Taptera Debuts Serendipity for Better Contact with Sales Leads

Mobile enterprise app developer Taptera has injected a little dose of Serendipity into sales reps' work flows through the launch of an iOS app that provides real-time social and location-based information to Salesforce.com mobile users.

Using the Serendipity app, professional and enterprise Salesforce.com users can currently gain insight into contact whereabouts via location-based intelligence extracted from Twitter. Support for Facebook, LinkedIn, and Foursquare is expected to follow this year.The app will soon include support for iPad and Android devices.

According to Chris O'Connor, cofounder and CEO of Taptera, a rep's "ability to close deals is based on accessibility to the best information possible," which is the basis for the app's functionality.

The app matches up subscribers' social contacts with their Salesforce.com contacts, leads and Sales Cloud Opportunities. Serendipity can then push customizable, real-time alerts identifying value, proximity, and Opportunity contact information to the user. A subscription to Serendipity is $9.99 a month, $49.99 for six months, or $99.99 for a year. Salesforce.com iOS users can now request an invitation to Serendipity.

Serendipity's debut comes on the heels of Taptera's introduction of enterprise application Collateral, which syncs Salesforce.com Content and Chatter files with reps' iPads for usage even when offline. Recent survey findings from Forrester Research estimated that 27 percent of enterprises support the iPad, with another 31 percent expressing plans to do so in the future, confirming the need for enterprise-level applications.

The enterprise usage statistic for the iPhone was a little bit higher, with some 37 percent supporting the device last year; the number was projected to grow to 55 percent in 2012. Alongside the growth in tablet and smartphone usage is the conjoined need for connectivity with enterprise data and applications.