July 2000
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More
Than An Address Book BY CAROL
DRZEWIANOWSKI
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Go
Right To:
Customer Contact News
Grow Business Relationships And Turn Them Into Results
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The name of this section, "Customer Contact," obviously lends
itself to an important (though sometimes overlooked) topic: contact
management. While a small address book might be sufficient for your
personal contacts, it would be horribly inadequate for your business
contacts, especially in this new era of the multimedia contact centers.
According to a recent report from Piper Jaffray, the contact center
software market represents a $14 billion market opportunity by 2003.
Today's multimedia contact center infrastructure calls for unified
software platforms that can converge and blend all media types, combined
with legacy system integration capabilities.
Cisco Systems recently introduced the Internet Communications Software
Group (ICSG), chartered to lead Cisco's software strategy. The group
delivers software platforms that enable enterprises, service providers,
and application vendors to realize the full potential of converged voice
and data networks. ICSG's customer contact platform combines intelligent
contact management, Web collaboration, e-mail response management, and
Cisco's IP telephony networking solutions.
Integration is also a key word when it comes to contact management, and
WebTone Technologies has partnered with Unica to offer an integrated eCRM
solution that will enable businesses to leverage key customer information
across the enterprise, maximize customer interactions, and deliver a
consistent brand across Internet and traditional channels. Both WebTone
and Unica will market the new integrated solution -- initially to online
retailers and financial institutions -- which consists of WebTone's
Harmony Suite and Unica's multi-channel marketing system.
Another important aspect of contact management these days is
Web-enabling the software, so that anyone can access it from anywhere in
the world. GraphOn Corporation and GoldMine Software announced an OEM
licensing agreement that will allow GoldMine to use Bridges software to
Web-enable all of its HEAT family of products and CRM products, including
the HEAT and GoldMine FrontOffice 2000. GoldMine will be able to provide
users with server-based access to their applications from any location in
the world, with complete functionality across multiple platforms and
networks, and without modifying the application's code or requiring costly
add-ons.
Clearly, contact management has become more complicated, but with the
help of the right technology solution, it doesn't have to be any more
difficult. A variety of options exist and in this month's section you'll
find several announcements to keep you up-to-date on the latest news.
| Customer
Contact News
NICE Systems Completes
Acquisition Of CenterPoint Solutions
NICE Systems has completed the acquisition of CenterPoint
Solutions, an application developer of Web-enabled solutions for
statistical tracking, digital recording and automated customer
surveys for contact centers. NICE acquired all the stock of
CenterPoint Solutions for approximately $3 million in cash and up to
200,000 NICE American Depositary Shares (ADSs), representing
ordinary shares of NICE.
No. 527, comsolmag.com/freeinfo
Chordiant Intros
E-Business And Customer Interaction Software
Chordiant Software announced the immediate availability of its next
generation e-business infrastructure software, integrating all
aspects of customer contact over the Internet, via mobile devices,
and at brick-and-mortar service centers. The new suite of e-business
software, Chordiant version 2.0, brings together popular forms of
live and remote customer communication. This e-business and customer
interaction software allows companies to implement a solution across
a wide range of devices such as Internet Web sites, in-car concierge
systems, WAP-enabled devices, supporting mobile Internet phones and
PalmPilot devices, traditional call centers, and retail sites.
No. 528, comsolmag.com/freeinfo
Enterprise Networks
Group Intros CenterVu Remote Agent
The new Enterprise Networks Group to be spun off from Lucent
Technologies announced a solution that enables customer contact
center agents to work from home -- or any remote location -- while
delivering high-quality customer support. CentreVu Remote Agent, the
latest addition to the Enterprise Networks Group's portfolio of
remote agent solutions, addresses the requirements of organizations
that want to attract and retain the best customer care agents by
offering them workplace flexibility. The solution also is ideal for
organizations with branch customer care locations that need to link
with the organization's headquarters site. Additionally, remote
agent capability is essential for maintaining mission-critical
customer care during periods of heavy call volumes and service
interruptions.
No. 529, comsolmag.com/freeinfo
Blue Martini Announces
Customer Interaction System Version 3.1
Blue Martini Software has unveiled version 3.1 of its flagship
Customer Interaction System. Version 3.1 is internationalized to
support multi-lingual, multi-currency Web sites for companies
selling to broad markets. The latest version also includes new
modules to support customer interaction across mobile wireless
touchpoints, and the addition of tools for advanced data
visualization including interactive multi-dimensional scatter plots.
Version 3.1 also integrates Web site operations with back office
fulfillment through a new integration suite, helping link to SAP,
PeopleSoft, and industry standards-based systems through the
availability of packaged adapters.
No. 530, comsolmag.com/freeinfo
Octane Integrates With
Cisco's ICM
Octane Software has announced integration between Octane 2000 and
Cisco's intelligent contact management software, Cisco ICM, an
integral component of the company's customer contact software
platform. This integration provides complete call control
capabilities from the Octane 2000 browser-based interface without
requiring client-side software, and enables distributed contact
center operations.
No. 531, comsolmag.com/freeinfo
Witness Systems Works
With Kana
Witness Systems announced its e-media product integration
and co-marketing partnership with Kana Communications. Witness
Systems' eQuality Response, which records and evaluates electronic
mail interactions between a customer and customer sales/service
representative (CSR), integrates with Kana Response, an inbound
message management solution for responding to and directing customer
e-mail and Web forms. For collaborative Web chat communications,
Witness Systems' eQuality Interactive records and evaluates
collaborative chat and instant messaging interactions and integrates
with Kana Realtime, a live two-way dialogue application that enables
CSRs to communicate with customers through Web page push, Web
history tracking, prioritization, escalations, knowledge bases, and
agent and administrator features as they browse a site, place an
order and initiate service and support queries.
No. 532, comsolmag.com/freeinfo
Aspect Portal
Multimedia v. 1.2 Available
Aspect Communications announced the general availability of
Aspect Portal Multimedia v.1.2, a second-generation solution
available for blending customer contact channels, including
telephone, e-mail, Web, and fax. The newly enhanced solution enables
e-businesses to offer consistent, responsive service over a single
infrastructure, no matter how customers contact them. This
second-generation Aspect Portal Multimedia product builds upon the
satisfied customer use and deployment of the original software in
real-world e-business production environments.
No. 533, comsolmag.com/freeinfo
Syntellect and Davox
Announce Technology Alliance
Syntellect and Davox have announced an agreement to jointly market
each company's offerings. The combination of Syntellect's Vista
software platform running inbound self-service solutions and Davox's
customer interaction management solutions provides customers with
more choices about the method they use to transact business and
receive service. This integrated offering enables customers to
contact enterprises via telephone or the Web, and service themselves
or receive assistance from an agent. It provides a cohesive set of
products and services for enterprises seeking to enhance their
customer's service experience.
No. 534, comsolmag.com/freeinfo
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Grow Business Relationships And Turn
Them Into Results
BY GREG HEAD
Success in business has always been about relationships. The more
successful you are, the more relationships you have to track, manage, and
grow. So, how can one program help you do this? Well, a contact manager
incorporates and tracks all of your daily activities into one central
repository so that you can better manage and profit from your
relationships.
With a contact manager you can track personal information about your
contacts (such as their birthdays or anniversaries) schedule meetings,
calls, and follow-up activities to keep you on top of and knowledgeable
about the relationship. A good contact manager becomes that essential tool
you use every day to grow your business relationships because it gets
results.
Fitting Your Needs
Not only does a contact manager organize your contacts, calendar, and
task lists for you, but also you can draft and send e-mail, faxes,
letters, and memos to one or more clients or groups. If you or your
company already have an e-mail client of choice, find a contact manager
that enables you to integrate with your corporate e-mail while taking
advantage of the more powerful features of a contact manager.
Contact managers are evolving to fit with the needs of today's business
people. One of the most important things to look for in your contact
manager is the ability to integrate with the other products and tools you
use on a daily basis.
The Internet, laptops, PDAs, and mobile phones have become essential to
today's mobile professionals. A good contact manager enables you to take
advantage of the Web and synchronize with mobile devices in order to keep
you productive -- even on the road.
Stay Visible
Information is powerful, but how does this information assist you in
getting results and measuring success? Certain contact managers offer
sales tools that enable you to see every opportunity in your pipeline so
you know whether to cultivate new business or close pending deals.
From this information, you can create reports that show your bottom
line. A contact manager not only helps you manage you time and stay
organized, but it gives you the visibility into your business that is
necessary in managing the growth of your business.
Greg Head is president, ACT! Division of Interact Commerce
Corporation. For more information, visit the company's Web site at saleslogix.com
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