CRM Integration

Organizations thinking about integrating their CRM systems with their contact center system (or who are replacing either system and will need to re-integrate) should know that AMC Technology offers comprehensive integration studies by seasoned, technical solutions engineers to help them through this oft-times complex and time-consuming process.

Direct integration between an organization’s CRM systems and its contact center system has become the de facto architecture for enabling agents to access to all customer information right on their desktops. This, in turn, helps them serve customers faster and better – and also gives agents a sense of empowerment, as they now have more information at their fingertips. Furthermore, because the CRM system is now integrated with the switch, organizations can now collect information about customer activity in real time. Now everyone across the organization can track and see what is going on at the contact center level as it occurs. This, in turn can help companies (particularly company sales and marketing departments) react to trends as they occur. The data gathered can also lead to insights which can help companies improve customer service and find new operational efficiencies. The need for this level of sophistication in contact center technology has become crucial for customer-facing organizations of all sizes to stay competitive. This is why companies tend to see a rapid return on investment upon accomplishing a properly implemented CRM integration project.

An Integration Study from AMC serves as a “high-level road map” for any organization thinking about integrating its communications system (including PBX, IVR, CTI (News - Alert), email and web) with its CRM applications. The process begins interviews and document reviews with the customer and a detailed exploration of the customer's technical and business environment. Then, based on the findings, AMC develops a general, yet comprehensive plan for carrying out the integration project.

“A professional Integration Study from AMC Technology can help ensure the success of contact center and CRM integration projects,” said Paul Martin, Senior SE at AMC, in a press release. “No matter which certified solution is eventually chosen to implement the integration, it makes sense to perform this comprehensive, technical analysis before the project begins.”

Getting a handle of what’s involved in your CRM integration project as early as possible is key to making the project go smoothly. These projects can sometimes be very complex, depending on the unique requirements of your business, so getting a high level view of what’s involved is recommended. To effectively and properly integrate different systems and infrastructure, particularly newer systems matched with older systems, requires complete knowledge of all the systems. AMC Technology has an exclusive focus on CRM integration and it actually operates a lab where its technicians and product development people spend their time getting familiar with the integration aspects of every leading CRM application and (CRM capable) business telephony system on the market – including many of the legacy systems. Many of the leading contact center vendors endorse AMC’s products for integration of their systems. Its Multi Channel Integration Server (MCIS), its flagship product, is a “universal adapter,” if you will, for integrating leading CRM applications, such as SAP, Oracle Siebel and PeopleSoft CRM, Salesforce.com, and Microsoft, with leading contact center solutions such as Avaya, Cisco, Aspect (News - Alert), and Nortel. This turn-key hardware/software solution, which sits between an organization’s CTI and its contact center system, allows for fast and easy integration between all the leading systems and also allows an organization to change systems smoothly, with having to undertake a massive integration project every time (which, just to remind you, can potentially disrupt customer service). AMC also offers a full suite of integration services and product support.

To learn more the AMC Integration Study, or to request a quote, contact a sales representative at [email protected].

AMC is also offering a free white paper, “8 Best Practice Checklists,” for managers tasked with an upcoming CRM integration project. The white paper is available at the AMC Resource Library at http://www.amctechnology.com/products/resources.asp.

For more information about AMC Technology visit www.amctechnology.com.

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Patrick Barnard is Assignment Editor for TMCnet and Associate Editor for Customer Interaction Solutions magazine. To see more of his articles, please visit Patrick Barnard’s columnist page.