Biographical Information

Coreen Bailor

(former) Associate Editor, CRM Magazine

Coreen covered customer service, contact centers, self-service, and related strategies and technologies for CRM magazine and destinationCRM.com. She received an Award for Publication Excellence (APEX ) for her feature story on homeshoring, entitled "Home Bodies," in CRM magazine's January 2007 issue. Her work is also occasionally featured in CRM magazine's sister publication, Speech Technology magazine and on www.speechtechmag.com .

A graduate of Rutgers University, double majoring in journalism and economics, she has worked as a reporter for various Rutgers publications, including The Daily Targum and Alum-Knights.

Articles for Coreen Bailor

Speak Up!

11 strategies to ensure that you're hearing your customers loud and clear.

SAP's Midmarket Design

SAP Business ByDesign is the company's new on-demand midmarket product; much of its success hinges on SAP's channel strategy.

A Shift in SAP's Growth Strategy: Buy Big to Get Bigger

The company's planned acquisition of analytics powerhouse Business Objects represents the largest in company history.

Mobile Data Gets Better Reception

With Antenna Software, the sales force for satellite-service provider DirecTV gets information when it's most needed.

Nailing It Down

Rockler.com has improved its Web site's browser-to-buyer conversion rate by 30 percent.

Moving in on Mortgage Delinquencies

The mortgage division of a financial-services firm credits proactive communications with lowering its delinquency rate.

On the Scene: Gianforte Talks CRM

The industry rebel -- and founder and chief executive officer of RightNow Technologies -- sits down for a chat.

Checking the Pulse of the Contact Center

Contact center performance management provides a holistic view of agent performance; use that data to spur desirable behaviors that will help reps beat center and corporate goals.

Oracle's Prescription for Pharma Contact Centers

Oracle connects its Siebel Contact Center application to its Oracle Adverse Event Reporting System, targeting pharmaceutical companies.

Interactive Intelligence Plugs in an Upgrade

The company will begin rolling out by year's end the latest version of its IP business communications software platform -- a release focused on security, integration, simplified deployment, and mobility.

Getting Bundled Up Isn't Heating Telecom Revenue

"Triple-play" subscriptions will shoot up 52 percent in 2007, but in the short term it will not boost the industry's profit margins.

Cisco Buys Itself Another Piece of the Contact Center Puzzle

The networking giant's acquisition of Latigent, a provider of contact center business intelligence software, extends the reach of its Customer Contact Business Unit.

Help Them Help Themselves

Web self-service means having your customer become her own customer service rep -- but without making her resent doing what a real CSR can do in a fraction of the time.

Oracle's Name Game

The latest Siebel CRM On Demand highlights the software giant's interest in the on-demand market and underscores the strength of the Siebel name.

Statistically Speaking

Only 4 percent of CRM systems are very successful; the software-as-a-service market almost doubles across most of the Asia-Pacific region; and other numerical news from the month online.

True-Blue Service Documentation

A technology-infrastructure specialist saves about $60,000 in one year by implementing a Web-based service management application from BlueFolder.

Double-Digit CRM Growth -- But Double-Digit Failures and Double-Digit License Limbo, Too

Companies will shell out 16 percent more on customer management apps next year, but nearly one-third of companies have experienced failed implementations -- and 25 percent of all CRM licenses go unused.

Consona Sizes Up the Manufacturing Market

The software vendor's ERP unit unveils both a product upgrade and a technology alliance aimed at bolstering its presence among SMB manufacturers.

SAP's Big Move Toward Smaller Businesses

The German giant's "A1S" product -- officially known as SAP Business ByDesign -- targets companies with between 100 and 500 employees.

Fewer Vendors Sit Atop Gartner's Magic Quadrant for Unified Communications

Alcatel-Lucent, Microsoft, and Nortel retain their positions as leaders, but Cisco Systems and Siemens fall out of the top quadrant; Interactive Intelligence moves up a notch.

Gartner Restores a Leader to Its Magic Quadrant for Contact Center Infrastructure

Interactive Intelligence moves back into the top quadrant, joining Aspect, Avaya, Cisco, Genesys, and Nortel.

Sizing Up the CRM Situation

Software-as-a-service, focus on customer retention and acquisition, and verticalization are factors enabling the market's healthy growth.

Keeping Pace with 'The New Influencers'

Traditional marketing wisdom has been that a dissatisfied customer tells 10 people. But today that customer has the capacity to tell 10,000 people -- or 10 million.

RightNow: Ready with More Multichannel Muscle

The vendor's newest release adds emotion detection, sitemap functionality, personalized routing, and a bundle of new chat features.

Get Ready For the ''Digital Client''

The emergence of the always-on, always-connected consumer calls for companies to rethink their CRM strategies, says destinationCRM2007 speaker.

Best Practices: 10 Tips to Online Community Success

Well-defined structures and roles are key to maximizing community involvement in Web 2.0 initiatives such as forums, blogs, and chats; a destinationCRM2007 exclusive.

Speech Gets Loud and Clear

Two sessions at SpeechTEK 2007 center on the importance of speech as a self-service enabler and its ability to serve as a gateway to CRM applications.

Hospitals Are Ailing From Poor Switchboard Service

With customer service playing an increasingly important role as a competitive differentiator in the healthcare industry, facilities must place greater emphasis on customer interactions.

Yahoo! Is the New E-Biz Satisfaction Leader

The site, known for its strong portal business, has unseated perennial leader Google.

Speech Analytics Goes Visual with Autonomy etalk

The company's Qfiniti Explore Version 3.5--the latest version of its multichannel interaction-analysis application--features sentiment analysis, voice processing, trend spotting, and real-time notification--and gives analytics a whole new look.

Australia: Leading the Asia-Pac Pack

Contact center consolidation, voice portals, hosted contact centers, and unified communications are driving much of the movement.

Best Practices: Subscribing To Smooth Email Marketing

Retailers are toiling to make their email subscription procedures easy, quick, and more transparent; subscription incentives seem to be slipping in popularity.

Market Focus: Financial Services--Case Study

Barclaycard Business: Financing workforce management.

Market Focus: Financial Services--Cashing In on Integration

Financial services companies must focus on shifting away from siloed processes across departments and channels.

Publishing a Plan for Making the Grade

A $9 billion printing-solutions company turns to AchieveGlobal to develop a comprehensive agent-training program

What's in a Name? Oracle's Mixed Message With Siebel CRM On Demand

Oracle reverts to the Siebel moniker for the newest version of its CRM On Demand product, which features several usability, customization, and integration enhancements.

A Solid Connection at Last: IP Telephony Achieves a Majority in the Contact Centers

And two-thirds of the laggards plan on using some form of IP within two years, a new study finds.

European Online Marketing: A Continental Divide

Europeans are set to double their online marketing spend over the next five years, thanks to consumer interest in the Web and marketers' growing affinity for online ads.

IBM Reflects on DataMirror Acquisition

Big Blue will leverage DataMirror software to support IBM Information Server and integrate the acquisition with its Information Management Software unit.

CRM Numbers Grow, But Also Mislead

The customer management applications market rose 8 percent in 2006, as it did in 2005; SAP and Oracle continue to lead, but their revenue figures don't tell the full tale.

Consumer Surveys: Are They Asking To Become Ineffective?

A report argues that as companies engage in survey overkill and collect skewed information, the value of customer feedback will likely fade.

Oracle's Smaller Slice of CRM's Bigger Pie

The worldwide CRM market grew 11.5 percent in 2006 to just under $6.5 billion in revenue; while SAP continues to dominate, Oracle Corp. sees both its revenue and its market share slip.

Doubling Down on Quality Management

A new report says the market for quality management/liability recording suites--essentially workforce optimization--more than doubled in 2006.

On the Scene: SAP Talks Enterprise SOA and Collaboration

The business apps juggernaut emphasizes its enterprise services strategy and the significance of coinnovation.

On-the-Go WFM Efficiency: A New Blueprint

A turnkey framing company looks to mobile workforce management technology to automate its method for capturing timesheet and job status data.

Oracle Calls Up CRM and IP Telephony

The company releases its first major offering of the IP contact center product from its Telephony@Work acquisition.

Financial Services Firms Must Invest In Customer Advocacy

Forrester's Finance Forum highlights the importance of interacting independently with target customers.

E-Government: Satisfaction on the Rise

When it comes to satisfying customers--that is, citizens--e-government Web sites fare better than the overall federal government does, but they still trail the private sector.

SAP Makes More Moves On Mobility

The business apps juggernaut has announced new and enhanced mobile applications intended to help companies extend SAP business processes to information workers through mobile devices.

Clicking with Hispanic Online Consumers

Hispanic online buyers will spend more on retail spending than any other minority group until at least 2011; incorporating customer product reviews is one way to cozy up to that market.

Catalog Retailers Are In Sync With Callers

Retail catalog call centers are doing a better job of satisfying their callers than call centers for banks, cell phone services, cable and satellite television companies, insurance firms, and PC companies.

Avaya Is Set to Go Private

Two private equity firms rather than a competitor are acquiring the company in a deal valued at about $8.2 billion; analysts see it as positive, but wonder what might have been under a rival.

Google and Salesforce.com: The Word

The two companies' pairing results in Salesforce Group Edition featuring Google AdWords, an integrated product for small businesses.

Market Focus: E-Retail: Buying Into the Customer Experience

The retailers that focus on delivering a seamless customer experience have a markedly stronger chance of cultivating customer loyalty.

Wise Guide

Knowledge management processes increasingly work as part of an organization's resolution of a core contact center conundrum: improving service experience while trimming costs.

Cleaned-Up Visibility

Productivity improved with benchmarks for customer service.

Know All, See All

Salesforce.com helps a company specializing in energy and security management services connect the field to the office.

Mobile Is Set to Get Hotter

The market for mobile applications hasn't reached mainstream adoption just yet, but is poised to hit the $9 billion mark by 2011; device makers, service providers, and software vendors all may contribute.

Closing In on Bank Customer Churn

Poor treatment or lack of branches or ATMs when they move are some reasons why bank customers switch banks; consider boosting loyalty by offering and promoting sticky services, one analyst says.

SMS Alerts: Proceed With Caution

This form of mobile marketing can be effective when customers can opt in and messages are relevant; avoid slamming the customer with too many alerts to avoid consumer frustration.

High-Tech Customer Service: A Look Into the Mirror

Executives at high tech companies tend to have a more positive perception of the customer service experience they deliver than what their customers actually experience.

Customer Sat Is Rising Slower

Although overall customer satisfaction is high, several companies are lagging; the airline industry is among the sectors continuing to struggle.

SAP Zeroes In On the Contact Center With M&A

SAPPHIRE '07 International: The company acquires Finland's Wicom Communications; expect to see more large CRM firms buying contact center companies down the pike, according to one analyst.

Interactive Intelligence Calls on Hosted Services

The company has beefed up its SaaS functionality by making available hosted automated outbound notification services and all of its contact center applications.

KANA: On the (e)Verge of an Acquisition

The e-service player enters into a definitive agreement to grab management consultancy and systems integrator eVergance Partners; KANA will operate eVergance as a wholly owned subsidiary.

Reflecting the CRM Wave of the Future

Industry consultancy ISM announces the eight winners of its real-time CRM awards, applications that are delivering noteworthy capabilities as the clock ticks.

Talisma Targets Proactive Communications

The company's latest version of its CIM suite highlights functionality surrounding email management, collaboration, reporting, and the agent desktop.

Yackety Clack

Text chat is no longer exclusively for the tech-adept, buddy-list teen set--it's picking up steam as an enterprise touch point to facilitate multichannel strategies for service and sales efforts.

JetBlue's Service Flies South

Accepting responsibility is a key component of staying aloft during a PR nightmare.

Chatting Up Customers Down Under

A telecommunications company combines speech with CTI and increases customer satisfaction, agent efficiency, and self-service adoption as a result.

SAP and Microsoft Will Duet Again

The two IT juggernauts are deepening their partnership by extending their blueprint for making available future versions of Duet software for Microsoft Office and SAP.

SAP Sounds Off on SOA and Collaboration

SAPPHIRE '07: The business software giant highlights its enterprise services strategy and champions the importance of business network transformation.

Avaya Moves Its Midsize Message Forward

The global launch of Customer Interaction Express, a contact center suite targeting companies with no more than 150 reps, helps the company muscle up.

Siemens Communications' Virtual Reality

The Siemens AG subsidiary releases a solution to capitalize on the agents-anywhere concept, and delivers additional presence and collaboration capabilities.

CDC Software Nabs Saratoga Systems

The acquisition, which is expected to close within two weeks, will help expand CDC Software's portfolio of vertical-specific CRM solutions.

Conversion Rate Success

Automating lead-to-sales conversion initiatives can improve the number of quality leads, give a shot in the arm to marketing ROI, and trim sales cycles.

Gartner Slots Multichannel Campaign Management Vendors

Magic Quadrant for MCM '07: SAS Institute, Teradata, and Unica maintain positions as leaders in the space, while Oracle's Siebel Systems gets bumped up.

Software AG Is Set to Acquire webMethods

The deal may help Software AG's position in the SOA/BPM landscape, while moving it closer to its aim of being a billion-euro company.

Perseus|WebSurveyor Remonikers

Now Vovici, the change refers to the importance of listening to customers when it comes to molding company direction; the company also launched its EFM Continuum suite.

Airline Quality Falls

The industry's performance experiences a skid, thanks to weaker ratings in baggage handling, on-time arrivals, and involuntary denied boardings; overall, overall, Hawaiian Airlines did the best.

The 2007 Service Awards: Introduction and Table of Contents

It's simply not good for companies to provide a substandard service experience. As more consumers make purchase decisions based on interactions with companies (thanks in large part to technology improvements and increased customer expectations), chances are that a company falling flat in delivering an exceptional customer experience will ultimately fail to deliver an improved bottom line. We honor those CRM vendors and their customer companies committed to making the end-user customer the business priority.

The 2007 Rising Stars and Service Excellence

There are customer service technology vendors making dynamic acquisitions and expanding their broad product portfolios that don't necessarily fit neatly into one of the seven Service Leader categories. In keeping with that our third annual Service Excellence award recipient, M2M Holdings, made two smart deals that plunged it directly into the full-suite CRM and knowledge management arenas. Also, we present our second annual Rising Star awards, spotlighting under-the-radar tech providers that are making serious strides to deepen their competitive footprint.

The 2007 Service Elite

It's clear, as the impact of commoditization continues to sweep across various verticals, that devoting serious energy to customer care processes is a bona fide strategy for strengthening brand loyalty. CRM magazine acknowledges five companies that realized eye-catching returns on their contact center services and technology investments with service-and-support deployments in the areas of Web-support services, workforce optimization, speech solutions, hosted contact center services, and agent-facing universal desktop.

The 2007 Service Leaders, Part 2

The customer care market in 2006 evolved at an enthralling rate, as providers of service-and-support technologies and services toiled to bolster their capabilities through strategic partnerships, head-turning mergers and acquisitions, and deepened research and development--all with the goal of helping companies provide stellar service. At the forefront of these developments are our 2007 Service Leaders--the contact center market's leading vendors in seven areas: computer telephony integration, interactive voice response, Web-support services, workforce optimization, quality monitoring, agent-facing universal desktop, and outsourcing services. The results are based on a blend of weighted criteria comprising analyst ratings for customer satisfaction, depth of functionality or services, and company direction, coupled with financial strength throughout the past year evidenced by revenue and revenue growth.

THE 2007 Service Leaders, Part 1

The customer care market in 2006 evolved at an enthralling rate, as providers of service-and-support technologies and services toiled to bolster their capabilities through strategic partnerships, head-turning mergers and acquisitions, and deepened research and development--all with the goal of helping companies provide stellar service. At the forefront of these developments are our 2007 Service Leaders--the contact center market's leading vendors in seven areas: computer telephony integration, interactive voice response, Web-support services, workforce optimization, quality monitoring, agent-facing universal desktop, and outsourcing services. The results are based on a blend of weighted criteria comprising analyst ratings for customer satisfaction, depth of functionality or services, and company direction, coupled with financial strength throughout the past year evidenced by revenue and revenue growth.

Winnowing Customer Care Woes

Craft applications with touch-tone and speech-enabled IVRs based on customer needs.

RightNow Gets Schooled

RightNow Higher Education, the vendor's first vertical-specific solution, is aimed at helping institutions recruit, retain, and inform students; additional tailored offerings will follow.

Speech Analytics Is the Contact Center's Fastest Growing Tech

Government agencies were among the first entities to gravitate to speech analytics applications, but the technology is gaining traction in the contact center at noteworthy rates.

Have You Discovered Why Customers Call? Eureka!

CallMiner's newest speech analytics solution, CallMiner Eureka!, is aimed at helping organizations understand why customers call and how calls are handled.

Hold the Phone

North American contact centers trail their counterparts throughout the world when it comes to areas like average wait times, establishing SLAs, and crafting business continuity plans.

FrontRange Enters the IT Big Leagues

The company will grab enteo Software, which develops PC life-cycle management and Citrix management solutions; the deal is strategically sound and a "competitive necessity," says one analyst.

Siebel Continues to Fly Solo as a Leader

Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Service Contact Centers '07: The vendor leads all evaluated companies in Gartner's annual report, while more than a dozen players chart as visionaries.

Telcos Are Getting In Sync with Online Customers

Telecommunications companies are communicating better with their customers online, but still lag tech and retail outfits, according to The Customer Respect Group.

Intensive Care

Learn these WFM lessons to breed the best contact center forecasting, scheduling, and managing efforts.

Vocal Ease

Companies should plan and implement a formal approach to collecting feedback and inserting the customer's voice into the business strategy.

System of an Up

A nonprofit agency is outfitted with a more reliable network, enabling staffers and volunteers to stay connected in any location

Salesforce.com Makes a Vertical Splash

Salesforce Wealth Management Edition, slated to be available in Q3, caters to the financial advisor crowd; the on-demand vendor nabs Merrill Lynch, its biggest customer, with 25,000 seats.

Verint Refreshes Its PM Piece

Perhaps indicative of Verint Systems' intent to continue its pre-Witness initiatives, the company's latest performance management solution caters to the front office, back office, and enterprise departments.

NICE Smartens Up

The company's SOA framework will fuse its own capabilities with those acquired from workforce management player IEX and performance management specialist Performix Technologies.

Online Shopping Picks Up Steam

While overall satisfaction with e-commerce continues its upsurge, the online travel industry is feeling the competitive pressure from airline and hotel sites, and travel search engines.

Gartner Combines Two Magic Quadrants

Magic Quadrant for E-Commerce '06: ATG and IBM WebSphere Commerce top the new quadrant, an examination of vendors delivering B2B and B2C e-commerce offerings.

Total Recall

Email marketing turns out to be highly effective at connecting with and gaining mind share with small businesses, second only to magazine ads; marketers must tailor tactics to the B2B target.

Information Access Technology Also Rises

Total software revenue is forecasted to hit the $1.1 billion mark by 2011; more vertically focused and line-of-business offerings and additional delivery models are driving the market.

Don't Forget the Little Guy

Demand for a technology in the small-business segment depends on installed base, perceived need, and business size, according to a Jupiter Research report.

Not Fade Away

Exhausting customers in a fierce business environment erodes profits through loyalty loss; here, some winning ways to help combat customer fade.

Remote Support for the Masses

A $3.2 billion Arkansas telco turns to self-service and remote troubleshooting to better serve its nontechnical customers.

North American Tech Companies Engineer Bolstered Service and Support Spend

Increased B2B emphasis on the customer experience and continued CRM investment from midmarket companies are two reasons behind expected 2007 spending of more than $1 billion.

Oracle Boosts Siebel CRM

The latest version delivers improvements to a number of key applications, and includes certification with Oracle Fusion Middleware.

Salesforce.com and Deloitte Consulting Ally

The companies forge a strategic alliance that may bolster Salesforce.com's efforts to add more enterprise-size organizations to its client roster.

Hyperion Includes Decisioneering in Its Future

The BPM vendor will acquire predictive analytics vendor Decisioneering, which should help beef up its risk management functionality.

Portugal's Altitude Is Rising

Altitude Software unveils the latest release of its Altitude uCI contact center suite with most of its shored-up functionality focusing on virtualization, service, and agent productivity.

BPO: Tightening the Focus on Process and Business Transaction

Cost-cutting remains the top reason why companies outsource business processes, but other drivers include supporting growth and driving innovation.

SPSS Refreshes Its Data Mining Software

Clementine is equipped with nearly 50 major enhancements spanning data preparation, graphs, modeling, output, security, performance, scoring, and more.

CCPM Market Is Poised For Progress

Market penetration has been slow, but the benefits of contact center performance management applications to the contact center and other enterprise departments are expected to help spur growth.

NCR and Teradata: On My Own

NCR will spin off its Teradata division, in a move to enable both soon-to-be independent companies to better focus on their customer base, business strategy, and operational needs.

High-Tech Wages Are On the Upswing

The supply and demand talent dynamic for technology-based industries is one of the main factors behind expected growth in wages in 2007, a talent and outsourcing services provider says.

The Continued March to Mobility

North American enterprises devoted about one fourth of their 2006 telecom and network services budgets to mobility, but most of these budgets are still going to landline services.

Making the Grade

E-learning deployments earn straight A's when used in conjunction with formal classroom training.

Home Bodies

Cut contact center operating costs, reduce churn rates, and up flexibility--a serious look at the at-home agent model.

The Contact Center Ads Up

Phone-based advertising can enhance a company's bottom line, but there's a chance of adding to customer frustration if it's not done right.

When Disaster Doesn't Strike

Lagan Technologies helps Minneapolis launch a 311 system to provide information on municipal issues and nonemergency services.

Data Security and Terrorism Are Top Executive Concerns

A recent study ranks information compromise and terrorism the top executive worries, trumping "traditional concerns" like product recalls.

SupportSoft Heats Up Its Email and Chat Functionality

The e-service vendor's latest release eyes unifying email and chat capabilities to provide agents with a holistic view of the customer.

Online Retailers Get Synched With Loyalty

Loyalty leaders outperform loyalty laggards in payment options, item delivery, and post-sale customer support; Victoria's Secret and Walgreen's are click-and-mortar standouts.

Asia-Pacific Antes Up For ET Apps

The region's enterprise telephony application market is set to realize a seven-year CAGR of 33.7 percent, thanks largely to interest in leveraging IP platforms to spur productivity and slash costs.

Salesforce.com Previews AppStore

The services will provide partners with the ability to market, sell, invoice, and deliver applications to customers through the AppExchange, and customers with one source for trying, buying, and deploying applications.

QM Saunters to Continued Uptake

The quality management and liability recording market is projected to exceed expectations, thanks in large part to the space's competitive landscape and product innovation.

Gartner Eyes IVR and EVP Vendors

Magic Quadrant findings ping Avaya, Genesys Telecommunications Laboratories, Intervoice, and Nortel as leading the sector; reduced complexity and tight integration are hallmarks of advancement.

Fixed Dialing

Telemarketers taking the ostrich approach to DNC compliance is a nonstarter for enterprises. Refresh marketing initiatives to ensure that the rules are followed and reach your target audience more effectively.

All Together Now: WFM Centralization

UPC Nederland's unified approach to agent scheduling leads to cost savings and upped customer satisfaction

Market Focus: Energy: Shocking!

Some energy companies are deploying CRM systems for cost cutting; others are focusing on customer acquisition and retention.

Intuit Quickens Pace Into Online Banking

The financial management software vendor will acquire on-demand banking services provider Digital Insight, which will allow Intuit to blend financial management workflows with online banking.

Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs, Sales Compensation Style

Centive unveils the latest release of its on-demand sales compensation management system, featuring custom reporting and operational enhancements.

Crediting the Online Customer Experience

Banks must focus on listening to their customers and tweaking their services to help improve retention and cross-sell initiatives; a study says that Wachovia leads in online banking satisfaction.

Entellium Is the Rave

The vendor delivers Usability Release 2006, the latest update of its on-demand CRM suite, and is getting set to release Rave CRM, a sales optimization application featuring offline synchronization.

Sweet Customer Satisfaction

Pepsi and Cadbury Schweppes tie for high soft-drink satisfaction scores, surpassing Coke in ACSI's manufacturing/nondurable goods examination; the category as a whole realized its best score ever.

Optimizing the Contact Center

Refreshed interest in the contact center is spurring investment in VoIP, speech recognition, data integration, and performance analytics.

Customers Are Sick of Service, Literally

Consumers can get ill over bad service experiences, but there is a silver lining: Most of them buy more from a company because of a good service experience.

Europe Eyes Mobility

Many European businesses are classifying mobility as a core component of their strategic initiatives, but are concerned primarily with cost and reliability factors.

Companies' ERP Wallets Will Get Fatter

Budgets will grow by 12.3 percent next year, thanks to factors like healthy IT spending, enhanced functionality, and continued interest from SMBs and midmarket companies.

A 2006 Online Holiday Spending Projection

Thanks to convenience and consumer comfort with online shopping, a report states that this year's online holiday retail sales may touch $27 billion.

Elder Effect

Consumers in their mid-60s and older are marketing's underserved age bracket, and campaigns usually miss the mark with this generation. Read on for tips on how to fix these efforts' misfires.

The Ring Dynasty: China's Contact Center Market Intensifies

The country's vast population and growing economy are just two of the reasons for the expected uptake.

Speech Recognition Leads to R&R

Fluency Voice Technology helps a travel services company provide its customers with more communication choice.

Curbing PC Downtime

Ardence centralizes a cable outlet with app streaming.

Nine New Treats From eGain

The vendor makes available its newest upgrade to its Service suite, which features nine new applications catering to self-service, assisted service, and process automation.

Making Better Use of Web Site Behavioral Data

Marketers struggle with using Web-site clickstream behavior in email due in large part to lack of expertise, data overload, and integration issues.

Indus, Set to Be Acquired, Will Become a Private Company

A private equity firm has entered into a merger agreement; the deal is the latest in a trend toward building a service life cycle management suite, according to one analyst.

Europe Will Up IT Spending

It will be a cautious spend that won't match the U.S.'s expected 2006 layouts, but European IT's 2007 growth rate will be larger.

KANAecting the Dots

The company has made generally available new features and enhancements to its multichannel product suite; the functionality focuses on deeper integration and beefed up content authoring and search functionality.

Untying Contact Center Supervisors

Spanlink unveils its Mobile Supervisor Workstation product, arming contact center supervisors with a tool to monitor and manage schedules and interact with agents without having to be in front of their desktop.

Cisco Refreshes Its Speech Self-Service Solution

Unified CVP 4.0 features operations, administration, management, and provisioning capabilities, along with service creation environment enhancements.

Telecommuting and the War for Talent

Working from home or from a satellite office continues to gain traction thanks in large part to efforts geared toward attracting and retaining high-impact employees.

Witness Eyes the Enterprise

The WFO solutions provider acquires two WFM vendors that play in the financial services space; the move extend its solutions beyond the contact center and into the enterprise.

Service Sells

National Customer Service Week '06: Delivering a seamless, straightforward customer experience that lives up to its promises can help companies get repeat, more profitable business.

Knova Software Gets Personal

Knova 7 is part of the company's efforts to move from its traditional SRM space into the broader area of managing the customer experience.

QM: The Upswing Continues

The billion-dollar market is expected to continue its growth streak thanks in large part to innovation, solutions' ability to address specific contact center issues, and the abundance of best practices.

ATG Will Acquire eStara

The company will beef up its on-demand initiatives through the acquisition with capabilities that are particularly attractive to retailers.

The State of CRM: Strong and Healthy

An industry luminary and keynote speaker at the destinationCRM 2006 conference champions real-time CRM as the muscle that will push CRM to new heights.

Product Spotlight: ACCE 2006

Envision Telephony targets contact center security; etalk unveils Qfiniti Assist; Verint ties together technology and methodology; and more.

Intervoice Adds Nuasis Assets to Its Product Arsenal

The IVR and speech app specialist looks to IP contact center functionality to help it compete more effectively in the general contact center space.

Market Focus: Financial Services--Stocking the Customer Experience

Firms must struggle with compliance, fraud, and market saturation, while keeping improved customer experience top of mind.

Call-Routing Headaches Take a Powder

UCN helps a pharmacy benefit manager handle an expected uptick in call volume.

Hackers Hit AT&T Customers

Data bandits gained access to personal data of AT&T customers who bought DSL equipment from the telecommunications giant; a potential fraud threat is up for several thousand customers.

Remote Resolution Finds Business Continuity

Business continuity, security concerns, and the expanding mobile workforce are the main drivers behind the projected growth of the remote access services market.

Ebay Clicks With Google

The groundbreaking Web auction site has been experiencing slowed growth in its auction business, but continues its push into text-based advertising and click-to-call functionality.

Product Roundup: VoiceCon Fall 2006

Avaya updates its VPNremote phone and IP multimedia contact center offering; NEC unveils a managed IP telephony service for SMBs; Verizon Business furthers its push into IP with three offerings; and more.

Comverse Plans to Acquire Netonomy

Successful closure will help Comverse extend its real-time billing and customer management solutions, offering Netonomy as both standalone and integrated into Comverse's capabilities.

Google Is E-Business Customer Satisfaction Leader, Again

Google's satisfaction score took a slight dip, but thanks to Yahoo!'s fall, largely attributable to its option-heavy homepage, Google widens its lead.

Spanlink Acquires Calabrio

The VoIP solutions provider gains the established multisite, multichannel, and multilingual functionality of Calabrio, and a customer base spanning Africa, Europe, and South America.

Virtual Contact Centers Are Connecting

VoIP's ability to help call centers more effectively and efficiently manage geographically dispersed agents is a key reason for expected growth.

Microsoft Serves Unified Communications

Speech Server 2007 will be part of the broader Office Communications Server 2007; Windows Vista will have speech recognition in eight languages, a Windows first.

Raging Against the Machine

Customer frustrations with automated phone systems abound, but easy-to-use systems that provide customers with the option to speak with live reps can help build loyalty and enhance the brand.

E-Learning for the Enterprise

Etalk's newest installment of Qfiniti Expert, a tool designed to automatically deliver targeted online programs to agents, tackles a big issue facing e-learning today.

Harte-Hanks Keeps Up With the Joneses

The direct marketing company acquires a data quality specialist, but one analyst says it will take time to integrate it into Trillium Software.

On the Scene: G-Force 2006--Model Maturity

Highlights of a contact center capability model.

The Why Factor in Speech Analytics

Don't allow the customer information that lies in recorded calls to go unreported and unnoticed--incorporating speech analytics can help improve business areas enterprisewide.

On the Scene: SAPPHIRE '06: SAP Continues Its Enterprise SOA Push

The enterprise software company underscores its on-demand CRM capabilities while continuing with its enterprise services architecture approach

Aspect and Witness Up the WFM Ante

Aspect's latest upgrade focuses on support for outbound and blended contact center environments, while Witness Impact 360 Version 7.7 targets recording and optimization.

Gone Missing: English Employees With Solid Customer Service Skills

About two-thirds of skills gaps are in customer handling, and training initiatives haven't changed patterns in the workforce.

Microsoft and Nortel Deliver Unified Communications

The partnership includes joint R&D, sales and marketing, and systems integration efforts, but the joint rollout won't hit the market until 2007.

VoiceObjects Opens Its Ears Wider to Personalization

The company refreshes its flagship product with per-caller personalization, an application execution environment, Web services support, and multimodal support.

ATG Seasons Its E-Commerce and Service Functionality

The bulk of the enhancements focuses on personalized responses, speedier resolution, and strengthened revenue generation capabilities.

The TAS Group Forms as Oracle Sheds OnTarget

Sales methodology and training specialist Select Selling has grabbed the former Siebel division to form a new sales effectiveness company.

For CRM, ERP, and SCM, SAP Leads the Way

The on-demand delivery model, focus on the midmarket, and continued consolidation are some of the common threads in these markets today.

CDC Ups the Ante For Onyx, Again

This time, CDC is offering an all-cash deal to try to stop a signed acquisition agreement between Onyx and M2M Holdings.

Microsoft Talks Pretty One Day

The software giant hopes to end the struggle with the development, management, and TCO of speech-enabled apps.

Clicking the Tires

The Chrysler Group talks to site visitors through eStara during potential purchase opportunities.

Easy-on-the-Pocket QA for Seasonality

Deploying a hosted solution helps a retailer with a diverse inventory monitor and train its seasonal staff.

Intervoice Serves Up Services

Its Global Services initiative includes an offering aimed at creating a more exact experience and another focused on consistency across channels.

The First PeopleSoft Enterprise Release 9 Product

The enterprise software giant keeps its commitment to deliver new PeopleSoft functionality, while continuing to keep its eye on SOA.

CDC Software Is Back With a Higher Bid

Given Onyx's previous rejections of CDC's offers, some may say that this proposal will experience the same fate.

Japan's SMBs Will Demand More

Among the country's SMBs, hosted apps buys will grow by 23 percent in 2006, thanks in large part to SaaS-based CRM.

CRM Expansion Continues

Worldwide, CRM software realized about 14 percent growth in 2005; drivers include consolidation, vertical market solutions growth, and midmarket growth.

RightNow's Voice

The company's latest voice apps can ID callers and provide agents with information; one analyst says that integrating its CRM capabilities with customers' premise-based phone tools "will continue to be a challenge."

IBM Tops Gartner's CDI Hub Quadrant

Big Blue becomes the first vendor to land in the leaders circle of a CDI hub quadrant, but must improve its ability to execute.

M2M Holdings Mines Onyx

A holding company wins the bid, and will take the company private; CDC loses out on the chance to acquire its CRM competitor.

AntiSIPation

VoIP protocol SIP's potential in the contact center comes with both benefits and caveats.

7 Strategies for Partnering With Outsourcers

Overlooking these simple partnership practices may scrap any hope of delivering a seamless customer service experience.

A Sign of the Times

CosmoCom helps hearing impaired callers stay connected.

Kana Comes Home

Perhaps Michael Fields's most intriguing decision was to bring outsourced engineers back in-house.

KANA Leads Forrester's E-Service Suite Wave

The e-service specialist earns high marks for the breadth and depth of its offerings, but the company must continue to improve how it works.

Consumers Size Up Financial Services

Some household-name banks and full-service brokerages struggle with customer advocacy, while credit unions and insurance firms connect with consumers.

Vouching for VoiceXML

G-Force '06: Genesys highlights its Genesys-VoiceGenie integration road map at its annual user conference.

SAP Takes a Dual Approach

SAPPHIRE '06: The company highlights its hybrid on-demand/on-premise CRM offering, while persistently promoting its enterprise services architecture strategy.

SAP Targets Enterprise SOA

SAPPHIRE '06: Amid "the industrialization of software," the German juggernaut continues its service-based strategy.

Companies Still Grapple with Effective CDM

Crafting a well-defined customer data management initiative is essential to supplying a holistic view of the customer.

SAS Serves It Up on Demand

The BI giant, with an eye to extending its on-demand presence, has made available five offerings through that delivery model.

SEM Works With Marketers

Many online marketers launch search engine campaigns as online sales generators, but neglecting the offline potential of such initiatives may shut doors.

Siebel Leads the FSM Quadrant Again

Oracle's Siebel field service management functionality is deemed the space's leader, but may struggle to maintain that status as part of a larger conglomerate.

Like a Circle in a Spiral

Making your IVR system as user friendly as possible will help increase customer loyalty and keep costs down.

A BBB Sees Bigger Business

The Houston-area BBB chose Dovarri for its cost-effective, time-sensitive implementation.

Crediting Speech

IBM and Call Design help St. George Bank reap the benefits of a speech-user interface.

Oracle Takes Next Steps to Fusion

Rollouts and road maps are signs of Oracle's emphasis on enhancing existing product lines as the company deepens its SOA initiative.

Siemens Courts the Enterprise

The technologies, products, and services provider for wireless networks unveils functionality for the enterprise contact center.

Growth Spurt: The Asia-Pacific Next-Gen Voice Market

More operators in the young Asia Pacific NGEV services market look to deliver these offerings as businesses migrate to IP-telephony platforms.

Amdocs Will Acquire Qpass

The addition will help Amdocs's customers generate revenue through delivering digital content across multiple devices and access methods.

Oracle Will Acquire Portal Software For $220 Million

Purchasing the billing and revenue management solutions provider should strengthen Oracle's go to market offerings for the communications and media industry, and bolster its apps focus.

Salesforce.com Makes a Mobility Move

The on-demand vendor has acquired Sendia to bring mobility to its AppExchange applications.

Genesys Rubs Aladdin and Acquires VoiceGenie Technologies

The deal is one of the latest markers of contact center consolidation; details of the cash transaction were not disclosed.

A Big Blue Boost For SOA Strategy

IBM continues its SOA efforts with a cluster of products and services designed to help bolster SOA-based deployments.

The 2006 Service Leader Awards, Part 2

The contact center industry was hot in 2005, as providers of customer service and support technologies and services strengthened their commitment to delivering first-class service. Many of the industry's players made their presence felt with forward-thinking mergers and acquisitions, while others upped the ante by growing from within and extending strategic alliances. We honor the industry's top-three leaders and one company to watch in the following categories: computer telephony integration, interactive voice response, Web-support services (formerly the Web self-service category), workforce optimization (formerly the workforce management and optimization category), quality monitoring, agent-facing universal desktop, and outsourcing services. The results are based on a weighted formula that includes analyst assessments for customer satisfaction, depth of functionality, and company direction, as well as fiscal health over the course of 2005.

The 2006 Service Leader Awards, Part 1

The contact center industry was hot in 2005, as providers of customer service and support technologies and services strengthened their commitment to delivering first-class service. Many of the industry's players made their presence felt with forward-thinking mergers and acquisitions, while others upped the ante by growing from within and extending strategic alliances. We honor the industry's top-three leaders and one company to watch in the following categories: computer telephony integration, interactive voice response, Web-support services (formerly the Web self-service category), workforce optimization (formerly the workforce management and optimization category), quality monitoring, agent-facing universal desktop, and outsourcing services. The results are based on a weighted formula that includes analyst assessments for customer satisfaction, depth of functionality, and company direction, as well as fiscal health over the course of 2005.

Market Focus: Telecommunications: Sharpen the Focus on Agent Training/Answering the Call

Bring specialized agents into the mix to enhance service levels for wireless companies as CSRs work to understand new products and services.

The Top Online Makeover Target

Some organizations grapple with attaching bottom-line value to their revamped Web sites, but crafting ROI models can help.

IRS Site Pays Users With Satisfaction

Although the tax-collection agency's site did not receive the highest satisfaction index, it did take substantial steps to boost citizen satisfaction with its online presence.

SMBs Call On IP

Although IP telephony in the SMB market is still for early adopters, Mitel and Cisco led the way in U.S. market share of IP telephony station shipments in 2005.

Global Enterprise Router Market Growth Will Burgeon

The technology space is poised for substantial upsurge, but vendors must make the upgrade process as simple and trouble-free as possible.

Travel Companies Are Light On Email Quality

Responsiveness is improving, but some travel providers stumble when it comes to the quality of the response, a new TCRG survey reveals.

RIM and NTP Close the Case

The settlement allows RIM to sidestep a potential freeze; the lengthy litigation process may have the company keeping a closer eye on competitors.

CRM Will Sustain Its Uptake

A Gartner analyst predicts "positive but modest growth going forward" for CRM license revenue, as industry players continue to expand their offerings and quench their M&A thirst.

Keeping Balance in the Center

Organizations no longer have to choose between efficiency and effectiveness as contact center technology evolves. Here, five approaches to service and efficiency equilibrium.

Statistically Speaking

Striking Back with 311

The 311 framework allowed the agency to ramp up its agent pool from 500 to about 900, with employees from other departments and agencies.

NYC Rides With Telecommuting

Employees work from home, maintaining a business-as-usual approach, as the 2005 transit strike halts the public transportation system.

A Solution That's a South Sea Breeze

Unifying customer touch points helps a hotel company specializing in the South Pacific tourism industry reduce costs and boost agent utilization.

FrontRange Shoots For (IP) Suite Success

The midmarket CRM player, recently acquired by Francisco Partners, unveils IP voice functionality that could extend its relationship with GoldMine shops.

E-Commerce Gets Some Satisfaction

Not all sectors of online business are seeing substantial uptake in adoption and satisfaction, but the channel continues to gain traction for its accessibility and ease of use.

Gartner Slots Contact Center Infrastructure Vendors

The market is expected to become more integrated and to reflect more specific differentiating business objectives.

Setting Standards Will Help E-Service Shine

Providing online support can boost customer satisfaction while cutting costs, but companies must offer the right services to maximize deployments.

A View to a Bill

Households are expected to view more bills online, but companies must work to increase customer awareness of the benefits of Web payment.

Google Puts the Brakes On BMW's Ranking

The car company's German site has been removed from the search engine's index for deceptive tactics.

Two Newspapers Deliver Privacy Breaches

Management is taking steps to prevent misused information; analyst says the mishap likely won't affect reader loyalty.

6 Common Contact Center Mistakes

We tapped contact center industry experts to discuss common gaffes and ways to avoid them and get back on track.

MarketScope: CRM's Professional Look

Professional services firms' adoption of CRM has been low; analytics functionality and the hosted model may help raise it.

Furnishing Service Excellence

Taking the multichannel-service route delivers savings of roughly 40 percent.

Sprint Nextel Fights Data Bandits, Again

The organization has filed two suits against companies it claims are lifting and selling customer call records.

IBM Raises Its Voice

Several speech-technology partnerships and products may help Big Blue get heard over the revenue din of its competition.

Ebay Adds Immediacy to Shoppers' Carts

The online-auction powerhouse is launching a site that deviates from bidding and allows for instant purchasing.

Microsoft Centralizes the Connection

An upgraded framework boosts contact center efficiency and service levels by simplifying the agent desktop while delivering multichannel and self-service options.

Affluent Consumers Long for the Experience

Spending on things to do, such as travel and dining, is a trend for this segment and a driver of real growth.

Mercury Interactive Will Acquire Systinet

MI, a business technology optimization provider, is adding this service-oriented architecture firm to its ranks to help its customers maximize their SOA initiatives.

Asia Pacific Contact Centers Warm to Nearshoring

Area companies are outsourcing some of their own work to neighbors as more U.S. organizations outsource to the region.

More CSRs Are Staying Home

U.S. home-based agents represent a small portion of total customer care reps, but their ranks continue to swell, thanks to macroeconomic trends.

Surefire Hires

Organizations jeopardize their ability to best serve customers if they don't have selection, retention, and development strategies for contact center agents. Here, industry insiders offer nine tips to help minimize risk.

Aspect's Facelift

The new company must balance rationalizing its overlapping functionality with retaining and attracting new customers.

Pounding the Pavement with Real-Time Communication

Field-service management and optimization lead to enhanced productivity and significant cost savings.

A Red Cross Call Center Gets a Black Eye

Seventeen call center reps are accused of stealing from Hurricane Katrina relief efforts.

Unica Acquires MarketSoft

Unica takes the acquisition route, not a usual move for the company, to enhance its marketing automation functionality.

Mapping Out IT Expenditures

The concentrated geographics of IT spending, according to a new study, will enable vendors to appropriately tailor their marketing and offerings.

SugarCRM Sweetens the Deal

Scheduled for general availability Friday, a new release offers enhancements including advanced reporting, customizable dashboards, and workflow management.

The (Open) Source of the Problem

Software vendors, enterprise IT managers, and investors face challenges as the market evolves, including quality of software and confusion about license models.

Business Objects Leads the Pack in BI ROI

An evaluation observes that standardization is growing as a trend, but that dashboards are driving BI adoption.

CSAA Steers Its Performance Management

To ease supervisors' time-intensive data-collection method, the organization created an in-house tool.

Self-Service Gets Graphic

A reworked support blueprint leads to a near perfect self-service rate.

Consultants Are Standing By

Siebel and Oracle partners try to relieve customer headaches.

Oracle's Quest for Siebel: Where Does NetSuite Stand?

Commoditized technology puts the on-demand player in a 'pretty strong' position.

IT's $6 Billion Spending Spree

SOX-compliance spending in 2006, as in 2005, is expected to hit the $6 billion mark; dissimilarities appear in how spending will be segmented.

Mobile CRM Is Making Moves

The market is expected to outstrip the growth rates of traditional CRM, with the U.S. market faring substantially stronger than its European counterpart.

Young Consumers Are In Sync With Online Banking

More companies are expected to eliminate monthly fees to attract more online bill payers as gen Xers and Yers drive the growth of Internet banking.

Voice Clicks With IT Apps

Voice-embedded IT applications have the potential to save organizations up to 30 percent on telephone outlay, according to a new report.

Telecommunications Drops in Respect

A CRG study indicates that email gaffes in responsiveness and the quality of answers helped retail surpass the telco sector, but Bell Canada secured the top slot in company evaluations.

Coaching Falls by the Wayside

A report suggests ways for companies to improve CSR coaching and shows time is the biggest deterrent to success.

November 11, 2005

The FCC and E911; Accenture plans to acquire Media Audits; Citrix announces its new Smart Agent technology; and more.

Text Trumps Images for Web Consumers

A stronger driver of consumer click-through rates, text is often the initial content of an email; target by response behavior to attract more clicks.

QM and Liability Recording Move Ahead

The market is on track to hit and surpass a previous forecast due to enhanced innovation, better ROI, and less-costly software-based recording.

Microsoft CRM 3.0 Makes an Early Debut

The company is trying to end the year with its first CRM release since December 2003, but the general availability of the release is pending.

Avoiding the Speech Rec. Wreck

Speech recognition has struggled to move into the mainstream, but these applications are picking up where touch tone IVR leaves off.

Statistically Speaking

Data Quality Consolidation Continues

Pitney Bowes' move to acquire the remaining outstanding shares of Firstlogic is part of the latest wave of data quality consolidation.

Utopy Picks Former Blue Pumpkin Head

Boosting the market's understanding of the company's technology and selecting an advisory board are two imperatives for the new president and CEO.

The Midmarket Moves Away From 'Band Aids and Glue Guns'

Sixty percent of midmarket firms plan to deploy an integrated ERP suite within the next year as the fragmented approach gives way to more cohesion.

The BPO Market Will Sustain Double-Digit Growth

Training and procurement are the business process outsourcing market's two fastest growing segments as companies begin to think more strategically.

SOA Continues to Pick Up Steam

Enhanced integration and flexibility, coupled with other factors like reduced cost, are steadily becoming more attractive to organizations.

Siebel Reveals Its Next-Gen Approach

The soon-to-be acquired company unveils a new strategy and architecture as SAP baits a safe passage program hook for Siebel's customers.

October 14, 2005

SAP announces its 28-piece play for midsize enterprises; Oracle targets sales contracts; Maximizer announces Q3 results; and more.

HR Execs Fear Not Attracting 'A' Players

Long-term workforce planning and updating, and integrating HCM technology, are ways to respond.

The Art and Science Equilibrium

ROI increases as organizations' marketing initiatives fall in line with strategic corporate goals; four core marketing competencies help.

Calling On Convergence

SMBs are considering converged communications solutions, ranking Cisco Systems' tools number one in a recent survey.

The Customer Service Frontline Shines

National Customer Service Week '05: The ICSA and the CSG honor the importance and hard work of customer service and support teams worldwide.

The 2005 CRM Market Leaders, Part 3

The CRM industry over the course of the year grappled with well-publicized mergers and acquisitions, executive turnover, and product line restructuring. Still, the industry's impact--especially in the small and medium business markets--is growing more pervasive across industries and within organizations. With an eye on ROI, companies are benefiting from lower startup costs, shorter implementation times, ease of use, and more robust analytics, from both the on-demand (hosted) delivery model and on-premise solutions. Spearheading these developments are the 2005 CRM Market Leaders--read on to see how they are driving the market and how they stack up against the competition.

The 2005 CRM Market Leaders, Part 2

The CRM industry over the course of the year grappled with well-publicized mergers and acquisitions, executive turnover, and product line restructuring. Still, the industry's impact--especially in the small and medium business markets--is growing more pervasive across industries and within organizations. With an eye on ROI, companies are benefiting from lower startup costs, shorter implementation times, ease of use, and more robust analytics, from both the on-demand (hosted) delivery model and on-premise solutions. Spearheading these developments are the 2005 CRM Market Leaders--read on to see how they are driving the market and how they stack up against the competition.

The 2005 CRM Elite, Part 3

It is impressive when CRM vendors promise business performance improvements never before possible, but it is more impressive when their products actually deliver on those promises. The CRM Elite awards showcase six companies that have achieved significant returns on their technology investments that have either met or surpassed their expectations.

The 2005 Influential Leaders

Influential leaders are those who pave the way for others to follow. They are often the first to market with a strong CRM product or strategy, are often the best at delivering a product or strategy, or have such industry clout that their actions reverberate widely in the market.

The 2005 CRM Elite, Part 2

It is impressive when CRM vendors promise business performance improvements never before possible, but it is more impressive when their products actually deliver on those promises. The CRM Elite awards showcase six companies that have achieved significant returns on their technology investments that have either met or surpassed their expectations.

The 2005 CRM Elite, Part 1

It is impressive when CRM vendors promise business performance improvements never before possible, but it is more impressive when their products actually deliver on those promises. The CRM Elite awards showcase six companies that have achieved significant returns on their technology investments that have either met or surpassed their expectations.

The 2005 CRM Market Leaders, Part 1

The CRM industry over the course of the year grappled with well-publicized mergers and acquisitions, executive turnover, and product line restructuring. Still, the industry's impact--especially in the small and medium business markets--is growing more pervasive across industries and within organizations. With an eye on ROI, companies are benefiting from lower startup costs, shorter implementation times, ease of use, and more robust analytics, from both the on-demand (hosted) delivery model and on-premise solutions. Spearheading these developments are the 2005 CRM Market Leaders--read on to see how they are driving the market and how they stack up against the competition.

Project Fusion: Coming Together or Falling Apart?

PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards customers discuss bright spots and concerns.

On the Scene--Talk Good: Best Practices in Speech Deployment

Industry experts provide guidance for considering and deploying speech technologies.

September 30, 2005

Nortel realigns its organization; TuVox dives deeper into speech analytics; SER Solutions unveils a new outbound call management tool; and more.

An ICCM 2005 Product Showcase

Consolidation continues in the industry as Witness makes an impact with workforce optimization integration and Avaya helps companies with regulatory requirements.

People and Processes Rule Remarks at ICCM 2005

A Python urges the use of creativity, communication, and innovation in training; a second keynote stresses benchmarking.

ATG Gets Wise About Customer Experience

The Web self-service vendor has rolled out a new product suite that incorporates the basis of its recast customer strategy.

Cisco's Play For Smaller Wins

The networking giant pushes IP-telephony solutions and financing options for the SMB and midmarket spaces, among its slew of new offerings.

September 16, 2005

Jacada will announce agent portal; Business Objects cozies up to the midmarket; Maximizer Software goes wireless; and more.

CRM New License Revenue Grows Again

A shift from penny-pinching to business growth and the appeal of hosted solutions are contributing to a license-revenue upswing.

Oracle Will Buy Siebel

Ellison and company look to bolster their portfolio to counter SAP as industry consolidation continues.

Siebel Takes CRM Analytics Apps Market Share

The company is 'positioning' itself as offering enterprise analytics, with business functions like performance and supply chain management.

Email Response Times Lag Still

Companies are undervaluing the channel as more customers seek support.

Statistically Speaking

Nortel's Extreme Makeover

Financial woes behind it, the company is focusing on new products and brand awareness.

Nailing Satisfaction and Cost

"Through the call center we are able to be more precise...in the evaluation of a problem."

Accommodating Customers With Automated Agents

A hotel group selects Voxify to provide callers with a consistent customer experience.

Microsoft Acquires a VoIP Startup

The software giant is upping its IP-telephony efforts for everyday consumers and enterprise workers.

August 30, 2005

Siemens unveils a tool for mobile workers; Surado has releases Surado CRM 5.0; EmailLabs and Habeas partner; and more.

Households Fancy One-Stop Communication Shops

Consumers prefer to buy bundled services when it comes to purchasing home communication packages.

The 2004 CRM Apps Market: Double Digits

A strong need to increase revenue drove the surge, with the hosted model enjoying a 105 percent growth rate.

August 23, 2005

Salesforce.com unveils Smashforce; CDC announces unaudited Q2 2005 results; and more.

CRM Software: A Customer Loyalty Problem

The CRM industry has the lowest loyal-customer base in the U.S. for the software industry; Microsoft and SAP are the sole CRM software-loyalty leaders.

Experian Pays For Having Misled Consumers

The FTC settlement demands the company pay $950,000 and stop using deceptive practices for Web-site offers of 'free' credit reports; a warning is issued to 130 other sites.

August 16, 2005

UniPress Software introduces FootPrints 7.0; TuVox reveals new speech applications; a new general manager will oversee Omniture's European headquarters; and more.

SAP's New Hosted Model?

Customer needs, technology, and pricing structure are focal points for its upcoming, to-be-defined solution; analysts express confusion about the offering.

Credit Card Woes Continue For Consumers

Banks should look for warning signs and offer customer support to help prevent defaulting on payments, a survey states.

RightNow and KANA Court Customers

RightNow unveils an upgrade to its CRM suite and delivers two call center solutions, while KANA vies for the midmarket.

All the Talk at SpeechTek

Aspect, Avaya, Edify, and others showcase their products, and announce partnerships.

Everybody in the (Speech Enablement) Pool

Avaya's CEO explains in his keynote at SpeechTEK 2005 the growing popularity of IP telephony.

Do It Yourself

Self-service done right--in the right enterprise--can return some real benefits. Here, a review of the five top vendors with robust, integrated solutions

Blooming Customer Service

A multichannel flower retailer's handling of peak holiday call volume blossoms.

The Next Step in Anger Management

Speech analytics solutions are enabling companies to track and analyze emotional cues.

A Glimpse at DR-CAFTA

"Outsourcing has more to do with linguistics or the language than it has to do with the trade regulations."

Siebel Takes Fiscal Short Steps Forward

Sales execution concerns and closing fewer megadeals hamper the company's growth.

Knova Knows Knowledge

A guide to knowledge-enabled CRM applications puts the company's solutions on top.

IT and BPO Contract Sizes Decline

The number of offshore suppliers and more client selectivity are contributing to the drop.

The Road to Self-Service Success

A new report offers a framework for developing, measuring, and improving self-service initiatives.

Acxiom's Earnings Will Not Meet Expectations

The company, a possible acquisition target, is cutting staff in the U.S. and Europe.

July 12, 2005

SAS and HBSC partner to prevent fraud; Amdocs extends its relationship with Acer; ValueClick, Salesforce.com, and ATG announce executive appointments; and more.

Fatter Functionality For Speech Analytics

CallMiner adds to its analytics suite a new Web-based reporting and analysis tool that automates the delivery of customized reports.

Siebel States Its Preliminary Q2 Results; The Exec Lineup Shifts

Shaheen acknowledges the firm did not meet expectations for licensed revenues; there's a new focus on the need to improve, including help from a new CMO and executive vice president of corporate strategy.

IP Telephony for Everyone

Avaya and Genesys announce solutions for different sizes, opening more opportunities in the growing market.

An Inside Look at Outsourcing

The ink is dry on the contact center outsourcing contract. Now what? We take a look at five factors companies need to evaluate over the course of the agreement to ensure a smooth-running partnership.

Will Challenges With 911 Slow VoIP Adoption?

Major phone companies are offering VoIP providers with 911 services, but tracking and routing issues remain.

Statistically Speaking

On the Scene: From Cost Center To Cash Cow

As contact centers are under mounting pressure to grow revenue for organizations, CSRs are being encouraged to engage in cross- and upsell opportunities.

Big Blue and Siebel Bolster Their SOA

IBM announces a services-oriented architecture initiative geared toward business partners, ISVs, and SIs; Siebel and IBM extend their partnership to offer a developer kit.

A Voice Self-Service Surge

RightNow Technologies announces products that outfit the company with both Web and voice self-service capabilities.

CVS Suffers a Security Migraine

Customer advocates challenge loyalty card holders' anonymity; an expert cautions that ID fraud issues cut both ways.

For Flyers 'It's Really About Data'

When it comes to wireless services, messaging has a significant lead over playing games, gambling, reading, and watching movies.

Aprimo Acquires DoubleClick's EMS Unit

The company is looking to broaden its EMM functionality; the acquisition is seen as a 'good for the industry' move.

Nortel's President and COO Resigns After Clashing With Management

According to one analyst, the management changes give the competition 'a bit of a jump.'

Siebel Shareholders Demand Action

The company unveils a plan to improve its financial performance and tries to ease investor worries.

CitiFinancial 'Deeply Regrets' Customer Info Breach

Best practice suggests businesses must prepare customer-facing agents to deal with tough questions when things go wrong.

Outsourcing Is 'Here to Stay'

Outsourcing Center gives the nod to partnerships that are built to last, and uncovers recent industry trends during its award-evaluation process.

100 Proven CRM Ideas, Part 1

...successful and disastrous: 90 bright ideas for your CRM strategy and 10 dim ones to avoid. Edited by David Myron

100 Proven CRM Ideas, Part 2

...successful and disastrous: 90 bright ideas for your CRM strategy and 10 dim ones to avoid. Edited by David Myron

Carrier Consolidation Continues

Wireless carriers must nurture existing customers, not just focus on attracting new ones.

Statistically Speaking

Midmarket Retailers Will Up IT Investments

North America and Western Europe invest for customer intimacy, service differentiation, and supply-chain efficiencies; increases in per capita consumption spur investments in emerging economies.

Tracking Calls Across the Hosted Universe

Not a true CRM solution, an updated CosmoCall Universe does allow contact centers to integrate with database apps and speech application platforms, while supporting standalone IP telephones.

Genesys Announces Stronger Ties and New Solutions at G-Force

G-Force '05: The company collaborates with Verizon to forge a hosted IP solution; the partnership with Microsoft will now deliver BPO solutions.

May 19, 2005

Salesforce.com announces strong quarterly results; Group 1 introduces its e2 Suite; Talisma makes two announcements; and more.

ABG Scores Web Self-Service Vendors

RightNow Technologies and Knova Software play alone in the leaders category, while others fill the Top 10.

Hosted Contact Center Apps For Everyone?

Not just for SMBs anymore, organizations of all sizes are now evaluating the potential of hosted contact center solutions.

ScanSoft Is Set to Buy Nuance

The former rival vendors in the speech recognition niche will merge, delivering an extensive selection of enterprise speech solutions.

Knova's New Resolutions

The first solution on offer since Kanisa and ServiceWare's merger includes an improved search engine and a mobile support application.

Earnings Roundup

Concerto experiences year-over-year growth; WebSideStory sees its revenue rise; and more.

Customers Gather 'Round Virtual Contact Centers

This week's Witness user conference highlighted touch point innovation, a workforce optimization maturity model, and the evolution of the VCC.

Making a Clear Connection

Integrating your multichannel operations can seem like a near-impossible feat, but it doesn't have to be. Follow these strategies to ease your integration process and maximize your multichannel potential.

Convergence in the Contact Center

Customers will have a single upgrade path, single maintenance environment, and singular user interface.

SecureWorks Protects Its Growth

The Internet security company employs a scalable CRM system to handle its growth.

Hosted Applications and VoIP: Ready for Contact Centers?

Enterprises are debating these choices as their potential continues to mature.

Statistically Speaking

To honor Mother's Day 2005 CRM magazine presents demographic information on moms collected over time from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Siebel's Q1 Earnings Take An Expected Plunge

The company's deployment and selling style will be regarded as indicators of how well it can demonstrate both stability and flexibility.

The Outbound Dialing Market Is Expected to Expand

Organizations are adopting outbound dialing systems to be more active in delivering customer service.

Autonomy Plans to Acquire Etalk

The provider of enterprise infrastructure software hopes to expand into the contact center; first-quarter earnings are up.

Consumers Still Resist Marketing Attempts

Customers want better marketing processes, regardless of the communication channel.

The Mobile Market Sidesteps Saturation

Multiple mobile phones in individual households is driving growth, not the number of homes with phones.

Going Beyond the Phone Call

U.S. mobile subscribers increasingly are using their devices for downloading games, and retrieving news and information.

E-Service Providers Ride the Forrester Wave

Leaders include eGain, iPhrase, KANA, and KnowledgeBase, with RightNow and ServiceWare designated as strong performers.

April 8, 2005

Siebel announces its first-quarter '05 preliminaries; Genesys and Viecore expand their partnership; Keynote Systems adds two execs; and more.

Siebel Enchants Gartner's CRM CSS Magic Quadrant Again

Magic Quadrant for CRM Customer Service and Support Applications '05: Lack of industry breadth keeps Amdocs out of the leaders box.

The 2005 CRM Service Leaders--Part I

CRM magazine presents the Service Leaders awards to the most impressive providers of customer care architecture, technology, and services who have worked tirelessly over the past year to improve their capabilities so that contact centers can go about their crucial business more efficiently and effectively than ever before.

The 2005 CRM Service Leaders--Part II

CRM magazine presents the Service Leaders awards to the most impressive providers of customer care architecture, technology, and services who have worked tirelessly over the past year to improve their capabilities so that contact centers can go about their crucial business more efficiently and effectively than ever before.

Self-Service Satisfaction

More customers are adopting Web self-service, but not all customers are satisfied.

March 31, 2005

Amdocs connects Elisa; U.S. Army Reserve taps DefenseWeb Technologies; NetSuite adds a new member to its marketing team; and more.

Siebel Gets the Contact Center Knack

The company announces the availability of Siebel CRM OnDemand Release 7, equipped with CRM and contact center capabilities.

Telecom Customer Complaints Are Rising

Billing and service continue to be two sore spots for wireless customers.

You Better Shop Around

Customers are choosing aggregator sites for their wide-ranging offerings and convenience.

March 24, 2005

Northern Kentucky University aces CRM with CIBER and SAP; Ricoh turns to BEA Systems; NetSuite and Coremetrics appoint new execs; and more.

Ask Jeeves Is Acquired by an E-Commerce Operator

IAC is betting that Web self-service technology, specifically natural-language capabilities, will continue to mature.

Aspect Introduces eWorkforce Management 6.3

Enhancements include advanced shift and request bidding, and the integration of in-house and outsourced staff schedules.

March 18, 2005

Oracle ups the ante for Retek; Kevin Martin is named new chairman of the FCC; Onyx appoints a new CFO; and more.

Big Blue Will Acquire Ascential

IBM looks to expand its reach into the data integration space, with plans to fatten its BI and data management functionality.

Make Mine Online

Consumers prefer the convenience and availability of the online banking channel to traditional banking.

March 11, 2005

FrontRange unveils customer wins; Open Solutions acquires CGI Group's US Services to Credit Unions business unit; Genesys and Veraz Networks announce integration capabilities; and more.

Salesforce.com Previews Summer '05

The company made dual announcements about its plans to release its Summer '05 solution and its partnership with Thomson Financial.

March 4, 2005

Luxe Worldwide Hotels turns to Siebel; Vintage Design hits the nail on the head with OnSite CRM; Nortel announces senior management moves; and more.

Online Travel Agencies Surpass Airline Web Sites

Online travel agencies are receiving higher marks than their airline-Web site competitors when it comes to overall online customer experience.

From Service Center to Sales Center

Best-in-class companies are migrating to profit centers by reorganizing their contact centers to handle cross-selling and upselling opportunities.

Who's Responsible for the Customer Experience?

Many companies remain indecisive about consolidating all service channels under a single umbrella of authority.

QM Is Poised For Growth

The quality management and liability recording market is expected to grow significantly.

February 25, 2005

SITEL GmbH taps IEX's workforce management solution; Verint colors The Orange Group's contact centers; NuTech Solutions leads to time reduction for Beiersdorf AG; and more.

Aprimo Marketing 7.0 Arrives

The company's newest release is equipped with greater functionality and user enhancement improvements.

Agent Training Is Not a Priority in Contact Centers

Despite increasing call-abandonment rates, contact centers are reducing the training they provide their staffs.

February 17, 2005

Concerto announces yearly earnings; Angel.com announces its Virtual Call Center; Avaya prepares for SpeechTEK; and more.

Customer Satisfaction Loses Its Grip

Powerhouse companies like Amazon.com, Charles Schwab, and eBay are seeing customer satisfaction scores slide.

Microsoft's CRM Is Put On Ice, Again

The company will announce Version 2.0 of its solution later this year.

February 11, 2005

Nuance and Angel.com form a partnership; SilkRoad, Lumenvox, and Performix unveil new solutions; Thunder Valley Casino cashes in with CRM; and more.

The Young and the Rich: The New Thrifty

Young, affluent customers are shunning traditional images of wealth and luxury, and looking for more value.

Consumer Purchasing Decisions: Outsourcing Is Not a Factor

Customers want efficient, effective, available service.

February 4, 2005

Cognos extends its relationship with IBM; E.piphany, SAS, and Centra announce 2004 earnings; FrontRange ships its new SOX-compliant solution; and more.

Should Email Be Revamped?

Email is becoming an integral part of CRM solutions, collaboration suites, knowledge management solutions, and BI applications, forcing generic-email system vendors to develop flexible solutions.

January 28, 2005

Siebel, Sento, and Inforte announce financial results; ATG introduces a new solution; Salesforce.com announces three new customers; and more.

Indian Companies Fall Flat Online

The country's largest companies are not effectively handling online customer queries.

BPO: Cost Takes a Back Seat

Companies are also considering cultural alignment and the ability to offer transformation service when selecting a BPO provider.

Our Favorite Year: CRM Projects to Drive Revenues in 2005

Most companies will invest in CRM to spur revenue or customer loyalty, not as a way to cut costs.

It's Showtime!

Entertainment companies are putting the spotlight on targeted customer strategies to improve service, build loyalty, and grow wallet share.

Listening, With Interest

ING is growing satisfaction--and revenue--by asking customers and partners what they want, and then giving it to them.

Marketing Automation Hits the Mark

Marketers are seeing solid ROI from new technologies.

January 19, 2005

NetSuite announces an aggressive subscription discount offer; Convergys opens up its fourth quarter books; EADS partners with Axcess; and more.

Diemolding Uses e-Synergy to Nail its Quotation Process

The manufacturing company uses Exact Software to better automate its front-office processes.

Marketers Cash in During the Holiday Season

Search engine advertising ROI rocketed past Q3 figures.

Cell Service Providers Have Work To Do

More than half of customers are not satisfied with the service from their carrier; providers are looking at a less-competitive space due to recent mergers.

January 10, 2005

IBM acquires SRD; Aberdeen examines best-in-class companies; Software On Sailboats announces a product upgrade; and more.

January 7, 2005

Oracle seals the PeopleSoft deal; FreeCRM.com's customer base rises; Acxiom acquires SmartDM; and more.

January 6, 2005

Research and Markets unveils a report on CRM in the financial services industry; Firstlogic integrates with Siebel; pulver.Communicator connects to Skype; and more.

Online Self-Service Satisfaction Is Still Low

The number of consumers who use online self-service is high, but satisfaction continues to lag.

Ace Mart Gets Smart on Marketing

The company uses Coremetrics to determine which online marketing initiatives are bringing in ROI, and which are not showing results.

December 30, 2004

Technology Solutions Company closes its ZAMBA acquisition; Recruitmax launches its Data Intelligence Group; Forrester appoints a new CTO and CIO; and more.

Consolidate Customer Interactions to Manage Customer Experience

Most companies have yet to centralize how they own the customer experience.

The Bahamas Ministry of Tourism Checks in With Targeted Marketing

The country's tourism bureau shifts from mass marketing to tailored campaigns to help drive tourists to the area.

December 23, 2004

Amdocs extends its share buyback program; Nuance announces new member to its board of directors; and more.

Witness Systems to Purchase Blue Pumpkin

The performance-optimization software provider looks to extend its position in the market.

The Next CRM Hot Spot?

Latin American companies add flavor to their services.

December 17, 2004

Aastra Technologies Limited to acquire EADS Enterprise Telephony Business; NetSuite unveils multicurrency credit card processing; Bliss deploys CommercialWare for channel transparency; and more.

December 16, 2004

Cincom Systems announces its second deployment for Milacron; Qatar Telecom goes live with Convergys; KnowNow donates software to RAINN; and more.

Cisco and IBM Lead the IP Telephony Market

A Yankee Group study says the vendors rank number one and number two, respectively, as the IP telephony solution providers of choice.

Capgemini Jolts Its Energy Operations to Life

The utility company uses e-billing to shift customers from the phone to the Web--and has upped customer satisfaction in the process.

December 8, 2004

The BBC bolsters its use of Web analytics; Salesforce.com announces new customer wins; EDS Israel opts for CosmoCom; and more.

Service Isn't Just About Being Nice, It's About Resolving Issues

KANA launches a new application designed to help contact center agents resolve customer concerns more quickly and accurately.

Byers Automotive Switches Gears to Drive Sales

The dealership moves from a PC-based CRM application to a Web-based solution to support its growth strategy.

December 2, 2004

NetSuite announces NetSuite Holiday Mall; Sales Performance International launches a new consulting practice; Verint reports third quarter results; and more.

Midmarket Champions

Best Software and Salesforce.com are the leaders in the SMB space, according to a new survey.

10 Technologies That Are Reinventing the CRM Industry

Many of today's most effective CRM processes and strategies are so successful because of the underlying technologies that enable and support them. In our dynamic, evolving industry new technologies continue to allow us to interact with customers in ways we never imagined. This is not to say that technology is the end-all in CRM--we still need engaged people, relevant processes, and quality data. But when properly implemented, technology can take that powerful threesome even farther. Consider the already heady impact and potential of the following 10 technologies...

CartaSi Charges Up Its Contact Centers

The credit card issuer uses VoIP to integrate and manage its different contact center sites.

Talking Turkey to Deliver Great Service

Butterball Turkey's customer service initiative primes for the company's busiest time of year.

Click! Network Dials Up Better Customer Service

The cable television and telecommunications service company uses quality monitoring and evaluation tools to improve service and sales.

The FCC Flexes Its VoIP Muscles

The Federal Communications Commission says certain IP-based services are not subject to state regulation.

Integration Aids Channel Management

Creating true ties with partners helps to optimize sales results.

Vectren Lights Up Its Customers' Satisfaction

The Midwest utility integrates disparate customer information systems after a merger and an acquisition.

A Dose of Self-Service

Managed care organizations are broadening the reach of their Web sites to better serve their members, providers, staffs, and brokers.

Pioneer Organics Delivers Fresh Customer Service

The grocery service is using CRM to manage growth and harvest revenues.

Salesnet and UniPress Software Announce an Alliance

The vendors look to cover both the sales and service worlds with their new partnership.

FrontRange Solutions Previews Its IT Service Management Suite

The HEAT and GoldMine provider also announced additional products.

ABN AMRO Banks on e-Service to Boost Customer Satisfaction

The global bank revamps its online experience and improves contact center interactions as a result.

Aspect's Next Gen Contact Center Is Big, Easy

The company announces the availability of the new Uniphi Suite at its annual user conference in New Orleans.

Avaya Unveils Vibrant Earnings

The communication systems, applications, and services provider reports fiscal fourth-quarter 2004 and FY 2004 results, and announces the launch of new products.

A Bull' s Eye for ON Semiconductor's Pricing Execution

The global supplier of power, data management, and standard semiconductor components selected Azerity's ProChannel solution for interactive quote management.

Overstock.com Zeroes in on its Customers

The online retailer uses analytics to improve the customer experience on its Web site.

The Underrated Differentiators

Contact centers can help organizations create a significant competitive advantage. Here's how.

Can You Here Me Now?

Prior to VoiceXML each IVR vendor had its own proprietary languages accompanied by high development costs.

Channel Management Is Still a Thorn

According to a recent report from the Aberdeen Group based on a survey conducted in conjunction with CRMmagazine, a few companies have mastered this management.

Intrawest's Data Collection Gets a Lift

Intrawest's customers are skiers and snowboarders covered with snow and dealing with freezing fingers--asking them to fill out paper-based forms slashed Intrawest's chances of learning how to become more inline with its customers.

RightNow Announces a Major Extension to its CRM Suite

The enhanced version of RightNow Service features an Offer Advisor component that equips agents with a tool that can automatically suggest potential offers or promotions that may be appealing to the customer given his history.

Customer Service Week Celebrates the Front Line

National Customer Service Week '04: The annual celebration recognizes and rewards the efforts of contact center agents.

12 Ways to Boost Productivity

Managers are always searching for ways to spur productivity that will balance the needs of the customers, the agents, and the company.

Automated Agents Help Continental Soar

Continental selected Voxify's Automated Agents solution to help manage non-value-added customer calls.

VoIP in the Contact Center: Another Fad or Here to Stay?

The ability to have a centralized call center may lead to an increase in the use of VoIP.

Cinergy Moves Customers From Dialing to Dial-Up

Now the company uses NetTracker to help move customers from the call center to the Web.

Quick Wins

What Follows Loyalty Leaders? Growth.

Loyalty leaders in the IT industry experienced significant growth levels compared with their counterparts.

SpeechTEK Spotlights Key Trends in Voice Technologies

There are two fundamental types of language, according to Tim Berners-Lee, director of the World Wide Web Consortium: natural language, classified as soft and evolving; and computer language, which takes a solidly defined, hard-language approach.

Cisco Targets CRM Integration

The CVP supports speech-enabled and touch-tone applications that can be integrated with back-end data and business rules accessible through the Web, using Java 2 Enterprise Edition and VoiceXML standards.

Business Intelligence Boosts Marketers' Productivity

TAMS wanted to implement a business intelligence project to ensure the success of its marketing efforts.

Enterprise IMing Is Expected to Hit a High Note

While public IMing is expected to continue to burgeon for the next five years, EIMing vendors may find their entrance into the market by bulking up their integration initiatives and educating end users on the advantages that EIMing offers.

Transactions: Customer Wins for September 7, 2004

Extream Software wins Baltmore utility customer, and more.

CRM's Hot Topics

DCI's Customer Relationship Management Conference and Exposition this week brought CRM newcomers and enthusiasts together to discuss strategies.

Rapid Integration Helps Manage Rapid Expansion

The company now has the ability to build new CRM modules to manage quote generation and product-return processes.

Contact Center Vendors Optimize Their Own Performance

Presenting financial information from 2003, the report analyzes the workforce management market.

Pitney Bowes Uses Wireless Technology for First Class Delivery

After years of running into roadblocks trying to ensure that its own service representatives could communicate effectively with one another while in the field, Pitney Bowes needed a new strategy.

Exceptional Service Spurs Exceptional Sales

Consumers are open to buying more products and services, but only if the customer service representative (CSR) first resolves the customer's concern.

Transforming Data Into Revenue

Different client databases can splinter prospect organization, and the lack of a centralized look at the client base can put a hurdle in the path of firms on the quest for new clients.

ICCM Shines Its Spotlight Again

A roundup of call center solutions for now and in the near future.

Success at a Steady Pace

SAP's application does not have the same amount of functionality as Siebel's, but in terms of what people actually use on a regular basis, they have reached functional parity.

The Payoff of Data Warehousing

TDWI's second report in its 2004 Report Series, "In Search of a Single Version of Truth: Strategies for Consolidating Analytic Silos," finds that organizations have yet to consolidate an average of two data warehouses, six independent data marts, and 28.5 spreadmarts, with only one third of all structures actually consolidated.

Self-Service Magic

The latest version of the company's application suite for service resolution management explores a variety of areas that help users navigate through self-service.

Texas Instruments Takes a Walk

The Customer Loyalty Bootcamp program is a series of simulations that allow TI managers to experience what it is like to be a TI customer.

As the Call Center Outsourcing Debate Turns

Cost minimization has been and will continue to be a key component in companies' decisions to locate their contact centers offshore, but firms should weigh other options to ensure that they make the right decision.

Onyx Is on the Upswing

Onyx reports a second quarter revenue of $14.8 million, an increase from the $14.2 million it amassed from the year's first quarter.

Real-Time Measurement for Real Customers

IT organizations want solutions that improve their customers' experiences.

E-Government Spending on the Rise

The report anticipates moderate growth over the next two years for state-and-local e-governments, but by 2006 expects to see the beginning of a growth cycle to reach a compound annual growth rate of about 30 percent through 2007.

Sales Outshines Service

Companies need to quantify the impact of problem resolution by individual problem type, and set employee response guidelines appropriately.

Listen and Learn

The company's improved contact center suite is rooted in its having listened to customers' requests for a more flexible product.

Chinadotcom Announces a New CEO and President

Divesh Sisodraker, who served as Pivotal's CFO for almost three years, has been named president and CEO of Chinadotcom's CRM software division.

Consumers May Face Increased Risk of Identity Theft

A new study finds that over the next fours years there will likely be an increase in the number of worldwide, unique phishing (email scams that try to get customers to reveal personal information) attacks.