits and adjustments, bill/invoice presentment and review, inbound and outbound data management, order entry, sales support and cross-selling options, reporting and integration with telephony-based customer service systems.

The Novazen software is based on object-oriented programming and built upon Java and WebObjects software design standards to allow it to be easily implemented into existing technology architectures. The software resides on various UNIX platforms including Hp_UX and Sun Solaris, and Windows NT.

Organizations using Novazen software can integrate Internet-based customer self-service with current call center capabilities to allow customers to use a browser for secure access to account information and the ability to self-manage account activity.

If a customer needs personal communication with a customer service representative, the customer can push to a live interactive session with a CSR via traditional telephony, chat, e-mail, Internet audio or videoconference. Both the customer and the CSR view the same information on both screens as they navigate the account together.

The Novazen Interactive Customer Care module is designed to complement the Novazen Consolidated Billing and Novazen Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment modules to supply an organization with methods of facilitating all customer-to-company interactions and activities, whether by Internet or traditional telephony methods.

For more information, call 303-583-3100 or see www.novazen.com.

Saratoga Unveils AvenueService

AvenueService, used in conjunction with Saratoga's Avenue customer relationship management system, uses Avenue's Dynamic Data Definition architecture for easy adaptation to business process and rapid deployment. Avenue is a customer relationship management product that allows users to customize and design database views, fields, queries, workflows and business rules specific to their own environment.

When used with AvenueCTI, AvenueService can also provide a variety of telephony capabilities through AvenueCTI's support of all industry-standard telephone switches. AvenueCTI enables incoming and outbound calls to be placed from within software applications. AvenueCTI capabilities allow screen pop displays of the caller's database record on the agent's screen. Agents can also conference a call, and the account record will be displayed on the screens of all agents involved in the conference call. During this conference call, write access to the record is given to the original agent answering the call, while read-only access is given to other participants.

To ease the management over what is going on in the call center, AvenueService provides predefined screensets, database trigger and record definitions, and reports and charts. Avenue also provides wizards that aid in the rapid development of customized business rules.

For more information, call 408-371-9330 or see www.saratogasystems.com.

Customer E-mail
Management From Kana

Intelligent workflow is provided by Kana CMS through automation of acknowledgement, suggestion and response; queue management that features individual queue service levels and escalation paths; case management and enterprisewide collaboration.

Companies can develop a knowledge base of responses that can be used to develop standard templates. Communication histories allow previous customer contacts to be reviewed, and agents can create personal, high-quality responses quickly through hotkey or menu access to the response library.

Kana CMS can also send automatic responses based on message content, sender address, recipient address and other message elements. The Intelligent Message Agent uses keyword searching and configurable rules to provide flexibility in designing responses. Configurable rules can be designed to provide automatic filtering that will delete empty messages, spam and other unwanted e-mail.

Messages can be analyzed by category to improve the understanding of a customer database. Messages can also be automatically routed to different message pools based on message content, priority and configurable rules. Relevant departments within the enterprise can be automatically notified as part of response templates.

Collaboration tools provide the ability to redirect messages to non-Kana users while maintaining the original sender as the "From" address. Messages and responses can be routed between Kana CMS users and notes attached to the messages.

Performance statistics tracking responses can be added to the correspondence history. System analysis and operator performance information such as numbers of messages answered, average response time, percent within service levels and average work time per message can be tracked to provide a variety of standard reports, and ad hoc querying capability allows the creation of custom reports.

For more information, call 877-480-KANA or see www.kana.com.

Interactive Voice And Information Response
System From CCS

FirstLine Encore is designed to reduce call abandon rates, decrease hold time for operators, provide detailed information online and improve customer satisfaction by giving customers an alternative to waiting in hold queues.

FirstLine Encore provides self-service access to information systems from telephones, Internet browsers, kiosks and computers. It provides the ability to access and update information in real-time from disparate data sources, no matter if they are on mainframe systems, in relational databases, on a client/server network, or on multiple systems.

FristLine Encore's ROAM feature supports both local and remote system administration from a single workstation. Remote access to system platforms is performed through a secure Internet connection, and all system operations are password protected.

FirstLine Encore is designed to work with a company's existing workflow processes to improve the accuracy and consistency of existing processes, such as sending e-mail, creating and transmitting faxes, updating databases, printing forms, running reports, etc. The system supports optional modules for multisystem management, open database connectivity and integration with third-party applications such as PeopleSoft, SAP and others.

For more information, contact David Gay at 770-441-3114, ext. 7336 or see www.ccsivr.com.

Customer Interaction Software From Mitel

Call Center Commander integrates with Mitel's SX-2000 LIGHT and SX-200 PBX platforms as well as most other PBX platforms and Centrex services. The applications also integrate with most standard database platforms, many third-party telephony applications and many front office platforms such as help desks, sales automation and order entry.

The Commander Server acts as a gateway between the ACIC and the public network, providing data collection and routing capabilities for the intelligent delivery and handling of incoming inquiries. It can be installed as a single server at a stand-alone site, as a single server supporting geographically dispersed agents or as multiple servers networked together. It uses industry-standard TCP/IP protocol to communicate across local and wide-area networks. It also supports a range of telephony features including automatic caller identification, integrated voice response, intelligent call distribution, screen pops, call blending, voice messaging and recording, and fax-on-demand/fax-back.

The Commander Agent gives agents visual access to telephony capabilities from their desktops. Commander Agent provides screen pops with customer information, and also includes automated wrap-up for generating acknowledgment of the interaction by fax, e-mail or letter, and an abandon callback feature.

The Commander Supervisor creates a real-time, visual operating environment that tracks and reports on all inquiries fielded from beginning to end. Managers can use the real-time information to reallocate resources to reflect changing call demands.

The Commander Report System provides managers with a cradle-to-grave reporting system for tracking call center performance measures such as call volume, agent performance and call types. The Report System also provides a unified view of all interactions from ICD, IVR or messaging.

Mitel Call Center Commander is a private-label version of technology from Apropos.

For more information, contact Kris Sherry at 613-592-2122 or see www.mitel.com.