One of the hallmarks of CRM is that its footprint keeps expanding. I think part of the reason is that we have taken to lumping everything that is not a back-office application area into CRM. In fact, some people are
At $2.4 billion, the global contact center marketplace has grown mature. However, trends in the industry are still driving much growth in the space, according to a newly released report by Gartner that looks at the market and its players.
It's no secret that the economy is not in the best shape ever. A trip to the gas pump is a reminder that costs are more costly today than they were a couple of years ago. What strategies should small-business
Some people are finding it tougher than ever to get a bank loan amid the nation's credit crisis, but many are getting a warmer welcome at the "teller window" on the Web. People are flocking to social network sites such
The customer is always right, or so the saying goes. And while, strictly speaking, this might not always be true, it is clear that a good level of customer service and empathy can be the differentiator between a happy customer
Virgin Mobile USA definitely walks to its own, very hip drumbeat. Big cell phone carriers such as AT&T and Verizon Wireless are famous for herding customers into long-term service contracts. Virgin specializes in prepaid plans that allow its customers --
James Mangano knows numbers. He's an accountant for a New York state agency and his job involves delving into piles of numbers and coming up with useful information. But the number that bedeviled him the most since last November was
Working from home has become an acceptable option for a wide range of professionals, including salespeople and lawyers. Until recently, this option, dubbed "homeshoring," was unpopular in the call center, although that perception has been changing. "Companies are becoming more
In Internet time, it's been an eon since "smart appliances" were said to be stocked on the near horizon, but many sunsets later -- eight years, actually -- the futuristic devices are still, well, in the future. One would think
SAP is transitioning its customers to the recently released SAP Enterprise Support package next year -- a change that will ultimately increase maintenance and support costs to 22 percent of license fees. Companies will begin moving to the new package
The next time you're reading a PDF online, someone may be watching you. While this may sound a bit Orwellian, Vitrium Systems developed a way to track the eyeballs and reading habits of people who read PDFs. In fact, Gartner
On my blog, I have been writing about my experience with my new computer: an iMac. I have been spending a lot of time thinking about the whole cultural difference between the Windows world and the Apple world. As a
Intel has received the Food and Drug Administration's clearance to market Health Guide, an in-home device that lets healthcare providers monitor a patient's vital signs via the Internet. It also provides interactive tools such as video conferencing and e-mail to
Down in the dumps with customers, the nation's fourth-largest cable operator, Charter Communications, is trying freebies to boost its image and differentiate its services. Charter, whose customer service ranked at the bottom of the industry in a recent independent survey,
Microsoft held its Worldwide Partner Conference last week, and Sonoma Partners' Mike Snyder summed up the event's highlights. "Once again, Microsoft CRM was a featured product at the conference! Microsoft sells thousands of products, but CRM gets plenty of attention,"
For as long as consumers have had high-speed Internet at home, they have surfed the Web as much as they wanted, downloading any content while paying their service provider a flat monthly fee. Those days may be ending. Internet service
As more buyers and sellers look to the Web and as other parties in the real estate value chain move to Web-enabled business software platforms, the real estate industry has begun to embrace CRM as a sales tool. While enterprise-level
Service and warranty management executives still wrestle with post-sale customer satisfaction issues and escalating warranty costs. These executives are revising business processes and adopting technology solutions to better manage warranty workflow, enhance claims administration, reduce costs and implement a closed-loop
Five cities across the U.S. are testing a new national 911 system that would allow communications with police and other emergency personnel by text message and take advantage of the latest technology to pinpoint accident scenes. Call centers in Rochester,
Credit card companies know what you've bought. Phone companies know whom you've called. Electronic toll services know where you've gone. Internet search companies know what you've sought. It might be reassuring, then, that companies have largely pledged to safeguard these
