Welcome to the week in review for the customer relationship management, or “CRM,” industry. Below are some of the top stories that came across the TMCnet news wires this week.

 

On Wednesday, Customer relationship management, or “CRM,” software provider, Salesforce.com’s premier CRM cloud computing platform, Force.com, recently announced the availability of Force.com’s Visual Process Manager, a new capability that allows users to automate any business process in a rapid time table.

 

In addition to just a widely deployed system, the CRM cloud computing platform is constantly evolving. And the recent news that hit the wires proves just that.

 

According to Salesforce.com’s (News - Alert) Executive Vice President of Marketing and Alliances, George Hu, the new Force.com Visual Process Manager is another example of why Force.com has become the cloud computing platform of choice in the enterprise.

 

Also on Wednesday, IP call recording provider Duxoft’s (News - Alert) MiaRec product portfolio was broken down to discuss some offbeat topics and services that can assist the systems offered by Duxoft. There are many applications that can be used concurrently with an IP call recording system, like any of those in the MiaRec Solutions Portfolio.

 

Port mirroring, also known as switched port analyzer, or “SPAN,” is a way a company can monitor network traffic.

 

“With this system, the switch sends a copy of all network packets seen on one port, or an entire VLAN, to another port, where the pack can be analyzed,” Duxoft officials said. “Port mirroring’s features, which are supported in nearly all enterprise class switches, or managed switches, allow other computers to see a network traffic which is not visible to them in general case.”

 

Additionally, with a configuration interface equipped in the port mirroring, administrators of a company can use it to specify the source port, or ports, that the user wants mirrored as well as the destination port, where a copy of all the packets will be forwarded.

 

But, the important question still lies; while it’s obvious port mirroring is a useful tool, can it be used for recording VoIP calls?

 

On Thursday, after discussing the multiple benefits of cloud telephony provider, Ifbyphone’s (News - Alert) products, I wanted to dig a bit deeper and find out how the specific systems help companies in the telecom industry manage time, while simultaneously increasing productivity.

 

In a recent podcast with Ifbyphone’s Irv Shapiro (News - Alert), I posed the issue with him to gauge his feedback on how the cloud telephony services offered by his company help other companies in many industries achieve this end goal.

 

“In today’s economy, where time is money, where we have to be as efficient as possible, cloud-based telephony solutions, specifically in our case, IVR-based solutions, are allowing small companies to access the sophisticated technology,” Shapiro said.

 

Being the conversationalist that he is, Shapiro gave me an example of an Ifbyphone client named Don’t Shoot the Messenger, that assembles things for people, he said.

 

That’s the top CRM News for this week. Check back next week on TMCnet for more breaking news in the CRM industry.