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September 2001
Communique Bolsters Communicate!
Capabilities
01 Communique Laboratory Inc. has refined the
capabilities of its Communicate! products, geared for
providing small business and home users an affordable
and advanced level of communications. The enhanced
Communicate! product family is comprised of three
versions: Communicate! v10.0, a fax, voice mail and
e-mail solution for home and office; Communicate! Pro
v5.0, featuring more robust capabilities, remote
message notification to wireless devices and remote
e-mail conversion by its text-to-speech engine; and
Communicate! i2000, which offers the advanced
communications services of the other suites, plus
full-motion video, video phone, text-to-speech and
call answering. The company said that the product
design is consistent throughout the suite, providing a
simpler and easier to follow means to upgrade as
individual needs change. Additionally, the grouping of
features is designed to follow a logical structure to
ensure that users can best identify the most suitable
product for their needs.
www.01com.com / Ph: 800-668-2185
eshare Makes Auto Response Module
Available
eshare communications, Inc. has released a stand-alone
module version of eshare NetAgent ANSWER, the e-mail
auto-response component of the company's NetAgent
Suite of customer interaction management (CIM)
applications. NetAgent ANSWER is eshare's latest
intelligent auto-response application. The solution
can, in some cases, filter up to 90 percent of
incoming e-mail and provide accurate and timely
responses to e-mail without the need for human
assistance. The application's "neural," network-based
artificial intelligence uses context vector technology
to automatically group data into similarly themed
clusters for improved accuracy and relevance. It
adapts to what customers most often ask so that
relevant and appropriate responses can be created. The
accuracy of a company's responses can be further
safeguarded by enabling contact center agents to see
and approve the e-mail reply that NetAgent ANSWER
prepares on its own. www.eshare.com
/ Ph: 866-437-4273
Cendant Proffers A Carrot
Portal: Employalty
Launched by Cendant Incentives, Inc., a division of
Cendant Membership Services, the Web-based Employalty
program is designed to combine the motivating power of
a points-based incentive program with the opportunity
to capitalize on all employee-manager interactions.
The incentive component of Employalty allows employees
to earn points redeemable for rewards they select,
including merchandise, gift certificates, travel, etc.
Employalty's second component is an administration
module that is accessible online and allows managers
to award points and run reports to track employee
incentive activity. Delivered over the Web, the
program is structured to provide a method of sharing
performance information that is frequent, clearly
understood and consistent across a company, and afford
opportunities to connect with employees on a
continuing basis for building goodwill among employees
and helping to retain high performers. The
administration module allows companies to more easily
track incentives and incentive dollars within a
consistent framework throughout a company.
www.employalty.com / Ph: 877-221-5533
I-Care 3.0 Solution Launches
Millennium Care Inc. has released Incident Care
Version 3.0 (I-Care 3.0), a Web-enabled service chain
automation solution designed for help desks and
contact centers needing strategic customer service
capabilities and desiring to reduce service management
costs. I-Care 3.0 is a hosted application, and
Millennium states that companies can transition to the
product in less than a month. The application is
hosted on a secure, scalable platform featuring three
main modules using a role-based security model and
based on a public domain, best practices framework.
The Web portal is the common entry point for all users
accessing any of the modules, and is password
protected to maintain privacy and security. End users
can create and track their own incidents through the
MyCare Module. Service delivery staff or help desk
analysts can create, update, assign, track, resolve
and close their incidents using the I-CarePro module.
External or third-party service providers use the I-CareSP
Module to search, view and update incidents assigned
to them.
www.millenniumcare.com
/ Ph: 416-696-9090
Knowlagent Releases New KnowDev
Version
Knowlagent, Inc. announced the availability of version
6.0 of KnowDev, its e-learning platform software
solution. The product has several new modules,
including KnowDev Course Packager, designed to make it
easier to move courses and reviews from one system to
another; and KnowDev Enterprise, which tracks agent
training from all sites and provides easy-to-read
results. Other features include a customized toolbar;
a Revert to Last Published feature that prevents
accidental deletion of data; a Student Today option,
which shows agent progress; review lists that show all
reviews in a course; and a new reporting feature.
Knowlagent's non-disruptive training platform delivers
training directly to the agent's desktop and can be
customized with text, graphics, video and audio
content. Managers can customize courses; push them to
agents and track individual agent performance.
www.knowlagent.com / Ph: 888-329-6661
Mobile E-Commerce On The Fly:
mZipper 4.0
Rissa Solutions Oyj launched mZipper release 4.0,
e-commerce software that combines support for mobile
devices with back-end integration to major ERP
systems. mZipper 4.0 is designed to improve sales,
after sales and field service operations in a demand
chain. The product enables mobile employees, dealers,
customers and service personnel in the field to handle
real-time business transactions, such as ordering and
inventory management, through wireless and Internet
devices. Multichannel customer service modules include
sell-side functions for inventory management, quote
generation, ordering and logistics; product catalog
publishing and content management; and a role-based or
individually customized service desktop, which covers
personalized access to other mZipper modules and links
to internal or external information sources. mZipper
server can be connected to enterprise back-end
information systems through native connectors or open
XML and generic EDI file integration kits. mZipper 4.0
software is written in Java and runs on Windows NT,
Windows 2000, Sun Solaris and IBM AIX servers.
www.rissasolutions.com / +44 118 963 5822
Onyx Rolls Out Latest Thin-Client
CRM Portal Version
Onyx Software Corp. released the latest version of
Onyx Employee Portal (OEP), designed to maximize the
effectiveness of front-office employees by combining
robust CRM functionality with complementary
third-party applications and relevant Internet content
in a single, customizable interface. OEP 3.0 provides
one-click access to contextual Internet content for
marketing, sales, service and support users through a
single interface. Without leaving the portal
interface, users have instant access to productivity
tools, Web collaboration, complex product
configuration, knowledge bases, expense reporting,
etc. OEP can be personalized for departmental and
individual needs, enabling employees across the
enterprise to gather and share critical customer
information, conduct one-to-one marketing campaigns,
manage existing accounts and new sales opportunities,
and provide customer service and support.
www.onyx.com / Ph: 888-ASK-ONYX
Kabira Unleashes Nex-Gen Convergent
Mediation App Framework
Kabira Technologies Inc. began shipping the latest
release of its xDR Mediation V2.0 application
framework. xDR Mediation 2.0 is designed to enable
service providers to rapidly deploy solutions with
service creation templates specific to their
particular business requirements, depending on which
services they are introducing at any given time. These
custom templates include: IP and circuit- switched
network billing mediation; a global system for mobile
communications (GSM) and generalized partial response
signaling (GPRS) billing mediation, prepaid billing
mediation, quality of service (QoS) and service-level
agreement (SLA) management, short message service (SMS)
and content billing mediation; and fault management.
The platform is architected to support both
circuit-switched and packet-switched networks
including GSM, CDMA, TDMA, GPRS, UMTS and EDGE.
www.kabira.com / Ph: 415-446-5000
Responsys Upgrades Acquisition,
Database Management Product
Responsys, Inc. reported that enhancements have been
added to Responsys Acquire, the company's customer
acquisition service. The product now includes e-mail
append, electronic change of address and e-mail name
prospecting, including CPA/CPC (cost per acquisition
and cost per click) services. It offers a broad
collection of opt-in customer database management
services to help enterprises create an optimized
online customer acquisition strategy that rapidly
builds and maintains high-quality opt-in customer
databases. These new services complement Responsys
Acquire's previously launched CPM opt-in list
brokerage offering, an e-mail list service that
provides clients with access to trusted sources of
opt-in e-mail addresses. Together, these services are
intended to create a system for businesses to grow
online databases and increase acquisition return on
investment.
www.responsys.com
/ Ph: 888-219-7150
Dunhill Adds Appending Service
Dunhill International List Co., Inc. has added to its
portfolio of marketing services and list compiling
capabilities by establishing a new division devoted to
appending e-mail addresses to their client files. The
appending service includes blasting the e-mail to
allow the buyers or prospects to opt in or out of
receiving future correspondence. Dunhill will append
accurate and deliverable e-mail addresses, all opt-in,
to a client's current customer or prospect file. This
process creates valuable information for any client to
target their market to those individuals who have
shown an interest in a particular product or service.
www.dunhills.com / Ph: 800-386-4455
Enhanced Functionality For
InnoMedia's IP VideoPhone
InnoMedia, Inc. has upgraded its IP VideoPhone product
with improved audio and video, and increased
interoperability and multiparty video conferencing.
This new level of interoperability is designed to make
the product a stronger contender for use in any
business environment that has made the investment in a
room-based conferencing system. The IP VideoPhone can
interoperate with Polycom's ViewStation, ViaVideo and
PictureTel; Microsoft's NetMeeting; CuSeeMe's 5.0
client and MCU server; and Cisco and Ezenia! gateways
and gatekeepers. The IP VideoPhone supports MCU
operations, enabling group videoconferencing with a
variety of endpoints, which can help users to maintain
a private conferencing environment while reducing
operating costs and improving productivity. Expanded
features include an auto-answer option, adjustable
bandwidth support for improved audio/video quality and
a network status indicator. The IP VideoPhone can be
configured and upgraded remotely via a Web browser
from any network PC.
www.innomedia.com
/ 408-432-5413
MessageMedia Delivers
UnityMail 5.0
MessageMedia, Inc. has released UnityMail 5.0, the
latest version of its e-mail marketing software. This
database-enabled software is designed to offer
extensive capabilities combined with enhanced reports
and expanded international language messaging
capabilities for delivery of large-scale, targeted,
permission-based marketing campaigns. The solution
integrates a customer's database into e-mail marketing
software that allows marketers to build one-to-one
relationships with customers, prospects and employees,
delivering personalization and providing meaningful
report analytics. The product is intended to help
marketers develop strategies in which audiences are
messaged only when an offer fits a pre-expressed need,
action or preference. UnityMail 5.0's scalability
enables more efficient distribution of e-mail delivery
and response-handling tasks to enhance the delivery
and processing performance of large-scale e-mail
marketing campaigns. www.messagemedia.com
/ Ph:
303-440-7550
Quixi Offers Sales Solution For
Mobile CRM
Quixi Inc. recently unveiled its Quixi Sales Solution,
designed to help enterprises address the low user
adoption and data entry issues that are barriers to
CRM success. Using a combination of software and live
sales support, the Quixi Sales Solution simplifies
sales professionals' interactions with their CRM
platform, leading to improved sales productivity and
comprehensive CRM data capture from sales forces.
Quixi describes its solution as a bridge between the
mobile sales professional and a company's existing CRM
system, allowing for real-time interaction with the
CRM platform from anywhere and at anytime. Live sales
support representatives capture, update and retrieve
CRM data, which is automatically integrated into a
company's existing CRM platform. Valuable customer
information is added to the system, giving everyone a
more up-to-date view of customers. Sales professionals
can use the solution effectively with minimal
training.
www.quixi.com / Ph: 800-784-9486
Big Blue To The Rescue
IBM Corp. has deployed a new, Web-enabled support
service, Virtual Help Desk, designed to provide
support to problem inquiries on a 24 x 7 basis via the
Web. The design features of IBM's Virtual Help Desk
utilize the latest electronic technology to integrate
Web tools into the customer's environment. Virtual
Help Desk builds on self-healing, self-help and
assisted service processes to answer user questions. A
Web portal guides users through all stages, reducing
the need for help desk calls and on-site support. In
addition, information about the user, the system and
the problem is automatically collected and analyzed to
guide the user to the right tools and sources for
quick, efficient resolution. Some of its other
features include automated problem diagnostics and
support solutions, electronic chat (IM help), printer
configuration, software rollback and self-healing, and
dynamic language translation. IBM will initially
market the Virtual Help Desk service to corporate
clients.
www.ibm.com / Ph: 914-499-1900
Telescan Activates Administrator
Telescan Corp. has released its Administrator product,
a management tool for call center operations. The
Administrator is designed to provide instant,
real-time call traffic and resource utilization
analysis. It offers analysis by time and date range,
time interval, account, operator, station or trunk,
and event type such as inbound, outbound, fax, alpha
or e-mail reports, and automatically backs-up current
and purged account master records. It also features
virtually an unlimited number of messages, information
screens, billing totals and statistical summaries in
either graphic or text form.
www.telescancorp.com
/
Ph: 800-770-7662
Multilingual Co-Browsing From
Hipbone
Hipbone, Inc. has released Hipbone 2.3, designed to
provide Web co-browsing solutions for international
contact centers. Developed to meet the needs of
multinational customers and resellers, the product
enables online service agents to interact with site
visitors by co-browsing Web pages in 14 languages.
Contact center personnel can co-browse with prospects
and customers while communicating using VoIP, Internet
callback or text chat. The product also features a
customizable user interface to reflect both a company's
specific business practices and local language
requirements. Hipbone also offers a complementary
international telephone callback service, which
permits customers in a country different from the
contact center's to request live assistance by
clicking on a "live help" button on the Web site and
entering their local contact information.
www.hipbone.com / Ph: 866-447-2663
An OpenPath To Wireless
Application Development
OpenPath Products introduced DataBow Professional, a
wireless application-authoring tool and server
designed to enable nonprogrammers to easily produce
wireless applications. Using the solution's
drag-and-drop graphical authoring tool, users can
create a variety of applications with a minimal
learning curve. Users create customized applications
by graphically connecting "Nodes" that represent
specific tasks. Databow integrates with existing SQL
databases, IMAP servers, HTTP servers, Telnet servers,
shell scripts, etc. Databow includes all necessary
software, including Web server and database, Web-based
SMS, WAP and Palm for testing applications; and
provides a tutorial and eight sample applications,
demonstrating access to e-mail, stock quotes, etc. The
product operates on Windows, Linux, Solaris and other
Java-compatible operating systems, and it supports WAP
and standard HTML browsers, SMS/e-mail phones, pagers
and Palm devices.
www.openpathproducts.com
/ Ph: 410-263-1962
Web- Or Client-Based E-mail From
NetDIVE
NetDIVE Inc. reported the release of the NetDIVE Email
System. The company said it has tried to address the
issues of operation, administration, customization and
cost that can be barriers to implementing an e-mail
and messaging solution in any size company. Its system
features a Web-based graphical user interface (GUI)
for system administration, secure e-mail, a report
generation tool and SQL- or file-based connectivity
for maintaining all user information and records. The
client side can be Web-based or use any POP3-compliant
software, such as Eudora, Netscape or Outlook. For
Web-based client access, e-mail data is accessible
anytime from any location, using an HTML-compliant Web
browser. www.netdive.com
/ Ph: 415-981-4545
iemprove Webware Suite Expansion
Application service provider iemagine Inc. reported
the addition of four new CRM applications to its
iemprove Webware Suite. The new applications are:
Support, which lets users leverage the Web to create
and deploy incident report forms, assign incidents to
staff and create escalation policies that
automatically send notices via e-mail or wireless
devices; Service Calls, which lets users log and
manage all the details required to fulfill customer
work orders (such as parts, labor, customer and
payment data) and enables employees to log in, access
the data and close out the work order via a Web
browser or wireless device; Contact Management, where
users log, store and access information directly from
a Web browser or wireless device; and Private Surveys,
which allows users to invite a select group of
respondents to complete an online survey featuring
user-specified questions and response types, then
tabulate and export results to a report or data file.
www.iemagine.com / Ph: 312-988-4849.
Development Tool Out Of Pocket
Pocket Technologies, Inc. debuted PocketStudio v1.0, a
development tool for the Palm OS platform.
PocketStudio is designed to allow for easier
application creation for handheld devices. Features
include: 32-bit compiler with an easy-to-use,
full-featured integrated development environment;
Delphi-like language based on Pascal; easy migration
from Visual Basic, C/C++, Java, Access, Delphi and
other rapid application development environments;
complete access to Palm OS API for advanced
developers; fully integrated editor and debugger;
SnapIn technology for third-party developers to add
features for code generation and code repository; PXL
(PocketStudio Extended Library) collection of compiled
source code components that plug directly into
PocketStudio IDE; and integrated POSE support from the
IDE for easy testing and debugging.
www.pocket-technologies.com / Ph: 612-337-3883
Web-Based Self-Service And Support
Solution
noHold, Inc. has introduced its noHold Instant Support
solution. Built on proprietary artificial intelligence
technology, Instant Support is designed to empower
users to solve technical problems online through a
chat-like interface built into a company's Web site,
allowing support agents to concentrate on more complex
problems. The solution is composed of Knowledge
Platform, the database that contains a company's
information on products and services; Knowledge
Portal, the user interface with a chat-like setting;
DynamicDialog, an artificial intelligence engine that
allows users to describe problems in their own words;
and Portal Manager, an "always on" virtual focus group
that provides metrics about each support session. An
optional Dynamic Link can access data on a company's
existing legacy databases and incorporate it into the
solutions. www.nohold.com
/ Ph: 408-946-9200
e-point 5.2 Released
Point Information Systems began delivering e-point 5.2
, designed to address key customer relationship
management requirements by applying CRM across all
distribution channels for more focused solutions for
contact centers, one-to-one direct marketing and
hybrid CRM business strategies. Combining Web CTI
capability, media-blended queues and customer scoring
and loyalty tools, the solution enables
knowledge-based personalization of messages for
personalized sales and service processes for
cross-selling and upselling. This capability is also
intended to enhance self-service by removing any
dependency on e-mail or content management systems.
e-point 5.2's new dashboard provides a unified view of
all campaign information to make it easier to apply
analytical models, define target groups, create and
broadcast marketing messages and track campaigns. The
product's enhanced customer scoring facility allows
for rating customers on a variety of criteria and
enables improved targeting of campaigns and the timely
activation of loyalty motivators.
www.pointinfo.com
/
Ph: 781-416-7900
Marketswitch Embellishes The TRUE
Marketswitch Corp. recently announced enhancements to
its TRUE Suite of marketing optimization software
products. The TRUE Suite is designed to deliver
measurable improvement in the effectiveness of
real-time call center and Web marketing campaigns as
well as traditional outbound direct marketing
programs. The suite now allows users to define
specific business constraints that a marketing
campaign must satisfy, such as minimum and maximum
offers, eligibility or budgetary issues. Users can
also create campaigns that maximize or minimize any
mathematically definable goal, such as budget,
revenue, cost structure, customer retention, profit,
etc. Campaigns can be optimized at customer segment
levels or to individual customers, and the software
can now incorporate a variety of criteria (such as the
eligible target population and valid time period) into
the decision-making process.
www.marketswitch.com
/
Ph: 703-444-6750
Big Office Messaging Functionality
For The SOHO
ACCPAC International, Inc., a division of the interBiz
group of Computer Associates, unveiled Simply BitWare,
intended as a simple-to-use, unified messaging system
to provide small offices and home offices with
functionality normally available only to large
corporations. Users can send and receive voice
messages and faxes from a single screen via a local
voice modem or multichannel voice board. Simply
BitWare supports receipt of simultaneous voice, fax
and pager messaging from as many as eight phone lines
on a single desktop PC. The product does not require a
dedicated server or training for installation and
maintenance. Users can dial into their messaging
system to listen to voice mail or retrieve faxes,
voice messages or documents stored on the PC. In
addition, users may provide their customers a single
number for voice and fax messaging. Voice messages can
be forwarded over the Internet to other e-mail users,
and faxes can be annotated and digitally forwarded or
stored for future retrieval. The solution is available
in 16 languages.
www.accpac.com/bitware
/ Ph:
800-808-7000
divine Intervention: Acquisition Of
eshare Approved
divine, inc., a provider of enterprise
collaboration and interaction solutions, announced it
has signed a definitive agreement to acquire eshare
communications, Inc., a provider of customer
interaction management (CIM) solutions. The proposed
terms call for a stock-for-stock merger agreement,
expected to close by the end of September 2001. divine's
chairman and CEO Andrew "Flip" Filipowski said, "A
critical component of divine's strategy is providing
net-native, community-facing applications and Web
services combined with professional services and
managed applications capabilities that promote
interaction and collaboration among all of an
enterprise's business communities and fully integrate
with their core systems. eshare's offerings, combined
with our existing collaborative applications, portal
technology, Web services infrastructure, knowledge
resources and delivery capability, will give our
global combined customer base the ability to deploy
community-facing applications capable of enhancing the
customer's brand and building loyalty within their
targeted communities." divine also announced its
intent to acquire RoweCom, Inc., a provider of service
and e-commerce solutions for purchasing and managing
print and e-content knowledge resources.
PRC Closes Deal For Hancock
Precision Response Corp. (PRC), a division of USA
Networks, Inc., has completed the acquisition of
Hancock Information Group, a firm that provides
services in the business-to-business teleservicing
industry. Wes O'Brien, president and COO of PRC,
commented, "This acquisition bolsters our...CRM
capabilities, and augments our aggressive growth
pattern for 2001. Hancock's expertise in high-tech
appointment setting and lead generation will
complement our existing Outbound Customer Care
Division by broadening the range of clients we can
serve. We believe this to be a critical component to
our growth in 2001." Hancock, which operates two
Florida contact centers and employs over 350 people,
will be aligned with Access Direct, Inc., an outbound
customer care provider acquired by PRC in November of
2000.
eMation To Join RAVISENT Family
eMation Inc., a provider of e-business enterprise
software and "device relationship management
solutions," recently signed an agreement to be
acquired by RAVISENT Technologies, Inc., a software
and intellectual property licensing company. The
companies are joining forces to accelerate the
development and adoption of device relationship
management solutions. eMation's solutions are designed
to allow companies to use the Internet to tap the
hidden value of information within remote machines,
devices and facilities to provide automated service,
e-commerce and monitoring capabilities. Under the
terms of the transaction, RAVISENT has offered to
acquire all of eMation shares for approximately 8
million shares of RAVISENT stock and the assumption of
$5 million in debt. Also, RAVISENT will provide up to
$2.5 million of interim debt to fund operating
expenses until closing, currently expected during the
fourth quarter of 2001.
Kana-Broadbase Merger A Done Deal
Kana Communications, Inc., a provider of enterprise
customer relationship management solutions, and
Broadbase Software, Inc., a provider of customer
interaction solutions, have completed the merger of
the two companies. The new company, KANA, has tasked
itself with providing the next generation of eCRM
solutions to Global 2000 organizations. KANA's
scalable J2EE and COM contact center applications are
designed to enable companies to bring intelligence and
automation to an organization's service and marketing
organizations to better manage customer and partner
relationships that result in rapid return on
investment.
CompUSA Call Center Services Unit
Acquired
The Telvista Company, a subsidiary of CompUSA Inc. and
formerly known as CompUSA Call Center Services, was
acquired by Technology & Internet Holding Co.,
held jointly by Telmex, America Movil and Grupo Carso
under a stock purchase agreement. Telvista will remain
headquartered in Dallas, Texas. Telvista is a
full-service solutions provider delivering contact
center support, technology solutions and customer
interaction business consulting. The management team
has extensive experience in teleservices and customer
relationship management. Current clients include
leading computer hardware manufacturers, software
publishers, Internet service providers, telecom
companies, wireless access businesses,
insurance/warranty companies and retailers.
USPS's Web Tools On LaGarde
LaGarde, Inc., a provider of e-commerce software, has
contracted with the United States Postal Service to
incorporate USPS Web Tools into its StoreFront
software to meet the growing demand for accurate
online shipping charges. The Postal Service developed
its USPS Web Tools APIs to bring improved customer
service solutions to e-commerce shippers. LaGarde
cites a Jupiter Media Metrix study that found as many
as 63 percent of online shoppers abandoned their
orders because of high shipping and handling costs
based on estimated flat-rate charges. StoreFront's
integration with USPS Web Tools' APIs sends both the
product's weight and dimensions to the Postal Service
Domestic or International Rate Calculator and returns
an accurate shipping charge at the time of checkout.
Merchants using the solution can minimize losses due
to estimated shipping charges, and online shoppers
receive precise shipping costs for their purchases.
Using the Postal Service as a shipping solution for
online purchases also affords merchants and shoppers
additional benefits, including lower shipping costs,
Saturday delivery and delivery to post office boxes.
CIAC Certification Program For
Call Center Management
Call Center Industry Advisory Council (CIAC) announced
the launch of an industry-sanctioned certification
program for call center management professionals. CIAC,
in conjunction with call center management
professionals throughout North America, identified the
key competencies necessary for call center management
professionals to demonstrate superior job performance.
CIAC certification is based on the knowledge, skill
and behavioral competencies applicable to individuals
working in all types and sizes of call centers across
all industries. CIAC developed the certification
specifically to raise the stature of the call center
profession and industry and to cultivate a workforce
of superior performers. Competency development and
certification for other call center job roles will
follow implementation of the management track. CIAC is
a non-profit organization that was established by the
industry to develop, administer and govern
certification for the call/contact center profession.
Teleservices Program Planning And
Management Firm Debuts
eStrategy3, LLC
has launched its services as a specialized consulting
and brokerage firm. The company specializes in
strategic planning, resource development and program
management for teleservices campaigns. The company
designs and implements strategies for integrated
teleservices campaigns encompassing inbound, outbound,
sales, CRM, customer service, Web integration, DRTV
advertising, direct mail and other media channels.
eStrategy3, LLC currently maintains offices in
Colorado Springs, Colorado and Dallas, Texas.
Adobe, Cisco Adopt Kanisa Support
Solutions
Kanisa Inc., an enterprise service solutions provider,
reported the launch of a new online support service
for Adobe Systems Inc. The service will initially
provide access to support content for Adobe Acrobat
and Adobe Photoshop, Adobe's two largest product
lines. The Kanisa service site provides Adobe
customers access to both general and highly technical
questions. Customers can also access downloads,
upgrades, tutorials and Web-based instructional
content. The announcement follows on the heels of
Cisco Systems Inc.'s adoption of Kanisa's technology
and interface for its Technical Assistance Center (TAC).
TAC users engage in a natural language dialog for
guidance on how to install, upgrade and configure
Cisco's products and do troubleshooting. The Web-based
TAC also makes it easy to escalate a question to a TAC
engineer via chat, e-mail or telephone. Both solutions
employ the Kanisa Customer Experience Platform for
delivering enhanced support capabilities.
Convergys Renews FedEx Deal
Convergys Corp. has signed a three-year contract
renewal to provide technical support services for
FedEx Corporate Services, Inc., a subsidiary of FedEx
Corp. FedEx provides systems to help its customers
send and track shipments. Convergys will provide
direct customer support for FedEx platform PCs,
software and printers through the FedEx Customer
Technical Support organization.
RMH Provides MSN TLC
RMH Teleservices, Inc. has expanded its agreement with
Microsoft Corp. to provide inbound customer
relationship management services to include technical
support for subscribers of MSN Internet Access. RMH
will provide these services from its new contact
center located in Harlingen, Texas..
Motive Added To Cisco's iQ
Motive Communications, Inc. has joined Cisco Systems'
iQ Ecosystem Program. As a member, Motive will work
with Cisco to integrate its ServiceNet Platform with
mutual product offerings and deliver a highly
automated, context-driven, intelligent service
solution that spans both self-and assisted-service.
The Cisco iQ Ecosystem Program is part of an overall
Cisco iQ initiative intended to help companies
understand their "Internet Quotient" (iQ) that is
critical to competitive advantage in today's Internet
economy. The Cisco iQ Ecosystem Program comprises
application vendors, systems integrators and
consultants which, when combined with Cisco's
expertise and architectures, help deliver end-to-end
solutions.
EDS And FranklinCovey Strike
Long-Term Agreement
EDS Corp. and FranklinCovey Company concluded a
broad information technology pact under which EDS was
awarded a 15-year, $469 million contract for CRM and
IT services. EDS awarded FranklinCovey a $25 million
contract for learning and performance solutions and
tools to increase service excellence within EDS. EDS
will provide customer interaction center, warehousing
and distribution services to support FranklinCovey's
CRM program, and approximately 400 FranklinCovey
warehousing and customer care call center employees
will transfer to EDS. FranklinCovey will transition
its Salt Lake City customer care, warehousing, product
fulfillment and distribution facilities to EDS for an
anticipated cost savings of $50 million. FranklinCovey
will provide learning and performance services for
EDS, including its leadership and productivity
curriculum, assessment and consulting services. EDS
will leverage FranklinCovey's expertise by providing
FranklinCovey solutions and tools to employees who
transition to EDS from client companies to help
integrate them into EDS' mission and cultural values.
The two companies also will develop, co-brand and
market online versions of FranklinCovey's solutions.
Sideware Integrates Its eCRM Suite
With IBM Wares
IBM Corp. and Sideware announced a strategic
alliance to deliver customer service applications to
help companies better manage their customer, partner
and employee interactions. A major goal of the
alliance is to offer a scalable turnkey solution that
can be easily deployed across multiple customer
service channels, including the telephone and the Web.
As part of the three-year alliance, Sideware has
integrated its Enterprise Interaction Suite (EIS) eCRM
software with IBM's hardware and middleware. The
companies will jointly market and sell the solutions
in both the U.S. and Canada. WebSphere and DB2 will be
Sideware's primary development platforms. IBM and
Sideware expect to help customers improve the speed
and quality of online customer service, while
increasing their return on investment in hardware,
software and training.
Convergys, Siebel
Ally For Unified Care And Billing Solution
Integrated billing and customer services provider
Convergys Corp. and Siebel Systems, Inc., have formed
a strategic alliance to integrate Convergys' contact
center capabilities, billing solutions and operational
expertise with Siebel's eBusiness Applications
software. The integrated solution aims to improve
customer satisfaction and increase return on
investment by providing a comprehensive view of
customer interactions, including service and billing
history, across all channels. Clients will have access
to Convergys' network of 50 outsourced contact centers
for the deployment of Siebel eBusiness Applications.
Convergys and Siebel Systems will collaboratively
sell, market and integrate their joint solutions
primarily for the communications, financial services
and technology industries.
Siemens Says SYMON Certified
SYMON Communications, Inc. announced that
SYMON2000 is now certified for operation with the
Siemens' Hicom 300 H communications platform. Siemens
Enterprise Networks LLC offers enterprises solutions
designed to enable customers to deploy technology at
their own pace and to help optimize use of current
infrastructure and applications. SYMON2000 monitors
for service-level performance by displaying real-time
ACD statistics or threshold exceptions from a variety
of switch vendors. The interface between SYMON2000 and
Siemens provides for the automatic notification of
critical alerts to SYMON's DeskView "soft" wallboard,
IP network-connected wallboards and panels, displays,
monitors, pagers, PDAs, cell phones, etc. The
interface provides automatic updates from the Hicom
300 H platform, delivering continuous information to
management and support personnel. Hicom users can also
send messages from their workstations directly to
SYMON-supported visual media devices.
MIND, Ring Line Ink Agreement
MIND CTI Ltd., a provider of billing and customer
care solutions for voice, data and additional IP
services, and Ring Line Corp., a systems integrator
based in Taiwan, have signed a sales and support
agreement. Under the terms of the agreement, the
companies will work together to deliver MIND's billing
and customer care solutions to telecommunications and
Internet service providers in the Asia Pacific region
with the goal of enabling communication service
providers to more quickly develop and roll out new
services cost-effectively.
MobileSys Finds Remedy For
Wireless Messaging In Help Desk Apps
MobileSys, Inc. announced a technology alliance
with Remedy Corp. to provide joint customers with
global two-way wireless alerts and message delivery
for help desk applications. The partnership aims to
help customers incorporate two-way messaging into
their help desk platforms, allowing for global
delivery and interaction with remote devices,
increased productivity of field forces and improved
response time to customers' technology inquiries.
MobileSys integrated its MX messaging platform into
the Remedy Action Request System. The combined
solution enables help desk agents to communicate with
remote service personnel through real-time wireless
alerts over a global network. Both MobileSys and
Remedy customers now can more easily integrate
mission-critical wireless capabilities into their
current help desk platforms, allowing secure,
efficient and predictable two-way messaging
functionality.
Artisoft And Oncontact
Partner For Integrated CRM, Telephony
Artisoft, Inc., a provider of software-based phone
systems, and Oncontact Software, a developer of CRM
systems, have formed a marketing and development
relationship through the Artisoft Open Communications
Alliance. The relationship makes it possible for users
of Oncontact's CRM systems to use Artisoft's
TeleVantage phone system for extended
computer-telephony functionality. Oncontact's CRM
systems automate the sales, marketing and service
areas of mid-market companies. Artisoft's TeleVantage
provides robust PBX switching, intelligent call
handling and comprehensive messaging capabilities for
small- to mid-sized businesses. The TeleVantage
Software Developer Kit (SDK) allows businesses to add
advanced computer-telephony capabilities, such as
screen-pop on inbound calls and Web "click-to-call"
buttons, to CRM systems or other applications.
VoIP NICE-ly Integrated With Cisco
IPCC
NICE Systems Ltd. announced the interoperability of
its VoIP recording solution with Cisco Systems'
Internet Protocol Contact Center (Cisco IPCC)
solution. The combined solution will provide VoIP
recording solutions to customers that are deploying IP
telephony networks, enabling them to deploy customer
experience management over converging networks. This
interoperability allows the enterprise to record
multimedia interactions through a more cost-effective
and timesaving IP platform. The combined solution will
accommodate all forms of communication taking place on
an IP network including voice, e-mail, Web chat and
collaboration as well as agent desktop activity.
iBackOffice, Island Data Reach
Accord
Island Data Corp. and iBackOffice.com Ltd. announced a
partnership to provide iBackOffice customers with
access to Island Data's Web self-help and e-mail
response solutions, and furnish Island Data customers
with access to iBackOffice's outsourced contact center
services. iBackOffice, a provider of outsourced
customer and technical support services, and Island
Data, a leading solutions provider for the online
customer service market, will cooperate on marketing
and sales activities designed to bring the best of
both companies' offerings to their customers.
HTC And VCustomer Partner For
Outsourced Customer Care
vCustomer Corp. and Hispanic Teleservices Corp. (HTC)
announced a strategic partnership to promote their
contact center and CRM services worldwide for both
English and Spanish language support offerings.
Clients of both companies can now leverage the quality
and cost benefits of similar outsourcing models to
serve a larger, more diversified customer base. Based
in New Delhi and Mumbai (Bombay), India, vCustomer's
customer support model offers reliable,
English-speaking front- and back-office support.
Headquartered in Houston, Texas with operations in
Monterrey, Mexico, HTC is a provider of outsourced
customer support for the Hispanic market. HTC offers
bilingual contact center operations that deliver
customer care, technical support, customer acquisition
and Internet customer support services.
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