Customer service systems firm RightNow Technologies has upgraded
its customer relationship management suite and launched two add-ons
aimed at businesses with telesales and self-service operations.
RightNow CRM 7.5 has new features in all three of its marketing,
sales and service components, including the addition of SMS
text-messaging as a marketing communications channel.
The RightNow sales component is now more tightly integrated with
Microsoft Outlook e-mail, calendar, contact and task management
systems. It also provides a searchable library of sales
information, such as product collateral and competitive
analyses.
The CRM 7.5 software also integrates computer telephony, with a
desktop "click to dial" function.
Simultaneously, the company has launched RightNow Telesales,
automating the handling of inbound and outbound telephone sales
calls. The system allows sales managers to run multi-stage
telephone sales campaigns, create segmented call lists, assign
calls to sales staff and distribute sales scripts.
The new RightNow SmartGuide product is designed to improve
customer service by guiding customers or service staff to the
information they need through a series of diagnostic questions,
using “decision-tree” logic.
SmartGuide uses artificial intelligence technology to improve
automatically its own effectiveness over time by “learning” from
each user’s interactions.