Bandwidth.com (News - Alert), a provider of Internet and VoIP services, outgrew its homegrown CRM system -- but its partners required controlled access to the Bandwidth.com CRM, This meant they needed a system with enough security but still easily accessible over the Internet.

The company’s specialized pricing engine, a component of the sales process, needed “sophisticated, bidirectional integration with the new CRM,” company officials said, adding that because Bandwidth.com is a reseller of communications services providing first-line customer support, “the efficiency of the company's service teams was critical to profitable operations.”

So after looking at their integration, customization, and functional requirements, Bandwidth.com selected Salesforce CRM. Using Salesforce CRM Service, Bandwidth.com officials say, they “coordinate and manage customer service and support across the numerous telecommunications parties involved in delivering service to customers.”

Force.com enabled integration between Bandwidth.com's proprietary pricing engine and Salesforce CRM, according to Bandwidth.com officials, adding that the company used Salesforce.com's (News - Alert) customization tools to help track inventory, business initiatives, and referrals. To meet the needs of four different customer support operations, Bandwidth.com implemented multiple case record types -- “a standard Salesforce CRM capability,” company officials said adding that VoIP integration “boosted call center and inside sales productivity through incoming call screen pops and outbound autodialing.”

What were the results? More than 90 percent of Bandwidth.com's employees use Salesforce.com "soup to nuts," Bandwidth.com officials say, “benefiting from access to a common solution.” Company officials credit Salesforce CRM, along with other initiatives, with helping Bandwidth.com grow at 200 percent for the past three years.

Earlier this year TMC’s (News - Alert) Susan J. Campbell reported that Bandwidth.com announced the release of Phonebooth Free. This inbound cloud phone system, she wrote, “is designed for small businesses and independent professionals as it delivers the functionality and feel of an enterprise communications system without the enterprise cost.”

Phonebooth Free includes Contact Us Plus, a dynamic, clickable widget that businesses can install on their “Contact Us” page: “This solution is designed to cater to early-stage companies with a small staff or independent professionals as they can implement the solution to use with their existing mobile or home phones,” Campbell said.