×

TMCnet - The World's Largest Communications and Technology Community
ITEXPO begins in:   New Coverage :  Asterisk  |  Fax Software  |  SIP Phones  |  Small Cells
 

esalesnews.gif (4593 bytes)
July 2001

 

Headlines


AltiGen Communications Debuts AltiCenter
AltiGen Communications, a provider of IP-PBX phone systems for small- and mid-sized business, recently unveiled AltiCenter, a standalone IP call center for the small- and mid-size business market. AltiGen's new IP call center can be used with other vendors' PBX systems, enabling AltiGen resellers to address a larger market, including mid-sized companies. AltiCenter was designed to affordably provide the ability to integrate voice and data communications such as phones, voice mail, e-mail, Web interactions and local and remote IP calling. The IP call center will work with legacy PBXs as well as AltiGen's AltiServ IP-PBX for improved flexibility and compatibility. AltiCenter enables a company's internal IT staff to reduce the number of systems needed to deliver converged services by performing communications functions typically relegated to separate systems such as automatic call distributors (ACD), voice mail systems and computer-telephony middleware. It also provides additional enhanced capabilities, including e-mail management, Web chats and Web "push" technology. 
www.altigen.com / 1-888-ALTIGEN ext. 300

Kana Unveils Web-Architected Service Solution
Kana Communications, Inc., a provider of e-CRM solutions, recently unveiled Kana Service 7 EJB (Enterprise Java Beans), a Web-architected, multichannel, enterprise customer service solution. Kana also announced enhancements to its Kana Service COM offering. Kana's service solutions are designed to enable call centers to transition into revenue-generating contact centers by efficiently managing growing call volume, effectively handling complex queries and blending communication channels for customer interactions. Kana Service 7 EJB is a Web-architected service solution built from scratch on a Java architecture to support self, proactive and assisted service, comprehensive call management, computer-telephony integration and integrated knowledge and case management. The contact center solution is built upon Web standards that allow companies to integrate data, applications and processes faster and with improved flexibility, reliability and scalability than traditional client/server CRM offerings. Organizations can leverage EJB technology to deploy a thin-client-based service solution to consolidate all customer, partner and employee interactions from various communication channels -- including phone, e-mail and the Web -- in a complete eCRM system. Kana Service 7 EJB can manage more than two million interactions per day, with less than one-second response times and horizontal scalability. It uses application server platforms including IBM WebSphere and BEA WebLogic. Enterprises can incorporate their e-commerce activities with their contact center operation for improved service and greater revenue opportunities. Additionally, Kana Service 7 EJB is integrated with computer-telephony integration (CTI) solutions from Cisco Systems, providing skills-based call routing, automated screen pops and integrated communication channel management. 
www.kana.com / 877-480-KANA

Interactive Intelligence Releases Second Generation Interaction Center Platform
Interactive Intelligence Inc. has released its Interaction Center Platform 2.0, the company's interaction management engine and associated components that lie at the heart of Interactive Intelligence's solutions. Two products based on the Interaction Center Platform, Enterprise Interaction Center (EIC) and Customer Interaction Center (CIC), began shipping in June 2001. EIC acts as a complete communications solution for businesses of all types, providing PBX, auto-attendant, interactive voice response, speech recognition and unified messaging integrated with popular e-mail products including Microsoft Exchange, Lotus Notes and Novell Groupwise. CIC is a comprehensive interaction management solution for inbound, outbound and blended contact centers, providing IVR, automatic call distribution, call recording, text chat, real-time supervision and screen pop integration with popular products from Pivotal, Siebel, PeopleSoft, SAP and others. Version 2.0 of these products adds a number of new features, including Windows 2000 support; multimedia queuing for phone calls, e-mails, faxes, voice mails, text chats, Web callback requests and user-defined interaction types; a supervisory alert feature that allows contact center agents to click a single button to notify supervisors when they encounter a problem situation; one-number "follow me" capabilities; a new browser-based software phone; a Palm 7-based software phone; and multisite capabilities that allow employees at one site to see the real-time status. The Interactive Intelligence software is based on an open architecture that provides a central point of control for all interaction processing. Interactive Intelligence designed the software as a more flexible and cost-effective alternative to proprietary, legacy telecommunication devices. 
www.inin.com / 317-872-3000

Edify Offers New Version Of Edify Enterprise
Edify Corporation, a wholly owned subsidiary of S1 Corporation and a provider of multichannel customer interaction solutions, has announced the availability of Edify Enterprise, its full function, enterprise CRM system that features Edify's Virtual Customer Service Representatives (vCSR) and the Edify Interaction Center. Edify's vCSRs are a suite of applications that help increase the speed and effectiveness of customer sales and service through the automation of customer interaction, both written and verbal. Using Edify Natural Language technology, users can fulfill customer requests from any incoming channel, including phone, wireless, e-mail and the Web, without human assistance. At any point during a customer interaction, the vCSR can connect the customer with a service or sales representative anywhere within the enterprise and simultaneously provide assistance to the human representative. As a result, the rapidly growing volume and complexity of customer service and sales interactions can be managed in real-time, without delays or duplication of data entry. An enterprise using the Edify Enterprise solution can accept incoming customer inquiries from any communication channel. Messages that can be interpreted by Edify Natural Language are routed automatically to the appropriate vCSR; messages that cannot be reliably interpreted are routed to a human representative using the vCSR Desktop Assistant. Edify Interaction Center modules and vCSRs work in conjunction with Edify's Electronic Workforce 7.0 and feature real-time integration with legacy, desktop-centric systems and existing back-office applications without replicating data. 
www.edify.com / 800-944-0056

MindArrow Systems Announces Acquisition Of Control Commerce Inc.
MindArrow Systems Inc., a provider of direct digital marketing software and services that automate and enhance sales and marketing communications, has announced it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire privately held Control Commerce Inc., a New York-based technology company that has developed advanced e-commerce and customer acquisition solutions. Control Commerce has developed an e-commerce system known as "Virtual Kiosk," which allows companies to maximize online merchandising opportunities by affording customers the ability to view and respond to any type of marketing or promotional offer within the advertisement. The Web-based solution has been designed to facilitate online marketing and merchandising functions such as product sales, inventory liquidations, surveys, customer acquisition, couponing and promotions, all of which can be tracked and managed in real-time. www.mindarrow.com / 949-916-8705

NeuralAct Introduces Enhanced AgentCARE
NeuralAct, Inc., a software development company that concentrates on the design and implementation of call center software, announced Release 5.3 of its AgentCARE Workforce Management Suite. AgentCARE v.5.3 integrates NeuralAct's Call Center Workforce Development and Workforce Management products, utilizing a shared central database for call center and agent data. The database is updated by each module and supplies the data for scheduling the appropriately skilled agents to the right queue at the optimal time. The Workforce Development module provides management with an integrated call center employee management system that assists in recruiting and qualifying new agents and assessing the knowledge and skill levels of both new and current agents. The Workforce Management System utilizes sophisticated artificial intelligence technologies (e.g., Neural Networks, Genetics and Fuzzy Logic) to develop accurate contact volume predictions. The process automatically detects historical patterns and trends and allows the AgentCARE Forecast Manager to provide accurate predictions of expected future contact volumes without the user having to work with complicated statistical formulas. These technologies are applied to both contact volume forecasting and agent scheduling. AgentCARE v5.3 is integrated with industry-leading PBXs and ACDs for real-time agent adherence monitoring. This facility provides management with the real-time service level status, "balance of day" adherence predictions and the ability to analyze multiple scenarios using an easy-to-use graphical interface. 
www.neuralact.com / 703-793-9700

ViewCast Online Delivers Streaming Solution To Small Businesses
ViewCast Corporation, a provider of Internet and networked video solutions, has introduced StreamStory, a service that enables small businesses to more easily and inexpensively add professionally produced streaming videos to their Web sites. The StreamStory online service provides a solution for small businesses and organizations by creating, capturing, editing, encoding and publishing video content at price points that are attractive and practical for small companies. After a business completes a brief online registration process at ViewCast's Web site, it sends its message in script form and chooses from a variety of male and female speakers to deliver the message. The video is professionally produced, and a link is provided to the business to be pasted onto the company's Web site within 72 hours. The company's new, professionally produced video is then published and online for immediate viewing. The video is hosted on ViewCast's content delivery network, which eliminates the need for additional storage capacity on a business' server, helping ensure that the company's Internet or Intranet performance is not compromised. The StreamStory online service also provides the business with granular statistical tracking of views with online reports that can be broken down within divisions or departments of any given business.
www.viewcastonline.com / 800-250-6622

[ Return To The July 2001 Table Of Contents ]


Upcoming Events
ITEXPO West 2012
October 2- 5, 2012
The Austin Convention Center
Austin, Texas
MSPWorld
The World's Premier Managed Services and Cloud Computing Event
Click for Dates and Locations
Mobility Tech Conference & Expo
October 3- 5, 2012
The Austin Convention Center
Austin, Texas
Cloud Communications Summit
October 3- 5, 2012
The Austin Convention Center
Austin, Texas

Subscribe FREE to all of TMC's monthly magazines. Click here now.