Customer Interaction Solutions articles from March 2001

Customer Interaction Solutions archives from March 2001

SIXTEENTH-ANNUAL TOP 50 OUTBOUND TELESERVICES AGENCIES RANKING.(Industry Trend or Event)
March 1, 2001... This is the sixteenth year Customer Inter@ction Solutions[TM] magazine brings you its "Top 50" Teleservices Agencies Ranking. In this issue, we're presenting the "Top 50" outbound portion of the ranking. (The inbound portion of the ranking...

CLOSING THE CONTACT CENTER QUALITY LOOP WITH CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE MANAGEMENT.(Industry Trend or Event)
March 1, 2001... The advent of multimedia customer interactions in today's contact center has heightened the need for highly skilled agents who can multitask in a variety of communication forms, ranging from the telephone to e-mail to an ever-widening array of...

MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF CHOICE With IP Telephony.(Internet/Web/Online Service Information)
March 1, 2001... The pursuits of efficiency, productivity and cost reduction are driving businesses to an increasingly self-service mode. Many advances in technology enable self-service, and the Web revolution is one of the most powerful and dramatic movements...

Knowledge Management And Database Technologies Roundup.(Industry Trend or Event)
March 1, 2001... 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...

TMC[TM] Labs Review.(royalblue's SupportCenter)(Software Review)(Evaluation)
March 1, 2001... A call logging, tracking and management tool, SupportCenter from royalblue allows contact center agents to record incoming requests for support or information, create escalation points and essential "action tracks," and hand out assignments...

Correction.(Correction Notice)
March 1, 2001... In the January issue of Customer Inter@ction Solutions (News item entitled "MessageStream 2.0 For Contact Centers And Mobile Employees," page 35), we gave an erroneous Web address for Trango Software Corp. The correct Web address is...

SELECTING AND BUYING CRM SOFTWARE.(Industry Trend or Event)
March 1, 2001... The first thing to realize when embarking on a project to select and buy customer relationship management (CRM) software is that preparation is key. Make sure that you communicate your CRM package selection efforts internally. Successful...

Transforming A Transparent Eyeball.(Technology Information)
March 1, 2001... While words can be used to paint a picture or tell a tale, sometimes words just aren't enough, and they present another layer of abstraction. In his essay, "Nature," Emerson compared words to ciphers, "signs of natural facts." Show me what it...

Baxtsoft Releases Net Prospector.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Baxtsoft Company has announced Net Prospector 2000, a program designed to find sales leads on the Internet automatically. Net Prospector 2000 is a comprehensive software that will find sales leads on a global basis and manage the process of...

Composit Opens U.S. HQ.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Composit Communications International, a provider of customer interaction solutions for the contact center industry, recently opened its U.S. headquarters in Norcross, Georgia. Composit chose the greater Atlanta area for its high-technology...

Telcordia Et Al. Partner For Contact Center Solution.(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Telcordia Technologies, Inc., together with CosmoCom, Inc., e-talk Corporation, ISC, Inc. and Primary Matters, Inc., have announced the Next Generation Contact Center Solution, an IP-based, end-to-end customer service center solution that...

Magic Software Enterprises Releases Magic eCONTACT Version 2.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Magic Software Enterprises, a provider of application development technology and business solutions, released Magic eContact Version 2. This latest version of Magic eContact is an integrated desktop application designed to provide contact...

Agilera Partners With Frontstep.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Agilera, a full-service pure-play application service provider (ASP), has announced a partnership with Frontstep, Inc., a provider of business systems for midsize distributors and manufacturers. As part of this agreement, Agilera will sell the...

New Web Site Helps E-Tailers Combat Online Fraud.(Company Business and Marketing)
March 1, 2001... The Worldwide E-Commerce Fraud Prevention Network has announced the launch of its fraud prevention Web site. Located at www.merchantfraudsquad.com, the site provides expert advice about how to combat online fraud, a growing merchant concern....

COM2001.com Launches Accessibility Communications Solution.(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... COM2001.com has introduced alexis 2.0, a PC-based technology that encompasses e-mail, fax, voice mail, Web, teleconferencing, videoconferencing, remote access and full Internet-based messaging and call control. The solution is targeted at any...

Motivation Online Modifies Moniker.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Motivation Online, a provider of Internet-based performance management and incentive solutions (referred to as behavior consequence management), has changed its name to CultureWorx. Founder and chairman Craig Muller said the term reflects a...

Velaro Conceived By e.magination.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... e.magination network, LLC announced the formation of Velaro, Inc. The company will offer software and services that focus on enhancing the consumer's online experience by enabling organizations to understand, interact with and serve their...

Shareholders Approve New Intelect Identity.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Intelect Communications, Inc., a digital signal processing (DSP) products and optical networking equipment manufacturer, announced the company's name was changed to TeraForce Technology Corp., and the NASDAQ stock symbol for its common stock...

Canadian Expansion For Stream International.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Stream International, Inc., a provider of CRM solutions for technology companies and e-businesses, announced it will expand its operations in Belleville, Ontario, by adding capacity for up to 300 additional employees. Belleville currently hosts...

New Mexico Connections.(The Connection opens call centers)(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... The Connection, a provider of outsourced inbound call center services, recently opened four call centers in New Mexico, representing 800 new workstations. The Connection now has ten call centers in the Midwest and Southwest, bringing the total...

IRT Grows in Florida.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... IRT, a provider of customer relationship marketing services and programs, announced it is expanding its Fort Lauderdale facilities in response to the growing demand for customer relationship management oursourcing services, The company has...

NEW And GENCO Offer Product Assist.
March 1, 2001... National Electronics Warranty Corp. (NEW), a provider of extended service contracts and buyer protection programs for consumer products, partnered with product life cycle logistics services provider GENCO Distribution Systems. Together, they...

Concentric Circles In Accord With CSC.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Concentric Enterprises, Inc., a provider of Internet-enabled technology solutions and operational services for the contact center industry, has entered into an exclusive agreement with Communications Service Centers (CSC), a full service call...

InternetSpeech, Selectica Offer Voice Enabling Alternative.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... InternetSpeech has partnered with Selectica, Inc. to enable customers, who prefer using the phone for conducting "online" transactions, to take advantage of voice-enabled e-commerce Web sites using any telephone. By accessing e-commerce sites...

Talisma eCRM Links With Jamcracker.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Talisma Corp., a provider of eCRM solutions, announced a partnership agreement with Web-based applications and service provider Jamcracker, Inc. Through the partnership, Talisma's eCRM solutions become part of Jamcracker's online portfolio of...

Acxiom Inks IBM Accord.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Acxiom Corp., a provider of multichannel customer data integration (CDI), allied with IBM Corp. to focus on providing clients of both companies with end-to-end solutions for business intelligence, data management and customer relationship...

Chordiant Announces PrimeResponse Deal.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Chordiant Software, Inc., a developer of unified customer relationship management solutions, announced it signed a definitive agreement to acquire PrimeResponse, Inc., a provider of business-to-consumer relationship marketing solutions and...

Convergys Gets A Keane Duo.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Convergys Corp. has purchased two technical help desk customer contact centers from Keane, Inc., a business and information technology consulting firm. The acquisition involved Convergys' purchase of Keane's technical support centers in Tucson,...

HP Completes Bluestone Deal.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Hewlett-Packard Co. completed its acquisition of Bluestone Software, Inc., of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in a stock-for-stock merger. Bluestone is a provider of B2B, B2C and wireless open platform solutions designed to help clients develop,...

Service911 Gets The BizWorks, Changes Identity.(Company Business and Marketing)
March 1, 2001... Service911, an e-support solutions provider, announced the acquisition of BizWorks, an e-learning company, in a stock transaction. The deal transfers BizWorks' products and services to Service911, enabling the company to embed an e-learning...

InteliData Acquires Home Account Network.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... InteliData Technologies Corp. announced the acquisition of Home Account Holdings, Inc. and its operating subsidiary, Home Account Network, Inc. Home Account provides a suite of UNIX-based Internet banking and Electronic Bill Presentment and...

Pyderion Joins Intecom's Fold.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Intecom, a provider of communication solutions for e-business, has acquired Montreal, Canada-based Pyderion Contact Technologies, Inc., a developer of e-business analytics software. Intecom will integrate Pyderion's e-business analytics...

eSpeed Purchases Ascendant Centers.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Ascendant Solutions, Inc. and eSpeed Fulfillment Inc. jointly announced the sale of Ascendant's call center division to eSpeed. The sale represents the final step in a series of actions that Ascendant announced last September when the company...

FirePond Sets Sights On Brightware.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... FirePond Inc., a provider of integrated e-business selling solutions, announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Brightware, Inc., a supplier of e-customer assistance software. The acquisition leverages the strengths of both...

Racal Name Change.(Company Business and Marketing)
March 1, 2001... Racal Recorders is now Thales Contact Solutions. The change follows the recent renaming of Racal's parent company, Thomason-CSF, to the Thales Group. Racal was acquired by Thompson-CSF in July 2000. Thales Contact Solutions is a provider of...

Epilepsy Foundation Selects Epsilon For Marketing Assist.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Epsilon, a marketing solutions provider, was chosen by the Epilepsy Foundation to develop the strategy for and implement the organization's direct marketing program for private donations. Epsilon said that its goals are to blend the...

Motorola Gets Fulfillment From EDS.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... EDS was selected by Motorola to provide fulfillment and other services from its suite of customer relationship management offerings in support of Motorola's new manufacturer/direct-to-reseller distribution model, Motorola Messaging Express. The...

Front Office For Channel Partners From OnDemand.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... OnDemand, Inc. recently inaugurated the Partner Accelerator services, its front office for channel partners. A set of Internet-based software and consulting services, Partner Accelerator delivers tight integration with CRM, sales force...

Cisco Introduces Powered Network Contact Center Services Designation.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Cisco Systems, Inc. announced its new Powered Network Contact Center Services designation for companies delivering hosted services based on the Cisco customer contact software platform. The designation recognizes eCRM ASPs, outsourcers and...

Enhanced Telution Solution.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Telution, Inc. announced the latest release of Communication Exchange (COMX) 3.0. It provides enhanced features such as automated work task management, online bundled service ordering and quotation, and integrated analysis. COMX 3.0's workflow...

MindArrow And Onyx Integrate Multimedia Messaging With CRM Software.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... MindArrow Systems Inc., a provider of Web-based ASP solutions for delivery of targeted multimedia Internet communications, announced a strategic alliance with Onyx Software Corp., a supplier of customer-centric e-business applications. The...

Unicorn Release 5 Available From UshaComm.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Usha Communications Technology (UshaComm) launched Unicorn Release 5, its next-generation billing solution designed to deliver and integrate communications service providers' revenue management processes. The solution, which includes local...

NEC Will Integrate Quintus Suite.(Product Information)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... NEC America, Inc. (NEC) Corporate Networks Group and Quintus Corp., a provider of contact center solutions for electronic customer relationship management (eCRM), announced a new agreement to integrate Quintus' eContact Suite with CCDesign,...

SITEL, Avaya Ally To Offer CRM Solutions.(Company Business and Marketing)
March 1, 2001... Avaya, Inc. and SITEL Corp. announced that SITEL has selected Avaya as its platform of choice for communications solutions. The three-year deal will allow SITEL to build a converged network infrastructure based on Avaya's CRM solutions and to...

Witness And Knowledge Impact E-Learning.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Knowledge Impact, Inc. and Witness Systems announced a new relationship intended to offer enhanced e-learning capabilities to their customers. The partnership has been specifically designed to further develop customer sales/service...

Gold, Avaya And Nuance Ally For Voice-Driven Enterprise Solutions.(Product Information)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Gold Systems, Inc., a provider of voice and wireless Web solutions, announced an alliance with Avaya, Inc. and Nuance Communications geared to help companies improve customer service levels with voice-driven applications. Gold Systems has...

E-Learning Starter Kit From GeoLearning.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... GeoLearning, Inc. has developed the E-Learning Starter Kit, a useful resource package identifying the key pieces of information that can mean the difference between e-learning success and failure. The free e-learning resource kit includes a...

Interactive Self-Help Alternative: TroubleTree.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... TroubleTree Software, a subsidiary of CCT Group, launched its flagship product, TroubleTree, an interactive solution for inbound contact centers designed to quickly and efficiently answer common customer queries. By targeting the top 80 percent...

Real-Time Marketing Channel Platform From Unica.(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Unica Corp. introduced a platform for serving analytically based, context-sensitive customer information to real-time marketing channels. Affinium Interact is designed to leverage information gathered from multiple data sources to create a...

Nuance Releases Text-To-Speech.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Nuance Communications rolled out Nuance Vocalizer, a line of advanced text-to-speech (TTS) software products designed to convert text-based information into audio for access over the telephone. Vocalizer brings a human-sounding voice to a wide...

Remote Assistance Solution For Web Sites.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... Expertcity, Inc. recently launched its ASP Web site, DesktopStreaming.com. The new site will be home to DesktopStreaming, a Web-based integrated application service intended to allow enterprises to create a remote-assistance solution on their...

PegaRULES For Business Rules Management.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Pegasystems Inc. announced PegaRULES, its business rules development and deployment engine designed for automating rules management for a wide range of business functions. PegaRULES features a rules-based relational database; rule control by...

New Version Of VIPCenter From Kovair.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Kovair, Inc. released of Version 2.0 of VIPCenter, its collaborative Web-based platform that connects the people, applications and processes for managing specific strategic cross-company relationships. New and enhanced features include: e-mail...

Multivendor Telecommunications Management Tool.(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Tone Software Corp. introduced ReliaTel, a management tool designed to enable corporate telecommunications departments to monitor and control multi-vendor telecommunication devices from one location. The system is intended to reduce the cost of...

It's A Breeze: XML Studio Release 2.2.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... The Breeze Factor, LLC released the latest version of its XML data binding product, Breeze XML Studio. Release 2.2 adds XML structure display, code generation and performance enhancements, Breeze XML Studio ("Breeze") converts XML structure to...

IBM Unveils Translation Server Software.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... IBM Corp. launched the IBM WebSphere Translation Server, designed to enable enterprises to provide Web pages, e-mail messages and chat conversations in multiple languages, in real-time, and to help remove language as a barrier to global...

Customer DataMart 2.0 Available From Aspect.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Aspect Communications Corp. released Aspect Customer DataMart 2.0, engineered to consolidate data from multisite, multichannel contact centers and make it available for reporting and analysis. Businesses can view geographically distributed...

ASC's InspirationPro Bows.(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... ASC Telecom, L.P. introduced its new InspirationPro, a multimedia, quality-monitoring solution designed for contact centers. InspirationPro coordinates evaluation and training of customer service representatives (CSRs) for contact centers via...

Bizfon Connects With Combination Key/PBX Phone System.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Bizfon, Inc. launched the BizTouch 3, a key system phone designed to give users functionality normally associated with big business digital handsets. The BizTouch 3 works in combination with the Bizfon 680, a communications switch that is...

Enhanced CIMphone From Composit.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Composit Communications USA made its CIMphone v2.0 solution available in the United States. CIMphone (pronounced "symphony") has been enhanced to offer additional advantages targeted at the medium-sized call center market. CIMphone is designed...

Relying On Technology To Conquer The Winter Doldrums.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... When I was a child growing up in rural Connecticut, there was a river near my house that used to freeze over each winter. We would play for hours on that glazed river, ice-skating, having snowball fights and just plain having fun. In those...

Two For The Contact Center.(Company Business and Marketing)
March 1, 2001... 2001 CUSTOMER INTER@CTION Solutions White Pajama: Integrated Contact Center Network White Pajama, Inc. has targeted its contact center solutions for small to medium-sized organizations. With the Integrated Contact Center Network, White...

Elk Traveler Delivers CRM Functionality To PalmPilots.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... StayinFront, Inc. has introduced Elk Traveler, a fully featured PalmPilot application designed to function as a companion to StayinFront's Visual Elk system. Key functions supported by Elk Traveler include customer profiling, call planning and...

Q: HOW DO YOU SCREW UP A PERFECTLY GREAT ECONOMY? A: ASK ALAN GREENSPAN.(Government Activity)
March 1, 2001... Since 1982, this publication has devoted its efforts to providing a strong foundation for the customer interaction industry. Our pioneering efforts since that time have helped the nascent call center industry evolve into a multibillion-dollar...

Daleen Rolls Out BillPlex Plus For Wireless.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Daleen Technologies Inc. has enhanced its Web-enabled billing and customer management solutions to support the wireless data marker, a key component of its strategic plan to develop industry-specific products for emerging vertical markers....

Silvon Adds Customer Relationship Analytics Stratum.(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Silvon Software, Inc. released a customer analysis solution that will be marketed and sold under the company's Stratum suite of business performance management applications. This latest software module is designed to allow companies to adopt a...

Origin Internet Voice Recorder.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Origin Data Realisation developed what it states to be the first Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) recorder. Origin's product, called voiplog, was designed for a wide range of environments where it is useful to record conversations for...

eProject: Midmarket Solution For Professional Services Automation.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Epicor Software Corp. has ushered in an integrated solution for professional services organizations. Epicor eProject is a Web-enabled solution designed to cover the entire professional service lifecycle, from selling to delivery to management...

Alcatel Enhances OmniTouch With Functionality From Genesys.(Brief Article)(Product Announcement)
March 1, 2001... Alcatel enhanced its pre-packaged Alcatel OmniTouch contact center suite, integrating the contact center functionality from its subsidiary Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories) Inc. Alcatel OmniTouch now features Genesys' outbound dialing...

Streaming Services Solutions From V-SPAN.(Company Business and Marketing)(Brief Article)
March 1, 2001... V-SPAN, Inc. announced availability of comprehensive streaming services, designed to allow enterprises to communicate via IP connections to viewers using an Internet browser for meetings, events and training. Using V-SPAN Streaming Services,...