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CRM

The CRM market is the fasting growing application market, estimated to grow at the compound growth rate of 49% to 2003 reaching a value of nearly $17 billion (AMR Research). The Gartner Group has independently forecast the overall CRM market to be worth $40 billion in 2004. This rapid growth, together with the intensifying competition, is fueling major changes to the CRM marketplace, with the call center emerging as a focal point of customer interactions. Such interactions are increasingly Web-enabled with VoIP emerging as an enabling technology.  Moreover the major  ERP vendors are beginning to penetrate the CRM market with front-office applications integrated with back-office systems.

In addition to front-office CRM solutions, Customer Relationship Management also includes customer-focused analytical applications which add value to CRM front-office data, enabling companies to better understand their customers. With these ‘Customer Analytics, the fastest growing segment of the CRM market, CRM is closely linked with the Data Warehousing & Business Intelligence market; these applications, such as Gentia’s ‘Balanced Scorecard’ and ‘thinkCRA’, are covered therefore in the Data Warehousing & BI section of the glossary. Similarly CRM is also very closely linked with OSS and Content Management technologies.

With a successful CRM strategy now being regarded as one of the key goals of all companies competing in the new economy, the recruitment of experienced IT CRM professionals is paramount. The major IT Services are already building their CRM practices in preparation. In being a newly emerging discipline, the competition for talented CRM professionals will be great as the availability of experienced CRM architects struggles to satisfy the great demand.

ACD

ACD is an acronym for Automatic Call Distributors, a telephony term for a facility that automatically routes incoming calls to the next available or longest idle agent in a line hunt group. Examples of ACD’s include Lucent, Nortel & Aspect.

AIT’s TSS

TSS is AIT Group’s customer-centric, multi-channel CRM solution which enables integration with enterprise-wide legacy systems

ANI

ANI is an acronym for Automatic Number Identification, a system that enables the identification of the caller.

Applix (iEnterprise & iTM1)

Front office business solutions from Applix Inc. which include iCRM applications

Apropos

Apropos is the developer of market leading, customer interaction management (CTI) solutions for multimedia call centres (ie contact centers). Apropos’ solutions provide fully integrated multimedia capabilities that enable call centre agents to manage all customer interactions, including traditional voice interactions, e-mails and web-based forms of communications, from a single database. Companies are able to prioritise, route and respond to customer interactions across multiple communications media based on a single set of business rules. 

Aspect (Customer Relationship Portal)

Aspect Communications’ tool which integrates enterprise resources (front-office, back-office, eCommerce etc.) into a seamless CRM solution

Astea (Service Alliance & Dispatch-1)

CRM solutions from Astea International Inc.

Aurum

Aurum is now known as BaanFOS following Baan’s acquisition of Aurum in 1997. (see BaanFOS)

BaanFOS (Front Office Solutions)

BaanFOS is an integrated suite of CRM applications that provides companies with a 360 degree view of  their customers.

Blue Pumpkin PrimeTime

Blue Pumpkin Software, with its PrimeTime family of products, is a leading provider of call (or contact) centre  workforce management software solutions which help companies to maximise customer service and satisfaction. In August 2000, Blue Pumpkin Software and Kana Communications announced plans to seamlessly connect Kana’s eBusiness Platform to Blue Pumpkins’s newly announced PrimeTime Exchange workforce management solution.

Caesar Sales Support System

CRM solutions from Astea International Inc.

Chordiant

An integrated multichannel CRM solution which uses a single view of the customer. Its workflow engine enables the creation of business processes which match a company’s best business practices.

Clarify eFrontOffice

Clarify’s market leading CRM tool comprises Sales, Service, Marketing & eBusiness solutions

ClientSoft e-solutions

ClientSoft e-solutions enable the leveraging of IBM mainframe & AS/400 applications

CMS

CMS is an acronym for Call Management System

Concorde XAL

now known as Baan since the acquisition of Aurum in 1997.

CRM

Customer Relationship Management is a strategy (as opposed to being simply an application or suite of products) that companies adopt in order to retain and attract profitable customers.

C-CRM & V-CRM

The new goal for companies is now to go beyond CRM to Value Chain Relationship Management & Customer Community Relationship Management

CSS

CSS is an acronym for Customer Service & Support. CSS application suites, though not needing to provide sales, marketing or e-commerce functionality, must be able to integrate with these applications in order to form part of an enterprise CRM strategy. The CSS suite typically consists of a number of components including a Contact Center, Web-enabled customer service, Field Service and dispatch and call/transaction management components.

CTI

CTI is an acronym for Computer Telephony Integration, the integration of telephone/ACD and software/database systems to provide platforms that facilitate customer service and increasing call center agent productivity. The combination of CRM and SFA applications with CTI is enabling the provision of new customer service applications.  Providers of CTI solutions include Apropos and Genisys.

eCRM

eCRM is the name that has been increasingly applied to the emerging online CRM capability that extends the scope of CRM, traditionally comprising sales, marketing and service,  into the area of e-Commerce. This extension of Internet-enabled CRM, to encompass functions such as supply chain management, has been the stimulus for the emergence of a new market of eCRM products with ever-widening functionality from a wide range of software providers.

EIM

Enterprise Incentive Management

Epicor CRM

Epicor Software Corporation’s CRM solution designed for mid-market companies.

E.piphany E.4 & E.5

E.piphany’s web based analytic CRM software solutions which create a single enterprise view of the customer. The latest version, E.5, is described as a next-generation CRM solution, that is entirely Web-based, offers real-time personalisation, provides a single, unified view of the customer and is driven by customer analytics. Its architecture has been designed to enable it adapt to changing business requirements.

ERO

ERO is an acronym for Enterprise Resource Optimization

ESE

ESE is an acronym for Extended Selling Enterprise (aka E-Partner Selling) which is an enterprise wide strategy to increase profitability through the use of applications and technologies which assist 3rd-party selling channel partners (including brokers, agents and distributors) in their sales objectives.

Hansa

Hansa is an integrated suite of CRM applications.

ICM

ICM is an acronym for Intelligent Contact Management.  ICM software creates a network-to-desktop CTI environment that integrates different resources including  carrier networks, the Internet, ACDs, IVR systems, Web servers, databases and agent workstations. On receiving a routing query and call information from the network, the ICM platform queries a customer-profile database and reviews the current status of performance and resources. This enables it to then instruct the network to send the call to the most suitably skilled available resource in the company based on real-time agent status and the value of the caller to the company. (see CTI)

ICR

ICR is an acronym for Intelligent Incoming Call Routing. By utilising the IVR to collect information from the caller and the host application to determine how to route a given call, ICR represents one of the most powerful combinations of IVR and CRM applications.

Infinium CRM

a CRM solution from UK based Infinium Software.

IVR

IVR is an acronym for Interactive Voice Response technology, a technology that allows a telephone based user to enter or access information stored in a remote database. IVR applications add value to CRM applications by providing the means and platform for customer self service and by providing an automated personalised service to the caller. IVR provides a cost effective means of maximising the ROI of a CRM investment. Examples of IVR’s include Lucent & Aspect.  VRU (Voice Response Unit) is another term for IVR.

Jeeves

Jeeves is a market leading CRM tool

Kana

Kana Communications provides online customer communications software covering the entire customer life-cycle and across multiple channels. In April 2000, Kana acquired the customer-centric e-business software company Silknet Software. This will enable Kana to integrate its online customer communication solutions with SilkNet’s customer-centric e-business software. The resulting e-business platform and comprehensive suite of customer facing applications, will enable e-businesses to work with one vendor for their complete e-business customer communication needs.  (see Silknet Software).

Lipstream Live Voice

Lipstream Live Voice is Lipstream Networks’ service that enables multi- person, live voice communication over the Internet. Lipstream Networks is a leading Internet voice service provider for eBusiness. In August 2000, Kana Communications announced plans to integrate Lipstream’s LiveVoice service into its eCRM solutions in order create a product that provides live customer service to online businesses through VoIP. (see Kana).

Lucent CentreVu

Lucent Technologies’ CentreVu is a suite of customer care solutions (including call-routing, IVR, reporting and Internet solutions) for customer contact centers (call centres). It includes Lucent CentreVu Call Management System (CMS) and provides information and tools for monitoring the performance of call centre operations. It also includes CentreVu Explorer II, a CRM solution that  transforms the information from the CMS into more granular, usable information. 

Mosaix

Mosaix, a worldwide provider of front-office and back-office solutions (& services) that  automate and optimise an organisation’s interactions with its customers, was acquired by Lucent Technologies  in July 1999.   Mosaix solutions, which include  predictive dialling systems, agent effectiveness solutions and the ViewStar CRM, workflow and business process automation applications, span the entire enterprise. The acquisition enables Lucent to expand its CRM solutions portfolio.  (see Lucent)

MRM applications

MRM applications are e-mail response management applications which use AI & Business Rules

NAM

NAM is an acronym for Network Applications Management.  NAM software can be used in Web-based customer care solutions to enable carriers to offer full-featured ACD as a network service using network agents in combination with a customers own ACD agents in an enterprise-wide virtual call centre. It enables the provision of network prompting and CTI (with complete customer control and integrated call processing across different platforms) in the network, on a customer site or both.  

Onyx Front  Office 2000

Onyx Corporations’ enterprise wide, customer-centric e-business solution

Oracle CRM

Oracle’s integrated CRM solution comprises 5 application suites covers the entire scope of the customer life cycle including sales, marketing, service, e-commerce and call centers. 

Pegasystems

Pegasystems’ eCRM solutions are based on a patented rules engine.

Pivotal eRelationship 2000

Pivotal Corporations’ eBRM (eBusiness Relationship Management) solution that is architected to exploit the scalability of Windows 2000 and which joins together CRM and e-Commerce solutions on the one platform.

Quintus eContact

Quintus Corporations’ multiple-channel eCRM solution

Remedy eCRM Solutions

Remedy Corporations’ eCRM solution which offers out-of-the-box functionality; their CRM solutions were developed by BayStone Software which was acquired by Remedy in 1998.

royalblue FrontOffice

The UK headquartered royalblue is a leading provider of customer interaction software. Its CIS suite includes its flagship product, HelpDesk, which provides support for IT help desks. It also comprises royalblue’s other products including SupportCenter (for customer care) and Rostrvm (for the handling of all aspects of CTI enabled call centre systems). 

SalesLogix

Sales automation software solution from Threshold Technologies, Inc.

Saratoga’s Avenue

Saratoga Systems’ CRM solution is used by more than 725 corporations

Scopus

Scopus Technology, a leading provider of front office software, was acquired by Siebel Systems in 1998 with the intention of integrating Scopus’ customer service, field service and call center applications into a unified suite of sales, marketing and customer service systems.  (see Siebel)

SFE

Sales Force Effectiveness

SFA

Sales Force Automation

Siebel eBusiness Applications

Siebel Systems’ family of eBusiness multichannel applications which include Call Center, .COM, Channel, Industry, Marketing and Field Sales & Field Service Applications. In April 2000, Siebel Systems announced the availability of Siebel eBusiness 2000, the sixth and latest release with extended functionality that includes expanded EAI integration (for connections with ERP applications) and new Siebel Wireless software.

Siebel 99

Siebel 99 is Siebel Systems’  Web-based front-office family. As the Industry’s first Web-based front-office solution, Siebel 99 represents Siebel’s expanded CRM suite enabled by the integration of Siebel Systems’ and Scopus’ technologies following their merger in 1998. Entirely Web-based, Siebel 99 unites an organisation’s sales, marketing and customer service employees with business partners and customers.  (See Scopus).

Silknet

Silknet Software, a provider of customer-centric e-business applications & systems, is now part of Kana Communications following the signing of a merger agreement in Feb’ 2000.  This acquisition enables Kana to add Silknet’s customer facing Web-architected e-business platform and applications to its existing solutions for marketing, sales and service. (see Kana).

TES

TES is an acronym for technology-enabled selling.

Trilogy

e-business solutions for Global 2000 companies implementing multichannel e-business.

Vantive Enterprise

PeopleSofts’ (following their acquisition of Vantive in Jan 2000) integrated customer-centric applications

VRU

VRU is an acronym for Voice Response Unit, also known as IVR (see IVR)ice Response).

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