February 15, 2005

CUSTOMER WINS Audible.com, a provider of spoken word audio, has implemented RightNow Technologies' on demand CRM solution. Audible uses RightNow to improve its customer communication across all channels, including phone, email, chat, and the Web. The company has seen a 90 percent growth in revenue while increasing its customer service staff by 15 percent. Tekelec, a developer of telecommunications products for fixed, mobile, and packet networks, announced Vortex Broadband Communications has deployed the Tekelec 7000 Class 5 Packet Switch to provide VoIP and IP Centrex services to business and residential customers throughout southern Florida. The deployment to the West Palm Beach-based local exchange carrier will provide IP capabilities and will support business and residential-class hosted IP telephone services. Montefiore Medical Center and Cambridge Health Alliance, two of the largest healthcare systems in the U.S., have deployed communications solutions from Nortel and Verizon Enterprise Solutions to provide for patient care and reduce costs. Using PACS, Montefiore and Cambridge will make diagnostic imagery and other patient files immediately available to personnel in hospitals, improving patient care and personnel time management, according the solutions companies. Coremetrics announced that Recreational Equipment has implemented Coremetrics to track and analyze online customer and visitor behavior for rei.com and rei-outlet.com Web sites. Coremetrics will provide REI with site visitor behavior to enhance Web-site navigation and increase customer satisfaction. IN THE NEWS Oracle and Unisys announced they will adapt key Unisys payment solutions to use Oracle Database10g and Oracle InterMedia. The agreement will extend both organizations' ability to deliver enterprise payment solutions for financial service institutions. The aim is to improve their efficiency, profitability and risk management while increasing customer satisfaction. Cincom Systems and VentureForward have partnered to combine Cincom's enterprise knowledge-base development system with VentureForward's expertise in knowledge gathering. The partnership will leverage Cincom's search engines and VentureForward's processes to acquire and download expertise answers so companies can provide answers to employees. Customer Relationship Metrics, a provider of real-time surveying for contact centers, announced they are partnering with Call Center Coach on a series of articles to help educate the industry on how to utilize customer insights to maximize the investment and time on coaching and training. Responsys Scene 7, provider of a leading rich-media platform, have entered into a strategic alliance to enable marketers to deliver targeted, personalized email campaigns. The collaboration will enable customers to add enhanced visual information to emails, according to the companies. They will work together to develop joint sales and comarketing opportunities. NEW PRODUCTS Proficient Systems announced the release of Proficient Express, a hosted smaller-scale version of the enterprise-class ProficientSales Server 4.0. The program is designed with small and midsize companies in mind. Features include multiengagement, which allows customer service or sales agents to enter several customer engagements at once. With live chat, agents can approach customers with an offer of live assistance that can be accepted or declined. Related articles: Ace Mart Gets Smart on Marketing Oracle Releases CRM Integration Update