Transactions: Customer Wins for November 9, 2004

Aspect Communications announced that Design Within Reach, a provider of furnishings and accessories, has implemented Aspect Iphinity Call Center solution. Iphinity Call Center was designed with small to medium-size contact centers in mind and features real-time management and integration of multiple sites from remote locations. Design Within Reach, for example, will be able to integrate its primary site in San Francisco with its Kentucky center. Design Within Reach uses Iphinity to handle 3,000 telephone calls and 1,000 emails weekly. Call center agents answer questions, quote prices, take orders, and even send color and fabric swatches to customers who don't want to rely on the Web-based pictures. Iphinity Call Center is based on open standards and runs on Microsoft Windows. The call center solution integrates with DWR systems and order-processing systems and routes calls based on customer data, number dialed, caller choice options, estimated wait time, and agent skill sets. "Iphinity will interlink [Design Within Reach's] call centers," Aspect's Hollie Moran, product marketing manager for call center solutions, says. "This enables call centers to report and pinpoint areas of improvement and track sales targets working together." Convergys has signed a multiyear contract to provide services and automated customer care capabilities to Wachovia Bank through an open hosting environment, which will allow Wachovia to create or modify its IVR from remote locations. Wachovia's current IVR and advanced speech recognition (ASR) applications will migrate to the Convergys SpeechPort platform the bank is already using. Cognos announced that 7-Eleven is implementing Cognos for its enterprise planning requirements. The new solution will consolidate planning, forecasting, consolidation, and financial analytics into a single format for management use. Amdocs announced that Russian telecommunications carrier VimpelCom has completed a rollout of Amdocs CRM across 65 regions in Russia. VimpelCom now has fully integrated billing and CRM systems, and has seen a reduction in return calls and IT support expenses since incorporating the new system. VimpelCom has used the new applications to support its 800 percent growth since early 2002. NetSuite announced that new customers, including Weight Watchers, NutriSystem, and a division of Trus Joist, have rolled out NetSuite 10.0. NetSuite 10.0 includes such new features as upsell/cross-sell, advanced order management, and Web tracking capabilities. It provides these services by combining information from sales, marketing, and customer service through financials, order fulfillment, and ecommerce into single formats. Witness Systems announced that APAC Customer Services has purchased the company's eQuality customer interaction recording and performance evaluation software. The eQuality software will complement APAC's diagnostics process to analyze, implement, and measure results for its customer. APAC Customer Service intends to implement the new product throughout the entire enterprise. Inquisite announced that the American Diabetes Association is using Inquisite survey software for America's Walk for Diabetes. The ADA used Inquisite software to conduct a survey of more than 16,000 participants after its 2003 walk event to gather data that would drive marketing and targeting for 2004. In addition to answering demographics-related questions, respondents were asked how they heard about the event, other ways they are currently active in the ADA, and how far they traveled to the local Walk site. The ADA used this to localize marketing for 2004. CommercialWare, a provider of cross-channel commerce infrastructure software, announced that J.C. Whitney deployed CommercialWare's CWDirect order management, fulfillment, and customer service application. J.C. Whitney will use this new application to optimize transactions from different customer touch points, including catalog, call centers, and Web sites. Ascential Software announced that Solucient, a provider of information products for the healthcare industry, is using Ascential Software data integration solutions. Solucient is using the software to provide customers with reliable information resources. Clients use Solucient tools and insight to assess and improved operational and clinical performance. Quaero announced several new clients for the third quarter of 2004, including Charles Schwab & Co., CUNA Mutual Group, The Leading Hotels of the World, Rewards NetworkSM, The Robert Mondavi Corporation, and United States Tennis Association. Leading Hotels of the World has chosen SpringBoard software, Quaero's hosted CRM solution. Leading Hotels of the World will use the system to create an integrated database platform to help drive marketing performance and CRM to customers, which include corporations and travel agents. ChannelWave, a provider of channel management and commerce solutions and services, announced that it is providing an e-commerce solution to M7 Corporation, a provider of Web application development tools. M7 will use ChannelWave to support the online marketing and sales of M7's NitroX tools for Java developers across the globe. The service will include purchasing and downloading software, product updates, bug fixes, and upgrades, in a secure Web environment. Users will also be able to access product information, demos, Web training, pricing, and the M7 Dev Club. Channel Wave will also provide complete call center services for customer inquiries and support. Related article: It's About People, After All