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Contact Centers and CRM Taking on Strategic Customer-Centric Role in the EnterpriseSTERLING, VA –February 23, 2005–In addition to the traditional challenges of balancing customer satisfaction with operational efficiency, contact centers are facing new opportunities and trials brought on by changes in management attitude, strategic market initiatives, and evolving technologies. Long viewed as the ‘complaint department’ in many organizations, contact centers are taking on new roles as the hub of strategic customer communications and as a critical element of customer relationship management. The shift in making strategic communication a key enterprise initiative and management’s view of contact centers will have profound impacts in the amount, timing, and decision criteria for investments in contact centers and subsequent customer support applications according to Joe Outlaw, Principal Analyst of Contact Center Solutions and CRM Solutions. Outlaw offers this assessment of the market: “There is a growing recognition of the strategic importance of contact centers as the primary point of customer interactions and need to provide customers with a ‘branded experience.’ This strategic view of contact centers, the emerging demand to make contact centers the hub of unified enterprise-wide communications, and the convergence of voice and data communications will all drive investments in contact centers over the next 18 to 24 months." To address the demand for market intelligence that links business processes with communications technology and services, Current Analysis has announced a new intelligence service to the company’s offerings: the Contact Center and CRM Solutions module. The new module will focus on companies that deliver systems, software, and services to support customer interaction in large enterprise, mid-sized enterprise, and hosted as well as managed service environments. Analysis offered into the European and North American markets for contact center and CRM solutions include traditional systems built on automatic call distribution (ACD) functions linked with digital PBX environments, as well as emerging platforms that rely on converged voice and data networks to integrate customer contact services over an IP infrastructure. In addition, analysis of the CRM applications that operate atop that infrastructure, such as customer service and support applications as well as other enterprise applications that allow companies to interact directly with their customers/prospects will be on hand. From customer service and support applications to contact center solutions, Current Analysis’ team of analysts will offer intelligence on the market, competing companies, services, and applications through market assessments, competitive intelligence reports, and offer company and product assessments into the industry’s leading providers of customer relationship management services and applications including Siebel, Oracle, and SAP. Supported by a thorough database of competitive intelligence, the team will offer analysis of available services and applications by applying the CurrentCOMPETE™ comparative competitive analysis methodology. Additionally, the Contact Center and CRM Solutions module will track and analyze important emerging market trends such as support for distributed and virtual contact center environments and the emergence of pay-as-you-go managed and hosted approaches from solution and service providers. Ian Jacobs, Senior Analyst of Contact Center and CRM Solutions states, “Companies of all sizes are increasingly recognizing the value of delivering excellent and consistent customer experiences, which leaves the customer with a branded experience. Whether that means marketing material sent through the mail, a chat session initiated at the corporate Web site, or a phone call from a customer looking for support, enterprises are recognizing that customer interaction is critical to the success of their businesses and that having a customer relationship management strategy is key." Contacts: Joe Outlaw Principal Analyst, Contact Center and CRM Solutions Phone: +1 302-655-5425 E-mail: [email protected] Ian Jacobs Senior Analyst, Contact Center and CRM Solutions Phone +1 310-593-0530 E-mail: [email protected] Chalise E. Zolezzi Director of Public Relations Phone: +1 858-729-5287 Mobile: +1 858-692-9034 E-mail: [email protected] Note to Editors: The Contact Center and CRM Solutions module will provision a blend of daily market event analysis, company assessments, and product assessments of mobile devices in the market. The module is the latest enhancement of Current Analysis’ award-winning CurrentCOMPETE™ platform. The content is comprised of continuous, change-driven expert analysis and delivered through comprehensive reports: Company Assessments provide tactical analysis of a competitor’s strengths and weaknesses. Company assessments include coverage application providers such as Avaya, Nortel, Cisco, Siebel, and Oracle. Product Assessments offer a comprehensive look at competitor technologies and services in the large- and mid-sized contact center solutions market. Additionally, services offered in the customer service and support applications market as well as the small and medium enterprise customer service and support applications market. Competitive Intelligence Reports are actionable, analytical assessments of market developments that respond to competitive activity and announcements, such as product launches and new promotions, within 48 hours. Market Advisory Reports offer insight into issues driving the market as well as competitive response solutions to combat competitor threats. About CurrentCOMPETE™: CurrentCOMPETE™ is Current Analysis' award-winning, Web-based delivery system. CurrentCOMPETE™ enables the effective use, customization, and distribution of our analysts’ tactical competitive information through corporate intranets, portals, and customer relationship platforms. About Current Analysis: Current Analysis is the industry benchmark for excellence in navigating today’s markets, serving as a critical, third-party expert in market and product analysis by offering competitive response solutions in the telecommunications, information technology and consumer electronics industries. By providing the most comprehensive and rapid intelligence through our CurrentCOMPETE™ platform, Current Analysis enables sales teams, marketing professionals, product managers, and executives to continuously anticipate and counter competitive threats while offering solid solutions to emerging obstacles. As a global company, Current Analysis has a worldwide network of researchers, competitive analysts, and industry experts to identify market and competitor threats from a frontline perspective, and offer conclusive, tactical advice on market strategy, positioning and response objectives. Current Analysis clients include equipment manufacturers, service providers, major multinational enterprises, financial institutions and selected members of the press. Please visit Current Analysis at www.currentanalysis.com ### |