Wachovia Selects Convergys to Provide Customer Care Services
Convergys announced it signed a multi-year contract to provide a wide range of professional services and automated customer care capabilities to Wachovia Corporation. Convergys will provide services through its open hosting environment - a flexible model of outsourced customer care automation and managed services, which allows clients to create or modify interactive voice response (IVR) applications from a remote location.

			Required Reading
		Customers say the Darndest Things...But Why?    As part of our role in customer care, we have been taught to ask customers for their opinions in order to make our service deliver a better experience for them. Customer feedback is a tool to improve service, which can make service a competitive advantage, and is usually a source of invaluable information. But sometimes, as we collect real-time feedback for customers, even Customer Relationship Metrics (Metrics) gets more than we bargained for. After collecting customer data and comments for more than eleven years, Metric decided to step away from analysis about what customer are saying and consider why. (Customer Relationship Metrics, L.C.) more >>
Archive of past Required Reading articles

Teradata Survey Confirms Crisis in Business Decision-Making
Business decision-making is in crisis, according to senior executives of large corporations queried by Teradata. Three-quarters (75 percent) of the senior executives of top U.S. companies - 67 percent with annual revenues exceeding $1 billion - said that the number of daily decisions has increased over last year, slightly more than in the previous two studies. For three consecutive years, Teradata's surveys have found that the increase in data is compounding, with 97 percent to 100 percent of respondents saying that data is increasing and well over half saying data is doubling or tripling over the previous year (57 percent in 2004). And greater than 50 percent said that decisions are more complex this year than last year.

Shield Healthcare Uses Onyx Software And Interactive Intelligence
Onyx Software and Interactive Intelligence announced that Shield Healthcare is using Onyx Enterprise CRM and Interactive Intelligence's Customer Interaction Center (CIC) as part of its new contact center initiative. Using the integrated system, Shield can identify and monitor service levels to ensure that the right supplies get to the right people at the right time. The system is part of Shield's efforts to meet regulatory compliance standards and adapt to the frequent changes in processing requirements.

Stratasoft Announces CTI Utility for Contact Centers with Cisco Call Manager
Stratasoft is pleased to introduce the general availability of StataVIEW for Cisco Call Manager. StrataVIEW for Cisco Call Manager is part of Stratasoft's family of applications built upon IP Telephony solutions for vendors such as Cisco Systems and Nortel Networks and targeted toward small and medium sized business' (SMB's). StrataVIEW for Cisco Call Manager is a screen pop utility that integrates popular industry leading contact management databases and CRM applications with Cisco IP Telephony solutions via Stratasoft's Call Center Intelligent Call Routing (ICR) middleware.

ShareBuilder Selects Talisma
Talisma announced that Bellevue-based ShareBuilder Corporation has selected Talisma's Multi-channel CRM suite to help deliver total customer integration and management of all customer communication channels. ShareBuilder Securities Corporation, an online brokerage designed to make investing in the stock market simple and affordable, will implement Talisma's Multi-channel CRM solution to enhance its customer service.

E.piphany Announces Third Quarter Results
E.piphany announced results for the quarter ended September 30, 2004. For the quarter ended September 30, 2004, the company reported revenues of $17.9 million, compared to revenues of $24.2 million in the third quarter of 2003. Net loss under generally accepted accounting principles ("GAAP") for the quarter was $4.3 million, or $(0.06) per share, compared to a net loss under GAAP of $4.3 million, or $(0.06) per share during the third quarter of 2003.

PeopleSoft Reports Results
PeopleSoft announced its third quarter 2004 financial results. For the quarter ended September 30, 2004, the Company reported license revenue of $161 million, a 24 percent increase over Q2 2004. PeopleSoft also reported total revenue of $699 million, an increase of 8 percent over the previous quarter and a Company record. Q3 pro forma net income was $62 million, an increase of 22 percent over the prior quarter. Pro forma earnings per share were $0.17 for the third quarter compared with $0.14 in the prior quarter.