RightNow introduced RightNow Telesales(TM), an on demand CRM solution for inbound and outbound telephone sales automation. This solution can boost the performance of telephone sales teams by automating key workflow processes and streamlining critical management tasks. RightNow Telesales makes it easy for sales managers to create, execute, and monitor multi-stage telephone sales campaigns.

Aliant, a Canadian information and communications technology provider, announced that more online self-service options are available to customers via their web site - www.aliant.net. Aliant customers can get answers to non-technical and technical questions in real-time, through online self-service, thanks to a partnership with eGain. Using the new tool, customers type in a problem and are guided to a solution through an interactive dialog.

Service Strategies announced results of certification showcase events held in Sydney, Australia, Boston, MA, and Wokingham, UK during the first half of 2005. The certification showcase events offer an opportunity for technology service professionals to share best practices. They include presentations from SCP certified organizations, roundtable discussions on industry standards, and networking among the technology services community.

A new book entitled "The Ultimate Customer Support Executive" delivers guidance and career advice for those who want to excel in the support field. Written by Phil Verghis, the book provides insights and ideas for top corporate executives, who usually focus on high-level strategic decisions and rarely interact directly with customers.

Mercury Interactive announced that Mercury BTO offerings have completed Pink Elephant's PinkVerify certification process, receiving the Service Support Enhanced certification. It is a verification of Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) compatibility and represents the highest level of IT Service Management (ITSM) product certification.

Amae Software announced the successful deployment of the Amae CI Suite Performance Console. The Performance Console, a component of the Amae CI Suite, displays management metrics regarding company-wide customer experience results and productivity analytics.

Fair Isaac announced that U.S. Bank has selected Fair Isaac's Strategy Science as a tool to further augment its risk management practices while enhancing both customer service and revenue. Strategy Science for Credit Line Management is a tool that provides financial institutions with possible credit line strategies, customized to business goals and constraints.

Entellium announced that Milestone Group, a professional services firm, switched to Entellium from Salesforce.com. When the Salesforce.com contract came up for renewal, the Milestone Group favored features like the Document Automator, Predictive Navigation, as well as list management.

Amena, the third largest mobile phone operator in Spain, has increased its capacity to generate customer loyalty offers by over 200% by implementing a relationship marketing system based on Epiphany Marketing solutions. Using Epiphany Campaign Management and Epiphany Interaction Advisor across multiple channels to manage both outbound and inbound customer interactions, Amena has increased customer acceptance of retention offers by more than 10 percentage points.

Openstream announced that it has contributed speech components for stock market applications to the Apache Foundation. Companies wanting to develop stock or trading applications can use these Reusable Dialog Components within the IBM-Apache RDC framework. The RDC initiative drives the speech and voice application business from its proprietary, vertical roots into the horizontal world of standards-based development.

  "OUR TAKE" (more)

8/15/2005 - The Mystique of Outsourcing One reader wrote, "Outsourcing has a mystique that it is a cure-all for all of our problems and we should just do it. Fight that urge."   Outsourcing should not be done because "everyone else is doing it" or you read an article that it is the only way to go. It's a business decision and deserves the business case. Of course, this is the business of keeping customers in the fold so identifying the key elements and success factors is not just a good idea, it is a matter of winning and losing.   The business case often centers on saving money on a transaction basis but there is also a way to save money by not losing customers.   Gary Lemke, Publisher (Share your thoughts)