October 2000
E.piphany's E.5 System Debuts
E.piphany, Inc., provider of enterprise software solutions,
announced the availability of the E.piphany E.5 System. Web-based,
E.piphany E.5 is designed to deliver the next generation of customer
relationship management (CRM), including integrated and personalized
marketing, sales and service applications driven by real-time analytics.
E.piphany E.5 provides global enterprises, both business-to-consumer and
business-to-business, a single view of the customer through multiple
inbound and outbound touch points. Product families in the E.piphany E.5
System include Enterprise Insight, Campaign Management, Real-Time
Personalization, Service Portal, Service Center and Connected Sales. The
E.5 System features a new enterprise dashboard portal interface meant to
enable detailed customer reports to be pushed to every knowledge worker
within an organization. With the E.5 System, E.piphany has completed the
integration of its analytic platform with the personalization and
interaction platforms from recently acquired companies RightPoint and
Octane.
No. 510, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
deltathree Releases PC2P Version 3.1
deltathree, a global provider of Internet telephony services and
other enhanced, Web-based communications services, announced it has
released Version 3.1 of its PC-to-Phone software (PC2P) for PC-to-phone
and PC-to-PC calls. In addition to reducing the size of the dialer from
2.6 MB to 964 KB, which allows for a faster download and is less demanding
on the user's hard drive, the new software is multilingual, with
translations in both French and Spanish. This broadens the potential usage
of the software in Europe and South America, markets where deltathree has
been expanding its presence in recent months. Enhancements include the
ability to send and receive faxes, e-mail and voice mail from a single
point of access, eliminating the need to jump between multiple inboxes.
The software also supports PC-to-PC calling, allowing callers to send and
receive calls from PC users without access to a separate telephone. The
software can be downloaded directly from the deltathree Web site.
No. 511, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
Blue Pumpkin Releases PrimeTime Exchange
Blue Pumpkin Software, a provider of workforce management
solutions, released PrimeTime Exchange, an open integration platform
designed to seamlessly bridge its PrimeTime forecasting and scheduling
solutions with multicontact communications technologies. This new platform
supports Blue Pumpkin's overall integration initiative to deliver open,
easy-to-implement solutions meant to support the rapidly changing
technology environments of today's multichannel contact center. The
solution includes the new integration platform and
"out-of-the-box" integration plug-ins developed jointly by Blue
Pumpkin and its communications partners. PrimeTime Exchange offers an open
platform supporting data integration to contact center applications that
manage voice, e-mail or Web transactions. The new platform supports data
exchange via XML, SQL and a variety of native formats. Blue Pumpkin also
announced its solutions will integrate with Cisco Systems' customer
contact software platform. The collaboration also includes a set of
integration plug-ins that directly connect the Cisco Intelligent Contact
Management software (Cisco ICM) component of the customer contact software
platform with the PrimeTime family of workforce management solutions.
No. 512, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
etelenet Launches SimpleCall
SimpleCall by etelenet is designed to allow Web site visitors to speak
with Web site contacts using regular telephones. A visitor to your Web
page clicks on your SimpleCall button, which generates a call request to
etelenet's phone switch. The phone switch calls your site visitor's phone
and connects you and the caller. Essentially, etelenet's telephone switch
generates two outgoing telephone calls: one call to the customer on the
Web and a second call to the Web site representative. As an application
service provider (ASP), etelenet aims at providing an affordable solution
that does not require a weighty IT infrastructure investment and enabling
any Web site to offer visitors instant voice communication using their
telephones. No additional hardware or software is required to use the
service. etelenet provides the infrastructure. At this writing, etelenet
was offering a FREE beta version of SimpleCall service at www.etelenet.net/registration.
No. 513, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
Agent Productivity Solution From Austin
Austin Logistics Incorporated, a provider of marketing, risk and
collection management solutions, announced the introduction of Prolific,
the latest addition to its suite of call center solutions. Using
analytical techniques to identify the most valuable people to call and the
best time to call those people, Prolific is intended as an economical
software solution that improves call center efficiency. Using data
generated from desirable "right-party" contacts, Prolific is
designed to optimize call lists and send them to the dialer as agent
resources are available. By simultaneously managing call lists to multiple
call centers, Prolific enables "just-in-time" record allocation
across dialer platforms in both outbound and blended call environments.
All that is needed to employ the software solution is a readily accessible
Web browser. Using a Web-based interface, Prolific users have complete
control over each call center campaign and, in a point-and-click
environment, are able to deliver records in any desired order to each
dialer. Austin Logistics also offers consultation and support services.
No. 514, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
Antenna Software Launches Web-Based Field Service
Solution
Antenna Software, Inc., a provider of Internet-based software to
the IT services industry, launched AntennaTools 2.0, a Web-based
communications, logistics and procurement solution for the IT services
market. AntennaTools is designed to streamline and improve the management
and delivery of on-site services, including core operations such as the
installation, repair, maintenance and upgrade of mission-critical
equipment. AntennaTools offers a pure HTML interface that can be accessed
via any standard browser on every major hardware or software platform.
AntennaTools provides anytime/anywhere accessibility, and will soon run on
wireless devices from Motorola and Palm. In addition, Antenna has formed a
strategic alliance with Clarify, a provider of customer relationship
management solutions recently acquired by Nortel Networks. Clarify Service
Solutions has an integrated CRM and eBusiness product suite for the
service community.
No. 515, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
e-talk Introduces e-talk Connect
e-talk Corporation, a provider of contact center performance
technology, has launched e-talk Connect, its signal service offering in a
new product line focused on improving e-commerce. Called the e-talk
Communication System, the new line incorporates online communications
technology to provide real-time Web chat, data collaboration and VoIP
offered in an ASP delivery model tailored for customer contact centers. A
Web site visitor can connect instantly to a representative and engage in
Web chat, share information (such as Web pages and product data) and
collaborate using interactive forms. Online customers can also choose to
talk to representatives using VoIP in PC to PC mode or PC to PSTN
connections or by requesting a standard telephone callback. Since the
product is hosted on the Internet, it does not require hardware or
software to be installed and configured at the contact center.
No. 516, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
Knowlagent Inaugurates Contact Center Training Solution
Knowlagent, a provider of technology and employee development
services through its Web-based training platform, unveiled KnowDev @nswer,
a customer contact training solution. KnowDev @nswer works in concert with
Knowlagent's KnowDev 5.0 suite of contact center training applications.
The company said KnowDev @nswer is designed as a training tool to address
the large number of transactions processed by contact centers that are
repeat calls about the same issue, calls in the same category or about
issues covered in existing customer documentation. While addressing a
single customer query, contact center agents using the KnowDev @nswer
technology can access information from a pre-existing database to predict
additional questions a caller is likely to have. The agent can then
proactively direct the caller to a specific group of Web-based courses
related to those present and future inquires. By providing incentive
rewards to callers who complete these informational training modules,
Knowlagent's KnowDev @nswer helps companies reduce the number of
repetitive follow-up calls their contact centers receive. The entire suite
of Knowlagent products integrates seamlessly into a company's current
workforce management, ACD and quality monitoring systems to provide a
complete, nondisruptive online learning solution at the agent's desktop.
By operating within a contact center's telephony system, Knowlagent's
suite of products automatically route targeted training to agents at times
of low call volume and scheduled learning breaks, eliminating the
interruption of business-critical operations.
No. 517, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
Pivotal's eSelling 2000 Bows
Pivotal Corporation announced that Pivotal eSelling 2000 is now
generally available. Based on the leading Internet commerce standard, XML,
Pivotal eSelling 2000 is designed to deliver capabilities for single and
multi-vendor product/catalog aggregation, advanced personalization,
proactive notification, recommendation, configuration, quoting and order
management. This solution offers intelligent features meant to enable
enterprises to perform in-depth needs analysis, provide targeted
recommendations on products and services, advise customers on features and
options, and configure complex orders with ease and accuracy. When
integrated with Pivotal's demand chain networks, the solution uses
customer and product knowledge from the Pivotal database to create
personalized buying experiences for each customer. eSelling 2000 is built
on a component-based, n-tier, distributed Internet architecture based on
the Windows DNA 2000 framework.
No. 518, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
IEX Unveils TotalView 3 With Multimedia Capabilities
IEX, a Tekelec Company and provider of contact center products, announced
the release of TotalView Workforce Management version 3. This latest
version adds multimedia planning and scheduling to IEX's workforce
management solution. TotalView 3 is designed to provide contact centers
with a single integrated tool for forecasting, scheduling and managing
customer contacts. In version 3, new methods have been added to the
product to manage backlogs associated with "non-abandoning"
contacts, such as e-mail and voice mail. TotalView Multimedia Planning and
Scheduling builds upon "skills-aware" technology to generate
accurate forecasts and efficient agent schedules. TotalView Workforce
Management integrates forecasting, scheduling, daily management,
reporting, long-term planning, historical and real-time adherence,
vacation and holiday planning, open database connectivity (ODBC),
"what if" capabilities and Web-based delivery of agent schedules
into a single client/server system covering traditional, skills-based and
multimedia contact environments. The new multimedia enhancements provide
forecast methods appropriate to each contact media and allow separate
definition of service level and agent skill requirements.
No. 519, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
NEC Introduces CCDesign Customer Contact Suite
NEC America, Inc. (NEC) announced the availability of CCDesign, a
suite of products and services developed to address the design and
deployment of next-generation customer contact centers throughout their
phases of evolution. CCDesign is geared to provide a framework that
closely corresponds to the way organizations build proficiency in their
contact centers. Also, CCDesign will encompass both products and services,
which will be offered through NEC's Professional Services organization.
CCDesign is organized to address a hierarchical set of needs that define
the tactical goals and strategic objectives of contact centers:
responsiveness, performance measurement, customer satisfaction, management
effectiveness and customer loyalty. CCDesign includes contact center
applications on all of the NEC NEAX PBX platforms. In a related move, the
company announced the integration of CallCenterWorX-Business with the NEAX
EXPRESS, thereby both extending scalability and rounding out its contact
center solutions.
No. 520, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
eshare Releases Expressions 4.2
eshare communications, a provider of customer interaction
management (CIM) solutions, announced the release of Expressions 4.2, its
real-time chat and threaded discussion solution designed to enable users
to build an online community. Applications include virtual meetings, live
training and conferencing, distance learning, moderated events and social
chat. Some of the new features in the new release include: Windows 2000
support; an updated installation routine; a database setup facility to
simplify system upgrades and installation; a redesigned architecture for
greater flexibility and scalability support for heavily trafficked Web
sites and portals; and greater flexibility for endusers to choose the way
they view forums and get information from a site.
No. 521, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
IntelliTouch Presents On-Hold Plus 5000
IntelliTouch Communications has released OHP 5000, a digital
announcer that allows users to download new content to the unit's flash
memory via an integrated audio CD mechanism. The OHP 5000 has an optional
Analog Adapter module, a hardware component that that allows businesses,
without PBX or KEY systems, to have on-hold audio. IntelliTouch said the
module works with almost any analog and KSU-less phones and is activated
by pressing the hold button on any phone extension. The module supports up
to 4 incoming lines and provides on-hold audio for up to 50 phone
extensions. The OHP 5000 is equipped with 8 minutes of digital flash
memory that can be upgraded to 16, 24 or 32 minutes by adding additional
memory modules. The unit utilizes new ISD Chipcorder technology that
provides sound quality that is indistinguishable from CD audio over the
telephone.
No. 522, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
FirePond Application Suite 2.0 Released
FirePond, a furnisher of integrated e-business solutions focused
on multichannel selling, introduced the FirePond Application Suite 2.0,
its software solution for companies engaged in the sale of complex
products and services. The FirePond Business Rule Engine (BRE) 8.6
includes enhanced data updating, maintenance and editing capabilities.
This Internet-based sales configuration engine has performance and memory
features designed to increase configuration processing speeds, streamline
access to enterprise application data through the use of flexible import
tools and multilanguage, single database support. It also has a fully
integrated administration facility for managing server administration,
data staging and remote publishing. FirePond's customer-interactive
applications have been updated to support deployment on Web-enabled
devices, such as mobile phones, personal digital assistants, etc. There
are new administration tools to visually model sales roles and processes,
Web-based reporting capabilities and an upgraded Java Virtual Machine
meant to both improve scalability and increase Web application
performance.
No. 523, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
HNC Launches Fraud Detection Service
HNC Telecommunications Solutions, a division of HNC Software Inc.,
recently announced the launch of its ATACS Online service for fraud
detection and management. Also, the company has signed a multiyear service
agreement with Axxent Inc. (formerly Optel Communications), a Canadian
competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC), to control its exposure to
fraud. ATACS Online is deployed over the Internet using an ASP model and
is designed to offer state-of-the art fraud technology as a
cost-effective, pay-per-transaction service. Benefits of the service
include support for high transaction throughput volumes, scalability,
flexible rules that can be customized to individual carriers, profile
modeling technology that identifies fraud quickly and minimizes losses,
support for data integration from other sources and detailed standard and
customized reporting.
No. 524, www.ccsmag.com/freeinfo
Daleen Technologies Inc., a producer of e-business
infrastructure software for Internet self-care, customer and partner
management, billing and service activation, appointed Sheryl
Waksman-Pattek vice president of marketing. Pattek was formerly
director of worldwide marketing communications at Citrix Systems, Inc.
Trustedanswer.com, a provider of Web-based, hosted customer
service and support solutions and a startup venture funded by Amdahl
Corp., hired three new members to its management team. Tom Scholer
was appointed vice president of business development. Scholer previously
served as vice president of worldwide business development with Global
Information Distribution. Tom May has joined as director of sales.
He was most recently regional vice president at Corporate Express, Inc. Mike
Gruber was named sales development manager. Gruber comes to the
company from Corporate Express, Inc. where he managed a direct sales team.
Software911, a provider of Web-based communication and knowledge
management solutions, appointed John G. McAughtry chief operating
officer. McAughtry will direct all aspects of sales, marketing and support
activities. Prior to joining Software911, McAughtry served as the vice
president of worldwide sales at A� Solutions.
eShare Communications, Inc. announced the appointment of James
Tito, currently president and vice-chairman, to the post of president
and chief executive officer. Tito replaces Aleksander Szlam, who
will remain as chairman of the board.
NO Boundaries, Inc., a provider of e-business and Internet
marketing solutions, announced that Kelly Wical was appointed chief
technology officer. Wical was previously CTO of Digital River.
Expanets, a mid-market communications solutions provider, named Rick
Schonbrun executive vice president of emerging technologies. Schonbrun
was vice president of global sales for NBX Corp., which was acquired by
3Com Corp. last year.
Davox Corp., a provider of customer interaction management
solutions, announced that Alphonse M. Lucchese plans to retire from
his position as president and chief executive officer. Lucchese will
remain in his position until a replacement is found. Thereafter, he will
continue as chairman of the company. Paul R. Lucchese was named
vice president, general counsel and secretary. Most recently, Lucchese was
the company's general counsel and secretary. Mark A. Zabroske was
appointed vice president of North American sales. Prior to his
appointment, Zabroske was director of North American sales for Davox.
Jeffrey E. Anderholm was promoted to executive vice president.
Previously, he was Davox's senior vice president of marketing.
Computer Network Technology (CNT), a provider of enterprise
application integration solutions, networking solutions and support
services, made two appointments to the management team of its enterprise
integration solutions division. Michael Ducatelli was named vice
president of worldwide sales and Robert J. Williams vice president
of engineering. Both men join CNT from Parametric Technology Corp.
Paul B. Domorski was named president and CEO of RSL
Communications, Ltd., a provider of integrated data, Internet and
telecommunications services in Europe and the U.S. Domorski, formerly
president of British Telecom Syncordia Solutions, succeeds Itzhak Fisher,
who will remain as a consultant to the company's board of directors.
CenturyTel, a provider of integrated communications services,
Internet access and security monitoring services, appointed Clay Bailey
vice president and treasurer. He was most recently the company's vice
president for government relations. The company also announced that Mike
Czerwinski was named vice president of CLEC and long-distance
business. Czerwinski was previously president of EATEL.
Sagent Technology, Inc., a provider of real-time e-business
intelligence solutions, announced that Ben C. Barnes was named
president and CEO, and will join the company's board of directors. Mr.
Barnes joins Sagent from IBM, where he was general manager of its global
business intelligence solutions unit and a member of IBM's senior
management group. Ken Gardner, co-founder of Sagent, has become
chairman of the board, a newly created position, and will focus on the
development of new products and strategic business initiatives.
ProsoftTraining.com, a supplier of computer training content for
end-user and technical training, appointed Robert Gwin as its chief
financial officer. Most recently, Gwin was managing director at Prudential
Capital.
Dr. Scott T. Toborg was named chief information officer of 360networks,
a provider of broadband network services. Toborg was director of product
development at Teledesic Corp., a broadband satellite company.
Commerce solutions provider Total System Services, Inc. (TSYS)
announced that Roger Van Scoy joined the company as senior director
and chief operating officer for TSYS, Europe. Prior to joining TSYS, Van
Scoy was an executive with a card-processing firm in England.
Blue Pumpkin Software, Inc., a provider of workforce management
solutions, announced the appointment of Nilesh Shah as executive
vice president and chief financial officer. Most recently, Shah was a
partner with the professional services firm KPMG.
Akibia, Inc., a customer relationship management solutions
provider, appointed Brad Waugh president of its flexHosting group.
Waugh will have responsibility for the global management and delivery of
Akibia's application support services for Internet-enabled customer
relationship management systems. Waugh was formerly executive vice
president of Complete Business Solutions, Inc.
William Campbell was named senior vice president of business
development of Encore Interactive Solutions, Inc., a Nashville,
Tennessee firm that develops and operates Web-based customer interaction
systems. Campbell was an executive with Private Business, Inc. before
joining Encore.
CustomerAsset.com, an eCRM company, announced it has named Raghu
Krishnaiah head of its U.S. operations. Krishnaiah will continue to
serve in his current position as COO for the parent company. In his new
position, Krishnaiah is responsible for business development, strategy,
alliances and recruiting for the U.S. market.
Janna Systems Inc., a provider of enterprise e-business
relationship management solutions for the financial services industry,
announced that John Sheedy joined the company as vice president of
operations, general counsel and corporate secretary. Sheedy was most
recently a partner with Torys Technology Group. Edward Chick,
formerly Janna's director of sales for the Central and Mid-West U.S.
regions, was promoted to vice president of sales.
Rainmaker Systems Inc., an outsource provider of
Internet-enabled sales and marketing services, promoted Marty Hernandez
to chief operating officer. Formally, its chief financial officer,
Hernandez will oversee the company's daily operations and activities.
ServiceWare Technologies, Inc., a provider of Web-based
solutions for enterprise service and support, announced the appointment of
Roberto Aguas to vice president of product management and strategy.
Aguas joined ServiceWare as director of products and strategy in March
2000. Prior to ServiceWare, Aguas was vice president of product management
at SuperNova, Inc.
FirePond Inc., a provider of integrated e-business solutions for
multichannel selling, has appointed Randy Harvey to senior vice
president of product development. Harvey comes to FirePond from Vignette
Corp. where he was vice president of engineering at the recently acquired
OnDisplay, Inc.
CyberRep.coM Gains 800 Support
CyberRep.coM Inc., an outsourced electronic customer relationship
management company, announced the acquisition of 800 Support, an operator
of customer support contact centers and end-user help desks for both
"brick-and-mortar" and Web-based companies. CyberRep.coM will
merge 800 Support's four customer contact centers in Portland and North
Bend, Oregon with its five existing customer interaction centers, creating
a national services firm with 2,000 employees and an expanded range of
telephone and online customer relationship management services. According
to the company, the acquisition will better position it as a provider of
outsourced customer service and technical support services to a market
expected to increase at least 20 percent this year, globally. The addition
of 800 Support, with more than 800 fully Internet-enabled production
workstations, gives CyberRep.coM a much stronger West Coast presence.
Equally important are 800 Support's strengths in online support, such as
handling large volumes of e-mail correspondence and electronic chat
sessions, as well as enhancing customer support capabilities through the
Web.
CenturyTel Acquires Internet Provider
Century Telephone Enterprises, Inc., a supplier of integrated
communications services including local exchange, long-distance Internet
access and security monitoring, has purchased the assets of CSW Net, Inc.
a privately held Internet service provider located in Russellville,
Arkansas. The acquisition comes on the heels of CenturyTel's purchase of
about 231,000 access lines from Verizon Communications, making it the
second largest telephone company in Arkansas.
Multimedia Tapped By Net2Phone For Customer Support
Services
Multimedia Tutorial Services, Inc., a developer of educational content and
provider of e-business customer support services, announced that
Net2Phone, a provider of voice-enhanced Internet communications services,
has engaged Multimedia to provide overflow customer service to holders of
Net2Phone's Direct Calling Cards. As of April 30, 2000, Net2Phone had over
825,000 active customers who had paid for and used Net2Phone's services.
Recently, an AT&T-led consortium acquired a 39 percent voting stake in
Net2Phone. John C. Petrillo, AT&T's executive vice president of
corporate strategy and business development, and Richard R. Roscitt,
president of AT&T business services, will join Net2Phone's board of
directors.
Oracle Employs Hipbone Shared-Browsing Service
Hipbone, Inc., a provider of real-time Web interaction solutions,
announced that e-business software provider Oracle Corporation has
implemented Hipbone's Web co-browsing and callback services to deliver
Web-based interactive customer support and sales. Initially deployed
within the Oracle Store and Internet Sales Division, Hipbone's hosted
solution permits customers to simultaneously view and discuss Web content
with an Oracle sales or support representative using linked Web browsers
and voice service. Oracle said it selected Hipbone's service for its ease
of use, co-browsing functionality and security.
Network Intelligence Changes Name
Network Intelligence, Inc., an integrated telecommunications products and
services provider, recently renamed itself nii communications. The San
Antonio, Texas-based company, which focuses on the small business market,
said that the name change complements its growth into new markets beyond
its Texas base and is part of its goal to offer nationwide services within
two years.
Thomson Chooses NICE Management Solution
NICE Systems, a producer of multimedia recording solutions, applications
and related professional services for business interaction management,
reported that Thomson Consumer Electronics has implemented NICE solutions
to upgrade the performance of its customer interaction center. Receiving
over 8 million contacts per year, Thomson provides inbound consumer
product support, as well as business-to-business services in its contact
center. Upon full system implementation, Thomson plans to provide total
recording and quality monitoring for approximately 400 agents. The NICE
system is fully integrated with Thomson's Avaya Definity G3 switch, and
CentreVu Telephony Server, enabling synchronized voice and screen capture
recording and playback to monitor the entire customer interaction.
Comdial Merges Business Units
Comdial Corp., a supplier of integrated communications solutions,
combined its Comdial Convergent Communications and Key Voice Technology
business units. The new unit will focus on sales, service and support for
Comdial's dealer network. Nick Branica, a co-founder of Key Voice
Technology and its past president, was appointed president of the new
business unit.
Market-Touch Reborn As Ventaso
Market-Touch Corp., a provider of sales and marketing
effectiveness systems, announced it has changed its name to Ventaso, Inc.
The company said the name change reflects its desire to distinguish itself
in the minds of its target audience. Ventaso will continue developing its
Sales and Marketing Effectiveness system and has commenced development of
a new application programming interface (API), designed for dynamic
distribution and integration of sales and marketing content.
Jones Cyber Opens In London
Jones Cyber Solutions Ltd. (JCS), a provider of customer
management software solutions to telecommunications companies, recently
opened an office in London, U.K. The office, led by Heidi Ruijling, JCS'
sales director for Western Europe, aims to deliver JCS expertise in CRM
for the convergence market to a broader audience, further enabling
European communications companies to create stronger, more profitable
relationships with their customers. The company's major offering,
Intelligent Customer Support Systems (ICSS), is a fully integrated
customer care and service-management software solution for convergent
service providers. JCS said the move both recognizes the demand for CRM
solutions in Europe (and worldwide) and demonstrates its commitment to its
current European customer base.
Kana Establishes Subsidiary In Japan
Kana Communications, Inc., a provider of Web-architected
enterprise relationship management solutions (eRM), has formed a Japanese
subsidiary, Kana Japan K.K. The company said the opening confirms its
commitment to continue to globalize its eRM solutions and aggressively
expand its presence in Japan. Kana said the market for eRM products has
doubled since 1999, driven by the growth in electronic commerce. The
subsidiary is expected to enable Kana to achieve closer cooperation with
the sales, marketing support and technical support operations of its
Japanese industry partners, NTT Software Co., Ltd. and Nihon Unisys Co.,
Ltd. Unisys, which currently uses Kana's multichannel solutions with its
@action customer response solutions, plans on adding a number of
additional Kana products to its portfolio.
Austin Logistics Inks Pact With TecnoSis M�xico
Austin Logistics Incorporated, a supplier of collections,
marketing and risk management solutions, announced a strategic
technological relationship with TecnoSis M�xico, a distributor of
advanced and high technology products, to provide customized solutions to
Latin American customers. TecnoSis M�xico will sell and support Austin
Logistics' Call Center Solutions Suite, which currently incorporates three
productivity-enhancing software systems: CallSelect, CallTech and OnQ. The
agreement aims at leveraging TecnoSis' experience in distributing
intelligent communications solutions to their wide Latin American customer
base. TecnoSis M�xico will provide all marketing, sales, training and
support programs for the Call Center Solutions Suite. Austin Logistics
said the alliance marks the embarkation point of a new program to expand
its market reach globally by providing its solutions through several
international resellers.
Vodavi Reaches Down Under For Distribution Deal
Vodavi Technology, Inc., a developer and marketer of business
telecommunications solutions, announced that its Australian distributor
and a call center solutions systems supplier, Callscan Australia Pty Ltd.,
has entered into an exclusive agreement with Aria Communications Pty. Ltd.
to market Vodavi's Expresso! voice processing product line in Australia
and the extended territory outside Australia including Fiji, Norfolk
Island, Papua New Guinea and Vanuatu. The alliance will allow Aria
Communications, Australia's exclusive distributor of the LG GDK Phone
system, to sell Vodavi's 2, 4, 6 and 8 port Expresso! product under the
brand name of AriaMail to its dealer network to enhance customer service
applications for business and call center customers. Marketed as STARPLUS
Dispatch in the U.S., the first Aria shipment of Expresso! products to
CallScan was completed at the end of July 2000.
West Mifflin Hosts Precision
Precision Response Corporation (PRC), a division of USA Networks,
Inc. and a furnisher of customer care solutions, opened a multimedia
interaction center in West Mifflin, Pennsylvania. PRC said the Internet is
the fastest-growing area of customer care focus and that its commitment to
customer care over multiple channels is critical to better support
e-commerce and customer relationship management. The 64,000-square-foot
facility will eventually accommodate up to 1,200 employees.
Allconnect Opens Customer Relations Center
Allconnect, a company that assists consumers in selecting and
ordering brand name utility and communications services, opened a $4
million customer relations center in Atlanta, Georgia. The
13,000-square-foot customer relations center has been integrated into the
company's new corporate headquarters. The center will eventually
accommodate 300 customer service personnel, including personal advisors,
service consultants and online advisors. Allconnect said it wanted to
provide its clients and customers with a state-of-the-art environment for
efficiently handling high volumes of customer interactions through its Web
site and various communications channels, such as e-mail, Web chat, phone
and fax. In addition, the new systems will enable Allconnect's order
processing and service plan administration groups to track orders placed
and routed to different service providers.
eSupportNow Opens In Oakland
eSupportNow, a provider of online customer care solutions, announced
the opening of its West Coast headquarters in Oakland, California. The
office will provide its West Coast client partners with customer service
offerings designed to generate customer loyalty. The company said it sees
a significant potential for growth in the Bay area. The new facility will
house a workforce of 350, primarily Internet customer service
representatives, operational management, sales and technical personnel by
the end of this year.
Providence Welcomes Millennium
Millennium Teleservices, LLC opened a new call center in
Providence, Kentucky. The 10,000-square-foot facility will employ at least
220 telephone and e-commerce representatives and administrative personnel.
This is Millennium's fifth customer service center in the state, and its
thirty-first nationwide. Additionally, the company has relocated its
corporate headquarters to the Raritan Center campus in Edison, New Jersey.
ICT Center In Spokane
ICT Group, Inc., a provider of customer relationship management
services, opened a customer contact center in Spokane, Washington. ICT
said it is expanding operations to support the increased demand it is
experiencing for Web-enabled CRM services from clients in a variety of
industries and to better serve West Coast-based companies. The
48,000-square-foot facility currently houses 120 customer service
representatives and product support specialists. The operation is expected
to grow to at least 600 employees.
OnPoint To Expand Workforce
OnPoint, a customer relationship management solutions provider,
has announced plans to expand operations at its San Antonio, Texas
facility. The company has started the recruiting process to hire
approximately 300 new customer contact specialists who will help to
support OnPoint's expanding range of services, client commitments and
pursuit of new business opportunities. The expansion announcement comes
three months after the company relaunched itself as OnPoint. Previously
known as TeleService Resources, it changed its name to distinguish itself
as a provider of integrated, multichannel CRM solutions, deployed a new
business strategy and introduced a streamlined infrastructure, diversified
service offerings and performance-driven customer service criteria.
eLoyalty And E.piphany Form Partnership
eLoyalty, an eCRM business/management consulting and systems
integration organization focused on building customer loyalty, and
E.piphany, Inc., a provider of intelligent customer interaction software,
announced a worldwide partnership intended to enable organizations to
measure real business benefits of personalized marketing, sales and
service applications. Under the agreement, eLoyalty will work with
E.piphany to provide services and tools in conjunction with E.piphany's
E.5 system to create and deliver multichannel solutions aimed at helping
clients increase profits by building lifetime customer relationships.
Delano And Recognition Sign Technology Partnership
Delano Technology Corp., a provider of interaction-based
e-business solutions for the enterprise, and Recognition Systems, a
furnisher of CRM solutions, announced a technology partnership under which
Delano's e-business platform and eCRM application suite will be integrated
with Protagona, Recognition Systems' flagship enterprise marketing and
campaign management product. Recognition Systems will integrate the Delano
e-Business Interaction Suite and Delano Customer Velocity with Protagona
in a multiphase project designed to enhance the functionality of the
marketing campaign management software, extending its capabilities to the
Internet. When the integration is complete, Recognition Systems expects to
deliver a comprehensive product that can enable marketing professionals to
manage customer experiences across multiple touch points and engage in
high-performance, high-volume event-based e-marketing initiatives with
full support for bounce handling and redundancy, content management,
personalized newsletters, online surveys and e-mail response management.
Witness Integrates eQuality With Brightware, eGain
Solutions
Witness Systems, Inc., a provider of recording and analysis
software, announced alliances with Brightware, Inc., a supplier of
e-customer-Assistance software for the Internet, and eGain Communications,
a provider of Internet customer service software. Witness and Brightware
will offer, to joint customers, an integrated CRM solution combining
Brightware 2000 and Witness Systems' eQuality suite. The integration aims
at assisting joint customers to more effectively respond to an increasing
quantity of customer inquiries while ensuring quality standards. Both
companies are engaged in a co-marketing plan to provide prospective
customers with information on the features and functionality provided by
their integrated solutions. The integration of eQuality suite and the
eGain Commerce platform is intended to help contact centers deliver
customer service across multiple communication channels, leveraging the
combination of Web-based customer service and analysis technology to
manage and ensure consistent interactions across all touch points.
Cisco And HP Enhance Global Alliance
Cisco Systems, Inc., a provider of networking for the Internet,
and Hewlett-Packard Co., a provider of computing and imaging solutions and
services, announced a joint initiative to accelerate the deployment of
contact center solutions by offering global consulting, systems
integration and e-services to enterprise and service provider customers.
The initiative is intended to allow enterprises to expand and improve the
effectiveness of their customer service and assist service providers in
offering contact center services to their enterprise customers. The
initiative will help customers furnish and manage multiple contact
channels in an integrated fashion. HP Services will sell, integrate and
service the Cisco customer contact software platform. The companies will
also develop a plan to evolve HP's Smart Contact capabilities into Cisco's
customer contact platform. As part of that integration, Cisco is acquiring
the intellectual property rights to Smart Contact. Their joint efforts
will focus on enterprises deploying single- or multi-site call centers
that want to leverage the Internet; service providers focused on
Internet-related services that outsource call center applications for
enterprises; and enterprises that are focused on improving the
effectiveness of their Web-based transactions with customers.
Avaya And Blue Pumpkin Connect For Joint Solution
Avaya, a provider of communications systems, converged voice and
data, and customer relationship management products and services, and Blue
Pumpkin Software, a furnisher of workforce management solutions, announced
a solution intended to help companies use and analyze customer contact
center information to ensure optimal staffing and service levels. The
companies have developed software that seamlessly connects Avaya's
CentreVu Call Management System (CMS) and Blue Pumpkin Software's
PrimeTime Workforce Management solution. The software plug-ins, available
"out of the box," are designed to enable ongoing transfer of
customer contact behavior and agent status data, without the need for
costly middleware typically required to support data exchange. Currently
available plug-ins provide functionality for the contact statistics and
real-time agent adherence modules of PrimeTime Exchange. The companies
plan to offer an additional module that will provide automatic
synchronization of agent information between CentreVu CMS and PrimeTime
Enterprise. Both companies expect the solution to provide contact centers
with tight integration that will enable contact center managers to quickly
gather a broad spectrum of meaningful information they can apply to their
operations in a real-time environment.
Bluestone, XMLSolutions Team For Data Exchange Solution
Bluestone Software, Inc., a provider of business-to-Web and
wireless technologies, and XMLSolutions Corp., a provider of XML-based
infrastructure software and services, announced an alliance and plans to
integrate technologies that will enable their clients to more easily
exchange real-time data between EDI and XML-based systems for buyers,
sellers and partners. The integrated offering will specifically address
the needs of large enterprise customers who have invested in electronic
data interchange (EDI) technology and now want to establish electronic
trading relationships with business partners using XML for data exchange.
This combination will offer customers performance, reliability and
scalability for bi-directional XML-to-XML and EDI-to-XML translation. The
companies will integrate Bluestone's Total-e-B2B component of its
Total-e-Business platform with XMLSolutions' XEDI Translator and Schema
Central software products to facilitate data exchanges between EDI- and
XML-bases systems. This is designed to allow enterprises with EDI systems
that previously only communicated with other EDI systems to more easily
conduct business with partners using XML. The integrated Bluestone and
XMLSolutions offerings are expected to be available in the fourth quarter
of this year.
Lightning Rod Attracts Syntegra For Global Alliance
Lightning Rod Software, Inc., a provider of real-time customer
interaction solutions for e-businesses, and Syntegra, the e-business
consulting and systems integration arm of British Telecommunications plc,
announced a strategic global alliance under which Syntegra will sell
Lightning Rod's Interaction Manager product suite to its customers.
Syntegra said the Interaction Manager product is a key addition to its CRM
offering, and the alliance enables it to expand its customers' contact
center capabilities to encompass Web-based offerings. In turn, Lightning
Rod Software said it expects to broaden its customer base in the
fast-growing CRM marketplace.
Sutherland Joins Siebel Alliance Program
The Sutherland Group, Ltd., a provider of electronic customer
relationship management (eCRM) professional and technology services,
announced an alliance with Siebel Systems, a supplier of e-business
application software. Sutherland became a provider of Application Hosting
services for Siebel eBusiness Applications. Under the terms of the
agreement, Sutherland will integrate Siebel eBusiness Applications with
Suthernet, its high-performance communications network infrastructure, to
offer clients a hosted, end-to-end e-business solution for a fixed,
monthly fee. Along with Siebel eBusiness Applications, Sutherland has
selected complementary technologies from other market-leading software
vendors to be a part of their Partner Consortium delivered over Suthernet.
Rockwell And Telstra Establish Marketing Agreement
Rockwell Electronic Commerce and Telstra Inc., the U.S. subsidiary
of Telstra Corporation, a fully integrated, full-service communications
provider in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region, have entered into an
agreement to cooperatively market each other's technologies and services
in the U.S. Under the terms of the agreement, the companies will jointly
market Rockwell Electronic Commerce's product set, including the Spectrum,
Transcend and 3CS customer contact center platforms. Telstra said that
Rockwell's offerings will round out its suite of call center services they
have deployed in the U.S. Both companies expect their combined products
and services to provide comprehensive e-business solutions to customers
competing in the digital economy.
CAS Fences In Prairie Partnership
CAS Inc., an eCRM solutions provider, announced a strategic
partnership with Prairie Systems Inc., a provider of e-messaging, and
interactive services. The alliance aims to provide a one-stop solution for
highly personalized e-marketing services combining CAS' managing and
enhancing customer information experience with Prairie System's
high-volume e-mail message delivery experience. CAS said that
"e-marketing services are an essential component of customer
relationship management" and that the partnership will allow it to
meet the growing demand for personalized message delivery.
SITEL Calls MyHelpDesk For Tech Support Portal Services
SITEL Corporation, a provider of electronic customer relationship
management (eCRM) solutions, and MyHelpDesk, Inc., a computer self-help
content aggregator, announced a strategic partnership to incorporate
MyHelpDesk's FirstHELP self-help directories into SITEL's technical
support portal services. Through the collaboration, the companies expect
to provide critical eSupport infrastructure to corporations by offering
self-help in conjunction with chat, voice and e-mail support. MyHelpDesk
is licensing its FirstHELP solution to SITEL, which will combine it in its
support portal offering to its customers that outsource their help desk
functions to SITEL. The partnership also provides MyHelpDesk with a global
sales and support partner having more than 72 contact centers offering
services in 25 languages throughout 18 countries. Initially, SITEL will
provide services from one or more of its customer contact centers in the
U.S., with strategic plans for future growth to other international
locations.
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