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CRM And Call Centers Get Together Mergers and partnerships are yieldng packages that help users boost service standards By Mitzi Waltz
 uccessful interactions
with customers don't happen by chance. Aside from instilling in
employees that the customer is always right (even when that's not
the case), businesses must arm them with information. Behind the
scenes, they must have the tools in place to quickly route customer
concerns to the right person.
Pulling all those pieces together isn't as difficult as it once was. Vendor mergers and partnerships are resulting in numerous tools that integrate customer-relationship management and call-center applications into single, software-hardware solutions--giving even large companies with multiple divisions the ability to maintain high customer-service standards. That promise has attracted vendors, and for good reason: They're looking at a total market of $330 billion for E-business software, according to International Data Corp. Plus, no single company has a lock on the top position, and with the base price of most products around $50,000, profits can be substantial. It also doesn't hurt that CRM is the business buzzword du jour, or that brick-and-mortar companies moving into E-business are feeling the need to establish or E-enable call centers (see sidebar story, "CRM And Call Centers Defined"). CRM software keeps track of incoming calls, E-mail, faxes, Web hits, and, in some cases, letters and wireless communications, generating data-based reports and alerts that help companies anticipate and respond to customer needs. IT managers can opt to configure their CRM software to work with call-center apps, which route telephony or Web-based calls to the appropriate person or department. But major CRM and call-center vendors are merging and forming alliances with partners in an effort to create single packages, or to host the software and bundle it with services. CRM software and call-center packages were available in the past from niche players, including E.piphany Inc. and Broadbase Software Inc. on the CRM side, and Astute Inc. and Blue Pumpkin Software Inc. in the call-center world. But with companies making their Web sites into sales and customer-service centers, a demand for Internet savvy has boosted companies with computer telephony prowess into prominence. Cisco Systems, Lucent Technologies, and Nortel Networks have emerged as forces to be reckoned with during the past year. All companies involved know that truly successful CRM and call-center efforts will likely become commodity applications within as little as two years. Early adopters are these vendors' most lucrative current customers: telecommunications companies, large enterprises, and, to a lesser extent, E-business startups with the potential to grow rapidly. One example of this strategy in action is the deal between Lucent and Siebel Systems Inc. that brought about Lucent spin-off Avaya Inc. last year. Avaya's flagship product is CRM Central 2000, based largely on integrating Lucent's CentreVu telephony system and CRM Central with Siebel's Call Center and eBusiness Applications front-office suite. Both Avaya and its parent company have strategic alliances with Siebel. Avaya's close relationship with Siebel should pay off for customers, says Mike Martinez, executive director of CRM solutions marketing at Avaya. "With Siebel, it's not just a handshake--we've committed not only to joint sales and joint marketing, but our developers are sharing cubes and writing code together," he says. "We also have a wide alliance with other vendors that provide CRM strategies and products, particularly through the CRM Solutions Lab." For example, online travel agency Uniglobe.com Inc. uses software from Lucent and Avaya to route E-mail, Web inquiries, and phone calls from business partners and customers to appropriate internal representatives. Customer-service and fulfillment reps can talk back live via text chat or phone, or respond via E-mail. Nortel also is vying for top spot in the CRMcall-center market. Last year, it acquired Clarify Inc., a marriage that resulted in a focused E-business unit at Nortel that's melding that company's high-speed network expertise and Clarify's applications savvy. Nortel and Clarify have cemented deals with Intel, Microsoft, and SAP, aiming for an unprecedented level of interoperability with business apps. SAP, for example, plans to embed Clarify's eBusiness and eFrontOffice apps with mySAP.com. Nortel shares Clarify's commitment not just to integrating CRM and call-center functionality, but linking it with all business applications, says Joseph Davis, VP and general manager of Nortel's Clarify E-business applications unit. "What we want is to go from individual point applications to one common customer database, with all the customer contact points touching that," he says. "The natural progression is integrating [the database] with the hardware, the voice telephony system, and everything else. Customers have a natural interest in getting all that from one source." Nortel-Clarify's Wireless Access Protocol application is an example of what telephony vendors are bringing to CRM and call-center software. Nortel helped Clarify WAP-enable the phone links in eBusiness to send emergency cell-phone pages to field personnel, extending CRM outside of company headquarters. Oracle, another emerging CRM call-center player, also is selling a combined suite with mobile capabilities. It bought call-center developer Versatility two years ago, and has integrated Versatility Telesales/Teleservice, Campaign Plus, and Insight modules into Oracle Front Office. Oracle has since built on this foundation to extend more advanced call-center and CRM capabilities into its E-Business Suite 11i, adding mobile field support services obtained from Tinoway International BV.
Oracle Interaction Center, an E-Business Suite module, also combines both CRM and call-center concepts. Capabilities range from call routing and advanced inbound and outbound calling features to integrated E-mail, communications management, and built-in links to Oracle business apps. Oracle also has packaged middleware solutions that link its product with major telephony packages. Some customers have been worried about Oracle's networking
knowledge, but a CRMcall-center alliance with Cisco unveiled in
July may change that perception. Cisco will develop applications
with Oracle, focusing on those predicated on Cisco's IP and
networking technologies. continue on to page 2 Illustration by Greg Stevenson
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Oracle 11i customer Nantucket Nectars in Cambridge, Mass., says the
product will help it achieve E-business goals. "The next phase for
our business is to implement a B-to-B business strategy," says IT
manager Lee Gordon. Oracle 11i's Web-enabled online ordering and
customer-service systems will help Nantucket Nectars work more
closely with its distributors, he says, giving these partners
controlled access to the company's Oracle-based back-end system and
rapidly routing their inquiries.
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