April  2002

Products For Unfettered Communications

• RME 5.0 From Banter

• Targeted Communications From Egoware

RME 5.0 From Banter
www.banter.com/415-247-2600

Understanding language is the most difficult task we undertake as humans and also one of the things that differentiates us from other life forms here on Earth (no letters please about whales, dolphins, chimpanzees or your dog). Computer programs are very specific and recognize only language that has been written into them, so that interacting with them in forms such as a Web interface, a form or button is looking for specific terms or actions. Thus many programs that are made to read unstructured text such as e-mail or Web chat dialogs depend on finding structured text they do understand. Working to overcome the problems that come with unstructured text (the way humans actually think and thus type) is Banter, which has developed its Relationship Modeling Engine (RME), now in version 5.0. 

RME is designed to be embedded into software applications to help them understand the communications of customer interactions, to provide further automation and improved routing of critical information. According to Yori Nelken, founder, chairman and CTO at Banter, RME can be used to 'bridge the gap between technical or business jargon and the way customers express themselves,' and improve Web-based self-help solutions. RME is designed to identify the context of a message and identify the intent of the message. It also has embedded learning technology so that users don't have to configure rules as the engine learns from agents and historical data.

When an e-mail or Web form enters the Banter Reply system, Reply's workflow analyzes the message data, identifies the intent of the message and takes the appropriate action. This workflow includes sending the message through RME to categorize what is being asked, and then routing the message to the most appropriate queue. Reply's workflow also allows for such features as sending e-mail acknowledgments when a message is received, auto-formatting and personalization of responses, spell checking, escalation, de-escalation, auditing, tagging of messages that require special assistance, and the tracking of service level agreements. Additionally, incoming messages are assigned a ticket number for tracking and history searching. Banter Reply comes standard with a reporting tool, The Report Center, which can be used for customer trend analysis and agent productivity analysis. 

Banter Self Help is designed to provide answers for Web self-service applications. It comes with a reporting feature that allows an administrator to review the questions that are being asked and the answers that are being given. When Self Help is combined with Banter Reply, RME provides for a single knowledge base for both channels, and when feedback is given in one channel, it automatically updates the other channel in real-time.

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Getting your message across to the right person is always a priority for sales and marketing, and how to deliver it has always been a quandary. Mass marketing is always an option, but the problem with mass marketing is the word mass ' meaning it is not specific to the individuals that are right for the message and even if it does make it to the ideal recipient, there is no way of knowing if they read the message and acted upon it other than asking when they call or go to your Web site.

Designed as a private, permission-based communications channel to the customer's desktop, Egoware's Egoware system is designed to give branding on a customer's desktop and target customers as individuals or as part of a demographic group. According to Ralf Conley, president of Egoware, 'Egoware is a front-end piece to CRM solutions. We tried to add stickiness by giving customers more value than just communication. This is your e-salesperson ' 24/7/365.'

The InTouch Branded Message Center resides on a contact's desktop, changing to alert the user to a new message. Clicking on the message center provides the user with a drop-down box that carries files, messages and e-mail links that have already been downloaded. 

Egoware users can send text or image messages targeted to individual customers, groups of customers, or to geographic areas by ZIP code, state or country. Using Egoware's e-Publishing Center, companies can push coupons and special offers. Renewal reminders can be sent for warranties, memberships or prescriptions that are about to expire. Targeted messages can contain Web and e-mail links to direct customers to new Web pages, sales flyers and order forms, or to facilitate instant customer surveys, event registration and post-sales feedback. 

To encourage use by contacts, Egoware provides a desktop Organizer that synchronizes with Microsoft's Outlook Calendar. The HotShot Browser Accelerator allows contacts to store their favorite music and organize favorite Web sites. It also allows users to set up an automatic Web site ID and Password fill-in program, and gives the user access to 10 search engines that they can move among without retyping the search query. The Remember This series of database applications allows users to store personal information such as medical histories and prescriptions in complete privacy. 

Egoware's e-Publishing Center provides real-time data on users to show who has installed the software, what ZIP code they were in and what items they clicked on. Egoware requires no IT support as the program resides on an external server.

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