January 2000
A Half Dozen Products For Updating Your Call Center
With all indicators from this past holiday season pointing to increased use of the
Internet for shopping, and the main reason customers develop loyalty to sites being that
site's ease of use and the ability to get customer service when needed, the following new
products should be a boon to companies looking to provide superior service across all
channels of customer interaction, further personalize the e-commerce experience and
exploit the long-term benefits of integrating Web sites and call centers.
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eGain Live 3.0 |
eGain Communications eGain Live 3.0 (formerly known as eGain Web
Collaboration System) is a Web-collaboration solution designed to give the agent a
complete view or memory of all customer interactions and transactions. Every
e-mail, phone call or other contact in the companys database is called up and
displayed for the agent while he or she is answering an online support or service request
from a customer.
Built with eGains Internet-class Web-based architecture, eGain Live
can scale from very simple to very complex interactions. While many requests will need
only simple chat capabilities, some customers will require more personal attention. eGain
Lives Two Way Escorting and Forms Assist capabilities let agents help customers with
complex questions while the customer is at his or her browser.
eGain Live lets customer representatives answer customer requests that
come in over the Internet and provide immediate answers or help. When a customer inquiry
comes in, eGain Live automatically matches the customer with the most appropriate customer
representative. Customers are routed to the right representative according to their
product interest, the Web page they are on, their geographical region and other criteria
selected by the company using eGain Live. As soon as a customer contact is made, an agent
has a complete view of all of the customers prior real-time sessions, e-mail and
transactions. To incorporate prior customer interaction history, the eGain Commerce Bridge
can seamlessly integrate transaction data from third-party vendors. Using a variety of
tools (browser sharing, forms synchronization, text chat, voice-over-IP and Web callback
technologies), company representatives can assist online customers with product
specifications, pricing information, order forms, etc.
To simplify the process for online customers, eGain Live uses eGains
WorksEverywhere technology to work with any type of browser the customer might be using.
Instead of forcing customers connecting with WebTV or using older browsers to download new
software, eGain Live automatically adapts itself to the type of browser and network
connection being used.
eGain Live can also be implemented through the eGain Hosted Network, a
network of hosted applications for e-commerce customer communications. The solution can
also be licensed for in-house deployment.
No. 536, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
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Silknet eSales |
Silknet Software, Inc. has released
Silknet eSales, an e-sales application that assists consumers in their selection of online
products and services using a virtual sales assistant that helps them through the online
purchasing process.
Silknet eSales is the first solution resulting from the companys
acquisition of InSite Marketing Technologies. Using InSites Trusted Advisor
technology, Silknet eSales allows e-merchants take the skills of their best sales
personnel and incorporate them into a virtual assistant that determines what the customer
would like to buy and then maps a selling style to the personal buying style of the
customer. The goal of the Silknet eSales virtual assistant is to not only make it easier
for a customer to buy products and services, but to also build a higher level of trust and
personalization between the customer and the company. To build trust, customers interact
with one or more unique virtual sales assistants, or personas, who make recommendations
and handle objections based on the customers preferences. The tone or style of the
persona is mapped to the personal buying style and knowledge base of the customer. Silknet
eSales also provides a forum for customers to discuss products and services with the
virtual assistant who shows them why specific products are right for them.
Silknet eSales Trusted Advisor technology for building trust-based
customer experiences was developed in part through research at MITs Sloan School of
Management. Trusted Advisor technology allows e-merchants to treat shoppers as if they
know them without requiring them to identify themselves or answer lengthy
lists of questions. As customers browse the site, Silknet eSales uses micro-segmentation
technology to collect insights into their behavior based on demographic and psychographic
information, enabling the e-merchant to understand the customers purchasing needs at
a personal level. These data are automatically incorporated into Silknet eSales and are
immediately used to further personalize the shopping experience.
Silknet eSales can be added to a companys existing Web site or kiosk
without disrupting the existing operation. Each Silknet eSales virtual assistant is
customized to deliver the look, feel and approach that is right for the sales situation.
No. 537, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
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Ensemble 2000 |
Davox Corporation has released its Ensemble 2000 customer interaction
management software. The Ensemble customer contact suite consists of integrated software
modules to help companies manage inbound and outbound customer contact, generate real-time
and historical reports and provide valuable customer information to agents as they need
it.
Ensemble provides an integrated inbound and outbound customer contact
system. Customer service agents can quickly shift between inbound calls to outbound calls
as needed, enhancing agent productivity and improving customer service. Using the Ensemble
system, agents can handle a high volume of inbound calls, responding to customer
inquiries. Using the same system, those agents could be quickly shifted over to make
outbound calls, notifying customers of new services or special promotions.
The Ensemble platform incorporates the outbound call management
capabilities of Davoxs Unison module, which features a management console that
monitors critical functions, open-systems-based capabilities, a scalable architecture,
relational database technology and digital signal processing.
For inbound call handling, Ensemble incorporates Davoxs Concerto
module, which is comprised of inbound client/server-based solutions that integrate
computing and communications technologies across the enterprise, providing a single
system-level interface for connecting front-end applications with back-end services.
Ensembles Unison SCALE (Seamless Call and Agent Load Equalization)
capabilities use CTI technologies to create a blended environment that can leverage agent
skills by re-allocating resources to reflect managements priorities.
Ensemble also incorporates Davoxs Sixth Sense (agent workflow
automation software) and LYRICall, a browser-based scripting product.
Ensembles Compose It module is a reporting solution that tracks
system activities and telephony information and related data within the switch
environment. It can combine that information with data from customer information systems
to produce consolidated reports for both single-site and multisite operations.
The historical data captured in third-party help-desk-automation software,
customer care systems and other customer relationship management (CRM) solutions can be
passed to the Ensemble system and made available to customer service agents as they are
talking to customers. In that way, companies can more effectively act on their valuable
CRM data. A retailer running a special promotion, for example, can analyze their customer
data in the CRM system to compile a list of all likely prospects for the promotion. That
list can then be passed to the Ensemble system, where agents can effectively contact those
prospects.
Ensemble also integrates e-mail management technology from Kana
Communications and offers Web callback capabilities.
No. 538, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
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GoldMine
FrontOffice 2000 |
GoldMine Software Corp. has released GoldMine FrontOffice 2000, a customer
relationship management (CRM) solution designed for small- to medium-sized businesses. The
scalable, Microsoft SQL Server-based product is designed to provide a unified view of
customer information to support all customer-facing operations and provide real-time
access to GoldMine Management Intelligence tools, which can be used to monitor and analyze
critical customer-related operations throughout an organization and make adjustments to
sales, marketing and support operations. GoldMine FrontOffice 2000 combines GoldMine Sales
and Marketing, which is used to automate sales and marketing teams, with GoldMine Service
and Support, a call center and help desk application.
GoldMine Sales and Marketing is designed for use by sales, telesales,
telemarketing, marketing and sales management. It provides contact, account and
opportunity management features; quota and sales forecasting; task delegation and
management; and bi-directional remote data synchronization. It also provides real-time
pipeline analysis; forecasting and sales cycle analysis; territory alignment and
assignment; and roll-up and drill-down reporting. Telemarketing and sales features include
call list assembly, auto dialing and order taking. It also includes tools that automate
marketing activities such as campaign creation, management and measurement; Web and direct
lead qualification, distribution and follow-up; and automated literature fulfillment.
GoldMine Service and Support provides call center agent tools including
incident assignment, escalation, tracking and reporting features; problem management and
resolution capabilities; and service-level agreements, warranty and contract-management
tools.
A resolution database assists agents in addressing customer problems, and
a built-in Business Rules Editor allows managers to monitor call center activities.
Support teams have a shared view of the sales history and pending opportunities and have
the ability to send e-mail.
GoldMine Management Intelligence provides a Managers Console that
can view both sales and service activities in real-time, set thresholds that trigger
automatic notification when critical issues arise, and gauge individual and department
performance.
GoldMine FrontOffice 2000 Web features include automatic lead capture,
qualification and response; Web marketing through targeted Internet campaigns; Internet
synchronization; and business intelligence delivered via the Web.
GoldMine FrontOffice 2000 has also been customized to provide CRM
solutions for a number of industries, including commercial and residential real estate,
financial services, insurance (property and casualty and life), legal and mortgage
lending. These feature custom reports, profiles and fields specifically designed for these
markets.
No. 539, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
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NeuroServer 2.0 |
Neuromedia, Inc. has released two new products, NeuroService and NeuroCommerce, which
feature version 2.0 of its NeuroServer product suite, which is used for developing and
deploying Virtual Representatives (vReps). vReps are virtual online sales and customer
service representatives that dynamically interact with customers via real-time, text-based
natural language.
The NeuroServer software suite includes scalable server software, a comprehensive
authoring system and customer interaction analysis tools. NeuroService also includes
training and consulting services to help organizations create customer service, technical
support and help desk vReps. The NeuroServer suite can create and integrate libraries of
pre-defined content modules, which allow companies to speed vRep development and
implementation. Customer interactions are captured and indexed by topic, subject, date and
time, result, etc. Content Wizards are used to automate new content generation based on
captured customer interactions.
vReps provide an automated, interactive service customers can access 24/7. Web users
can receive a direct answer to a direct question in real-time, providing targeted
information in a consistent manner. By reducing the number of FAQ-type hits to a call
center, vReps can enable live customer service representatives to focus on more critical
customer issues.
NeuroService is designed to integrate easily with existing IT infrastructure and scales
to meet the needs of small to enterprise-sized support centers. It can also help companies
organize their content and information architecture so customers can get the information
they need faster and easier. The authoring and server tools for vReps are designed for
content experts, not programmers, making them easier to create and maintain. vReps can
also be assigned specific knowledge domains and be teamed up for greater
effectiveness.
The NeuroCommerce solution also features the NeuroServer 2.0 product suite and is
designed to assist e-commerce companies in building and branding vReps. NeuroCommerce also
helps companies organize their content and information architecture in a way that makes
information access and use faster and easier for customers. E-commerce sites can capture
customer interactions for analysis, refinement of sales and marketing efforts, and
identification of customer needs. Using Neuro-Commerce, companies can build a vRep that
further extends their corporate or brand personalities.
No. 540, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
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Online Bill Payment And
Self-Service From Novazen |
Novazen has released three products designed to enhance online payments and customer
care: Novazen Internet Customer Care, which provides Internet-based self-service customer
care; Novazen Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment, which provides electronic bill
presentment and payment capabilities; and Novazen Consolidated Billing, which provides a
single customized statement.
Novazen Internet Customer Care allows customers to service themselves 24/7 and provides
a single contact point for all company-to-customer interactions. The system is built with
standard Internet technologies, utilizing a browser at both ends and thin clients on the
agents desktop. Using Novazen Internet Customer Care, customers can review and pay
their bills, activate and deactivate products and services, and manage their own product
portfolio.
Novazen Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment electronically presents bills to
customers via browser, e-mail, fax, image, data download, applet and IVR while continuing
to support traditional paper, magnetic or optical media. Customers can access, analyze and
pay their bills online and also designate the layout and data groupings to be presented in
their bills.
Novazen Electronic Bill Presentment & Payment also offers Novazen Consolidated
Billing, which is designed to consolidate data from any source into a single invoice for
paper or electronic delivery. This one-stop billing solution covers all products and
services to which a customer may be subscribed and can be updated as new services are
added. Sources from standard relational and object databases, flat files, CD-ROM, tape,
etc., can be integrated.
Novazens products support the use of notifications via e-mail or fax for various
application events. E-mail notifications can be used to inform a customer that
his or her current bill is now ready for review; a trouble ticket opened by the customer
has been satisfactorily resolved; a new user has been added to his or her account; a new
product or service is available; a payment failed; etc.
No. 541, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
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