Knowledge Management And Database
Technologies Roundup
Along with the burgeoning realization that a company that does not have
a first-class customer relationship management agenda in place will fall
flat among its competition, many organizations have begun scrambling to
shore up their database technologies. Most companies collect large amounts
of customer data both directly (through surveys, Web forms and the like)
and indirectly (by noting the information customers voluntarily relay to
agents during the course of telephone- and Web-based transactions.)
Without a system to effectively store, process and retrieve this
information, making sure that different departments can share and
customize it, the information may as well not exist. Enter knowledge
management and database technologies, which are created and implemented to
help companies organize and use the information they possess to their
advantage. Your billing and order processing departments may know that
Mrs. Johnson placed three orders last year, but if the agent taking a new
order from her doesn't know this, and therefore can't use the data to
customize her buying experience, the hard-earned customer info is useless.
In addition, effective database technologies allow companies to put in
place one of the biggest time-saving miracles of the technology-enabled
business world: customer self-service. If a customer can answer his or her
own questions, track orders and shipments and learn about a company's
products solo, the company will save time and money by conserving the
resources of live customer service agents for more pressing inquiries.
Without a well-organized database of information, customer self-service
becomes impossible, and agents will find themselves repeatedly answering
the same simple questions, delaying queues and inviting boredom into their
jobs.
We've compiled a list of companies who specialize in producing the kind
of systems companies need to support their customer data and, as a result,
build a world-class CRM plan. For a broader list of companies that
specialize in knowledge base and database technologies, visit Customer
Inter@ction Solutions'
2001 Buyer's Guide.
Astute, Inc.
Bob Lichi
Ph: 877-769-3750
Product: PowerCenterFAQ
Astute's PowerCenter FAQ is a self-help online solution to answering
customers questions about products and services. It uses linguistic
analysis to rapidly compare customer questions to the database and provide
answers based on the level of "match" and allows for escalation
to a live Web chat session.
Authoria, Inc.
Aimee Chaisson
Ph: 781-530-2000
Products: Authoria HR, Authoria Outsourcer and Authoria AnswerWise
Authoria HR delivers personalized, real-time answers to employees' HR
questions via call centers and self-service. Authoria Outsourcer enables
outsourcers to capture and maintain clients' benefits plans, payroll
processes and corporate policies. Authoria AnswerWise enables health
insurance providers to deliver personalized service regarding complex
plans and policies to each customer via self service and call centers.
BMC Software
Nancy Dixon
Ph: 800-841-2031
Product: System Performance for DB2
System performance solutions from BMC Software give data professionals the
products they need to optimize and manage current performance while
planning for future growth and capacity. BMC Software's system performance
solutions for DB2 include the following products: OPERTUNE for DB2,
MAINVIEW for DB2, Pool Adviser for DB2 and AutoOPERATOR.
Braxtel Communications
Diane Stokes
Ph: 978-264-1992
Product: Fluency
Braxtel's Fluency is an all-in-one system which automates the customer
contact function, providing the ability to create unique customer
relationship management strategies. The Fluency Communications Suite
leverages existing technology infrastructure investments and provides
seamless integration to pre-existing systems and processes.
Broad Daylight, Inc.
Colin Dignam
Ph: 408-327-0170
Product: Broad Mind
Broad Daylight's software applications enable you to answer questions
instantly on your Web site, reducing inbound e-mails and phone calls. They
allow a user to answer a question once and then deliver that answer to
prospects, customers, members, sales representatives or partners on a
self-service basis via internal and external Web sites 24/7.
CASIO Soft, Inc.
Jeff Specht
Ph: 408-441-2000
Product: CSI MobileLink
CSI MobileLink is a field force solution for retail merchandising and
marketing services operations. It integrates interactive voice response
(IVR), handheld computers, remote database synchronization and Web-based
management reporting. CSI MobileLink delivers a fully integrated,
"turnkey" data collection, data mining and reporting solution,
including software, hardware, digital cameras, modems, bar-code scanners,
training, installation, customization and support.
ClearForest
Barry Graubart
Ph: 212-432-1515
Product: The ClearForest Portal Suite (ClearSight, ClearEvents,
ClearAlerts and ClearCharts) and ClearResearch ClearForest's products read
text, extract specific information and provide visual, interactive
executive summaries. ClearForest's knowledge "snap shots" allow
customers to gain insights into business intelligence.
Control-F1
Marsha Connor
Ph: 403-270-2409
Product: Control-F1
Control-F1 designs, markets and hosts technical support solutions for
software vendors, value-added resellers, support providers and help desks.
Control-F1 lets companies provide live, assisted, Web-based technical
support anytime and anywhere.
DecisionPoint Applications
Tim Kilian
Ph: 503-906-7200
Product: DecisionPoint
DecisionPoint for Financials delivers detailed general ledger, accounts
receivable, accounts payable, fixed assets, purchasing and project
accounting data. DecisionPoint for Distribution delivers purchasing,
inventory, order entry and backlog data. DecisionPoint for Manufacturing
delivers work in process (WIP) and bill of materials (BOM). DecisionPoint
for Human Resources provides employee demographic, payroll, benefits,
earnings, taxes and garnishment and leave data. DecisionPoint for Sales
Analysis provides a detailed view of a company.
DigiMine
Stephanie Peterson
P: 425-896-1700
Service: digiMine
digiMine Services empower businesses to interpret and act on their data.
DigiMine's service provides fully hosted and managed data warehousing,
data mining, reporting and targeted marketing applications.
The Haley Enterprise
Zenon Piotrowski
Ph: 412-741-6420, 800-233-2622 (U.S.)
Product: Authorete
Express knowledge in plain English sentences using waterfall menus or
speech recognition and your vocabulary. Authorete captures knowledge and
automates the knowledge it manages by generating the business logic that
implements the constraints, diagnostics, deductions, heuristics,
personalizations, decision-making policies and regulations that it
manages.
High Tower Software
Dr. Ursula Schwuttke
Ph: 949-852-2233
Product: TowerView 4.72
TowerView is a data discovery tool that converts massive amounts of
rapidly changing business data into clear, manageable knowledge and
results. TowerView's monitoring and analysis capabilities, coupled with
its 3-D interface, helps companies use data they collect from real-time
sources or store in databases.
infoUSA, Inc.
Bill Kerrey
Ph: 402-593-4653
Product: Caller ID ++
Caller ID++ provides online or on-site access to infoUSA's demographic
database of 100 million households and over 450 million consumer listings.
Applications include populating the screen before a call is taken with
residents' names, address, city, state, zip code and other basic
information; demographic description of caller for targeting scripts;
analyzing campaigns and improved customer/prospect interaction.
Intraspect Software, Inc.
Danielle Hurley
Ph: 650-246-5217
Product: Intraspect c-Business Server
The Intraspect c-Business Server provides a virtual workspace where
employees can collaborate with customers and partners. This Web-based
"group memory" serves as an enterprise knowledge base by
capturing all client work, including e-mail, documents and discussions,
allowing knowledge from past projects to be searched and reused.
Kaidara
Michel Manago
Ph: 650-857-1683
Products: Kaidara e-Commerce, Kaidara Advisor
Kaidara e-Commerce tailors its questions and suggestions to guide buyers
through an e-commerce site or Intranet, and offers a choice of products.
Kaidara Advisor is a decision-support tool for diagnosis and customer
support. The latest version creates self-service technical assistance
systems for the Web.
Kana Communications, Inc.
Jason Cigarran
Ph: 650-298-9282
Product: Kana eBusiness Platform
Kana eBusiness Platform is a foundation for implementing enterprise
relationship management (ERM) solutions. As an open and extensible Web-architected
platform, Kana eBusiness Platform enables the enterprise to scale
Kana-delivered and enterprise-designed solutions. With Kana eBusiness
Platform, the enterprise can build and manage relationships with
customers, partners and suppliers.
Kanisa Inc.
David Kay
Ph: 408-863-5800
Product: Kanisa's Customer Experience Platform
Kanisa's Customer Experience Platform can conduct an interactive
diagnostic dialog to determine what a customer needs, answer routine
service and support questions, guide customers to the person when
non-routine questions are asked, and deliver relevant, personalized
information from the enterprise to the customer.
KnowledgeBase Marketing, Inc.
[email protected]
Ph: 866-4KNWLDG (456-9534) ext. 1107
KnowledgeBase Marketing, Inc., a provider of CRM and marketing information
solutions, enables companies to acquire and manage customer relationships
across traditional and Web-based contact points. Services include
strategic consulting, consumer and business information, advanced data
processing, data warehousing, data mining and modeling, marketing program
management and CRM solutions.
Knowledge Junction Systems
Pamela Whitmore
Ph: 888-757-3339
Product: ConciseMatch
KJS's Web-based software application, ConciseMatch, guides a complex sale
quickly and accurately by analyzing a customer's needs, developing
up-to-date product and service recommendations and delivering a detailed
quote, order or contract -- within minutes.
MS2
Mike Maciag
Ph: 650-623-2323
Product: MS2 Accelerate
MS2 Accelerate is an Internet application for product development. It
provides a single, Web-based repository of information within which the
entire team works, best practices templates that ensure consistent
results, real-time status reporting on all product lifecycles, and
automatic Web generation that instantly publishes Web sites with tailored
information for specific audiences.
Neteos Inc.
Thom VanHorn
Ph: 781-466-0100
Product: eRMNow!
eRMNow! is an adaptable and customizable service delivered by and through
the Internet. It is accessible from any standard Internet browser through
a secure interface and is seamlessly integrated with Windows applications.
eRMNow! consists of three modules which combine marketing, sales and
support activities into one integrated database.
OTG The Ottawa Telephony Group Inc.
Sarah Lyall
Ph: 613-745-4441
Product: HELP YOURSELF
OTG has developed a suite of automated help desk products to reduce the
volume of password-related calls to the corporate help desk, including
password reset for Windows NT, 2000 and 60 additional platforms, routine
and emergency RSA SecurID token administration, and Entrust/PKI profile
recovery and secure registration assistance.
PeopleSoft
PJ Wells
Ph: 888-773-8277
Product: PeopleSoft CRM Analytics
PeopleSoft CRM Analytics provides insights into customers' buying
patterns, pre- and post-sales behavior and retention factors. It deciphers
and understands bookings, billings and backlog to determine how companies
are servicing customers. It can identify the most profitable customers to
drive special pricing or service options and can identify at-risk
customers to stave off defections.
Pragmatech Software, Inc.
Sharon Coddington
Ph: 603-672-8941
Products: The RFP Machine, RFP Express, The Proposal Assembler, Proposal
Express, The RFP Tracking System, Web Publisher
The company's RFP products help secure business by responding to Requests
For Proposal (RFP). They enable users to create and maintain a central
knowledge base of mission-critical information and streamlines the RFP
response process using a language processor to read RFP questions, search
the knowledge base for answers, and insert answers, under the user's
control, into a proposal document.
RightNow Technologies
Tom Abshire
Ph: 406-522-4200
Product:RightNow Web
RightNow Web is RightNow's flagship Web customer service suite. The
product is a Web customer service platform and features self-service,
e-mail management, live chat, customer feedback surveys and integration
support for legacy applications. The product enables companies to improve
the online support experience while simultaneously reducing overall
expenditures.
Selectica
Laurie Spoon
Ph: 408-570-9700
Product: Selectica Internet Selling System
Selectica provides Internet selling system (ISS) software and services
that enable companies to sell complex products and services throughout all
sales channels over the Internet. Using the software, businesses can guide
customers, partners and employees through the selection, configuration,
pricing, quotation and fulfillment processes.
ServiceWare
Joan Tesla
Ph: 412-826-1014
Product: eService Suite
With eService Site, customers and employees have access to 24x7
self-service directly from a company's Web site. Designed to be customized
to conform to the design of a company's Web site, eService Site features a
natural-language-like intuitive interface feature that lets end users
query knowledge using their own words.
Siebel Systems, Inc.
[email protected]
Ph: 800-273-9913
Product: Siebel Call Center
Siebel Systems provides software enabling multichannel sales, marketing
and customer service systems to be deployed over the Web, call centers,
field, reseller channels, retail and dealer networks. Siebel Call Center
allows organizations to transform call centers into multichannel contact
centers, enabling agents to manage, synchronize, and coordinate service,
support and sales interactions across a range of communication.
Soliloquy, Inc.
Susan Berkowitz
Ph: 212-481-0424
Products: Dialog Experts, Dialog Mining
Soliloquy, Inc. offers turnkey solutions that enable end users to find the
information and products they desire through automated, intelligent,
targeted dialogs. Soliloquy's suite of e-business services includes its
trademarked Dialog Experts and Dialog Mining and were designed to increase
sales while providing an improved experience for end users.
Tacit Knowledge Systems, Inc.
Heather McBeath
Ph: 650-251-2000
Product: KnowledgeMail 2.0
Tacit Knowledge Systems provides expert automation solutions to enterprises worldwide. Tacits products -- including its flagship product, KnowledgeMail -- automatically and continuously inventory the skills and talents of the entire organization, so people can dynamically find and connect with the expertise they need, when they need it to make decisions, solve problems and serve customers.
ThinkDirectMarketing.com
Ed Fleiss
Ph: 203-964-9411
Product: DigitalData
TDM DigitalData automatically appends customer and prospect information in
real time for third-party CTI/CRM applications. Its hosted North American
database of over 100 million listings and DigitalData's software tools
allow a user's servers to immediately access geographic contact
information including business and residential names, addresses and
telephone numbers.
THINKologies
Jimmy Fulton
Ph: 404-364-0045
Product: ePortcard
THINKologies uses advanced technology to help clients answer the elusive
questions of business. THINKologies' product, ePortcard, is a digital
dialog engine that allows continuous communication in real-time between
companies and their customers, employees, vendors, etc., that is used to
predict factors that increase retention and drive profitability.
TroubleTree Software, Inc.
Dan Winston
Ph: 914-722-0243
Product: TroubleTree
TroubleTree answers common customer queries from a client's Web site. By
targeting the most frequent questions, it saves users from searching
through dozens of responses, a fundamental limitation of high-end
solutions. TroubleTree may be used for a variety of industries such as
consumer electronics, appliance manufacturing and others.
WhiteCross Systems
John K. Thompson
Ph: 415-249-0124
Product: Data Exploration Server
WhiteCross Systems is a provider of analytical database technology and
services that enable corporations to realize the benefits of real-time
customer intelligence. The company offers two main products: Data
Exploration Server and its ASP service offering. The company specializes
in helping enterprise corporations and e-businesses integrate this
intelligence into all channels of customer touch points.
YellowBrick Solutions
Scott Place
Ph: 919-653-2300
Product: The Visitant Experience Manager (VEM)
The Visitant Experience Manager (VEM) from YellowBrick Solutions compiles
customer data from disparate customer-facing and back-office applications,
analyzes the data and acts on the information. The VEM simultaneously
manages inbound and outbound communication channels, allowing companies to
conduct real-time dialogs with their customers.
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