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10/6/06 - Field Service In Review
The last ten editions of CRMAdvocate Today were dedicated to the subject of field service. It's been a great topic and I have really enjoyed and appreciated all the input from such a wide variety of readers.
There certainly is so much more to talk about with regard to field service but in the interest of other topics I will move on. At least for now. Next year, we'll come back to field service with more great stuff.
To wrap up this version, I want to share with you a new feature of the column. Each edition of this column will now be available on the CRMAdvocate web site. We will also organize topics so you can see the entire thread. So to start, feel free to review the last ten columns on field service.
Gary Lemke, Publisher
(Share your thoughts)
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TOP NEWS OF THE WEEK (more)
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Witness announced that it has acquired Demos Solutions Consulting Group Ltd. and Exametric, Inc., the two leaders in supplying enterprise productivity and resource planning solutions to the financial services industry. The aggregate purchase price for both transactions is $29 million in cash plus a potential earn-out of up to $18 million based on the growth of the business over the next few years.
West announced that it has acquired InPulse Response Group, Inc. InPulse will operate as part of West's Communications Services segment. The total cost before transaction expense and working capital adjustments is approximately $44.5 million and was funded with a combination of cash on hand and West's existing bank credit facility.
Metrix announced a new subscription-based pricing model for Mobile Techlink, a mobile field service solution. The subscription pricing will charge users a set amount per user, per month.
The second annual FrontRange Solutions User Survey, undertaken at Call Centre Expo 2006 currently taking place at the NEC, Birmingham, was designed to 'take the pulse' of companies attending the Show. Of those surveyed, 25% want cost reduction, 18% best practice process improvement and 14% reduced complexity (e.g. by reducing the number of suppliers) from their communications solution. Yet fully 23% are now looking beyond this to increased customer satisfaction and retention, achievable only through a converged solution combining business intelligence with telephony. Supporting this, 22% of respondents already recognise converged voice and data applications as most important within their call center.
Jacada has announced that it has signed a distributor agreement with Datapoint Customer Solutions Ltd, the leading UK expert in call center operations. Under the agreement, Datapoint Customer Solutions Ltd will sell, service and support Jacada WorkSpace and Jacada Fusion customer service solutions to the contact center market in the UK.
Oracle announced the availability of Oracle Communications Billing and Revenue Management Release 7.3. The new release includes a systems management console and a performance optimization dashboard that enables service providers to experience application performance and availability. In addition, this release includes a productized integration with HP OpenView enterprise management software.
Satmetrix introduced the latest version of the company's flagship hosted platform, Satmetrix Enterprise Version 11. The platform allows companies to gather vital customer feedback data and turn this into business process improvement, increasing profits and furthering an organization's growth.
Respond has revealed details of its latest release, Respond 3 XA, a suite of enterprise applications that represents a solution for customer complaint and feedback management. The focus of Respond 3 XA is to provide a foundation to improve customer service and enable businesses to rollout group minimum standards and customer service policies on an enterprise-wide scale.
Online marketing software provider, Narragansett Technologies, announced RSS-Pro, their integrated email newsletter RSS service. The integration of RSS-Pro with the email marketing software, SpinnakerPro, will enable marketers to distribute content via email, web, SMS, MMS, fax and now via RSS, increasing the number of methods at their disposal for reaching and engaging subscribers.
Have you ever needed an ATM and not known where to find one? MasterCard now provides cardholders with a mobile, location-based search and directory service so they can request the location of the nearest ATM be sent to their cell phone via SMS text message.
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 Research Notes (more)
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 White Papers (more)
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Marketing Automation: The New Automation Frontier - Marketing, it's show time. Finance was automated in the 1960s, HR in the 1970s, manufacturing in the 1980s, and sales and customer service in the 1990s. This is the decade for marketing automation.(MarketingCentral)
|  | | Defining CEM - Wen Joe Wheeler and Shaun Smith wrote "Managing the Customer Experience - turning customers into advocates" in 2001, they did not realize that it would help to stimulate a worldwirde interest in CEM that is growing all the time. For example, a 2005 Forrester survey found that 83% of executives considered customer experience to be more important than in the previous year. This year the figure is even higher. The question is why has CEM become such an issue for organizations.(GCCRM)
| | | Contact Center Manager KPI Survival Guide - Contact center managers are confronted with volumes of data and dozens of reports generated by automated and manual systems and processes. They may have a surfeit of metrics, but lack the fundamental information needed to manage their operating environment. Too often contact centers have no way of systematically measuring and communicating how well internal and coprorate objectives are being met and identifying where change is required.(DMG Consulting)
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Open Source VoIP Makes the Grade - Security weaknesses have left millions of elderly, disabled and poor Americans vulnerable to unauthorized disclosure of their medical and personal records, federal investigators said Tuesday.(CRMDaily)
| | | Contact optimization confusing marketers - There's plenty of buzz in marketing about anything that might improve efficiencies or manage customer contact fatigue, but contact optimization isn't the answer for everyone.(SearchCRM)
| | | The New Internet Is Coming - IPv6 (Internet Protocol version 6) will replace the current Internet protocol within the next few years, making the Internet more secure and able to connect to a nearly infinite number of devices. It may be soon, but it won't be easy. Being ready for IPv6 could save you millions.(CIO)
| | | Just Say "Know" - The boss may assume that outsourcing is the answer to everything. But CIOs can't afford to assume anything. They have to know.(CMO Magazine)
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 Case Studies (more)
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AFLAC Increases Efficiency With etalk - AFLAC purchased e-talk Recorder and etalk Advisor. The integrated system enables call center supervisors to set up automatic recording times based on a specialist's schedule, something that was impossible with the old completely manual system.(etalk)
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October 23rd-25th, 2006: ICCM Canada Conference & Exposition - The ICCM Canada Conference & Exposition has become the annual event for business leaders to network and share insights to make their organizations more effective, and for contact centre professionals to discuss the latest issues with people who share the same concerns, interests and ambitions. You will have the opportunity to ask questions, listen to new ideas, seek out-of-the-box solutions, and become part of a network community that will last long after you return to the office.
| | | October 10th-13th, 2006: INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & EXPO WEST - Call Center 2.0 co-located with the 14th INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & Expo that will be coming to San Diego on October 10-13, 2006 at the San Diego Convention Center. Call Center 2.0 is expected to attract an estimated 1,900 attendees with an overall conference of 9,000 attendees.
| | | October 17 - 19, 2006: Services Industry Summit - Successful Strategies for Service Innovation - Las Vegas, October 17 - 19, Paris Hotel. Learn how world-class organizations are improving their service operations. Presenting organizations include EMC, FileNet, Rockwell Automation, Sage Software, Sony Electronics, and others. Optional pre-conference workshops will also be held. Visit www.servicestrategies.com or call 858.674.4864.
| | | October 17 - 18, 2006: Professional CRM Certificate Program - Get CRM Certified(tm). Attend a fall seminar to receive a Certification in Applied CRM Strategy, based on Paul Greenberg's the best-selling book "CRM at the Speed of Light" and endorsed by Rutgers University Center for CRM Research, CRMGuru.com, the National CRM Association and GCCRM. 20% discount until September 30th.
| | | October 22-24, 2006: Contact Center Summit Fall 2006 - The Contact Center Summit Fall 2006 is a unique event created specifically for senior contact center, call center and customer service executives across all major industry sectors. Over three days and two nights, the Summit provides several opportunities for you to interact with senior officers from Global 2000 corporations across North America.
| | October 23-24th, 2006: East Coast - MarketingSherpa Business-to-Business Demand Generation Summit - MarketingSherpa's B-to-B Demand Generation Summits 2006 - Network with 500 B-to-B marketers & discover their best demand generation tactics.
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| CRMAdvocate Stock Index |
| CRMSI | 53.31 |  | 0.04% |
| Dow Jones | 11,814.43 |  | -0.29% |
| Nasdaq | 2,293.16 | | -0.38% |
| S&P 500 | 1,345.71 | | -0.40% |
| Top Gainers |
| Interact Intell | 14.74 | | 3.06 |
| salesforce.com | 39.18 | | 1.11 |
| HP | 37.95 | | 0.35 |
| Top Losers |
| Convergys | 20.2 | | -0.64 |
| Sykes | 19.95 | | -0.53 |
| NCR | 38.85 | | -0.44 |
| Complete Stock Index |
| As of close 10/05/06 | |
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