IBM Delivers New Releases of its Customer Service/Call Center Solutions
New CallPath*, DirectTalk* and MDp* offerings leverage the benefits of e-business to help companies provide better service and consistent customer relationship management
SOMERS, NY (June 09, 1998) – IBM today announces enhancements to CallPath and DirectTalk and a new version of MDp (Message Driven Processor) that leverage the benefits of Java*** and the Web to expand a company’s ability to serve its customers across different customer access channels and customer self-service capabilities. These Java-based enhancements enable businesses to easily offer their customers a choice in how they interact with the company — via telephone, Internet, e-mail or another method — while delivering a consistent customer experience across any of these access channels. Because Java is at the core of these enhanced offerings, the compelling benefits of Java such as “write once, run anywhere” flexibility, increased programmer productivity and reduced costs, are squarely applied to the customer service marketplace.
In Brief:
IBM CallPath Web Connection — Enables companies to expand their customer touch points beyond the telephone. CallPath Web Connection, part of CallPath version 2.2, provides the capability to incorporate a variety of customer touch points (i.e. the Internet, e-mail or video kiosk) into a call center. Whether the customer makes a request via the Internet or by phone, the company can deliver a consistent customer experience, while deriving benefits from using its existing call center infrastructure and resources to meet new and evolving customer demands.
IBM DirectTalk for Java — Delivers leading-edge JavaBeans*** for voice-processing and a Java compliant execution environment. By using DirectTalk for Java and the JavaBeans (reusable software components), it becomes simpler, faster and less expensive for companies to create self-service telephone applications. They can be created once and executed on any DirectTalk supported platform.
MDp (Message Driven Processor) for Java — Provides a Java interface for businesses who want to use the Internet or a corporate intranet to access applications and data that reside on enterprise systems. This software provides the seamless link between enterprise data and Internet/intranet-based user interfaces, and it insulates the web application from the complexities of the transactional environment.
In the face of globalization and deregulation, fragmentation of traditional markets, and highly sophisticated and demanding customers, corporations are becoming increasingly aware that effectively managing customer relationships is vital to sustained competitive differentiation. “These Java-based enhancements from IBM, along with remote capabilities of the Web, enable companies to manage customer relationships with optimal effectiveness,” said Phil Saunders, Product Marketing Manager, Customer Relationship Solutions, IBM Global Services. “The e-business enhancements to our world-class customer care software, announced today, help companies provide consistent, value-add experiences to their customers, over multiple touch points, across multiple marketing, sales and service functions,” Mr. Saunders continued. To exemplify the value of this, consider the following scenario. A purchasing vice president wants information on flat rate billing from her electric utility. She can request it via a voice-processing system, over the Internet or by speaking with a CSR in the call center. Regardless of her choice, she would have a similar experience and receive consistent results. The customer record reflects the fact that her firm’s power usage widely fluctuates, creating budget planning challenges (the reason for her inquiry). This vital information on usage patterns and preferences is recorded in the customer information database and can be used to tailor marketing, sales or service specifically for that customer.
Source: IBM