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Amdocs ltd. has added a browser-based interface and enhanced support for business process management and integration in an upgrade to its ClarifyCRM software.
ClarifyCRM 11 is the first release of the customer relationship management software since Amdocs, of Chesterfield, Mo., acquired it from Nortel Networks Corp. last year. With the upgrade, ClarifyCRM catches up with rival products from Siebel Systems Inc. and PeopleSoft Inc.; both companies added browser interfaces last year.
ClarifyCRMs new browser-based applications are for sales, support and customer interaction management. Clarify has traditionally been strong in call center applications. Release 11 of the suite includes applications for marketing campaign management and analytics, although not all of those applications are accessed through the browser.
Browser-based and client/server-based applications can operate together, Amdocs officials said.
Michele Cameron, manager of consumer affairs at Kia Motors America Inc., wants to take advantage of the browser client support and plans to use ClarifyCRM to offer support portals to customers and dealers. Kia, of Irvine, Calif., plans to use ClarifyCRM to create case histories for every car it sells based on information collected from dealers and customers.
“Right now, our customers and dealers communicate to us a lot via e-mail,” said Cameron. “Its very free-form, and a lot of times we dont get all the information we need from someone. Now theyll be able to create their own cases, using forms at the Web site.”
Besides browser support, ClarifyCRM 11 includes ClarifyCRM Integration Gateway, enabling XML integration among ClarifyCRM and other enterprise systems, as well as Amdocs Billing Manager software, which enables integration between ClarifyCRM and the Amdocs Billing software suite.
This release includes Process Manager, a business process management engine developed by Amdocs to define, automate, monitor and forecast customer-centric business processes used by ClarifyCRM and other systems that interact with it.