But while most players in the customer-relationship management market are touting Web capabilities that support online sales channels and make applications easier to use and deploy, Chris Selland, VP of the CRM practice at the Yankee Group, says GoldMine's products remain rooted in a client-server architecture. "They've added a few Web bells and whistles, but they're taking baby steps to the Internet," he says.

The upgraded suite, called FrontOffice 2000, includes GoldMine Sales and Marketing as well as GoldMine Service and Support, a call-center management and help-desk support package GoldMine gained from its acquisition of BenData earlier this year. New features include incident assignment, escalation, and reporting capabilities; problem management and resolution; and service-level agreements, warranty, and contract-management tools. Also included is a set of analysis tools that gives sales managers statistics about sales and service activity, notifying them when critical issues arise.

GoldMine will also offer a new release of its standalone sales-force automation product this month. GoldMine 5.0 enhances support for remote users with new data synchronization technology, improves usability, and eases system management.

Despite the vendor's efforts to enter the CRM market, the updated sales package may be all that many GoldMine customers need. Karrass Ltd., which specializes in motivational seminars, uses GoldMine 4.0 to track sales prospects and store registration information for customers attending its events. The company doesn't see the immediate need for FrontOffice 2000's new marketing and customer-service capabilities. "It doesn't really behoove us to move to a new version," says Phil Esposito, the Beverly Hills, Calif., company's customer-service manager.

GoldMine's move to compete for a higher position in the front-office market comes at a volatile time, following the acquisition of two high-end competitors, Vantive and Clarify, by non-CRM companies last month. Selland says the buyouts may give smaller players a chance to step up.

But it will be a while before GoldMine can take on CRM leader Siebel Systems Inc. "There's an opportunity to move up," says Selland. "But they have a long way to go."

GoldMine says it's not aiming for Siebel's big accounts. For now, the vendor is focused on companies that need support for no more than 500 users and are looking for a low-cost front-office product that's easier to install than high-end packages. "A lot of companies over-buy and under-utilize technology," says Jon Ferrara, founder and VP of marketing at GoldMine.

GoldMine FrontOffice 2000 and GoldMine 5.0 will be available this month. Pricing for GoldMine Sales and Marketing will begin at $495 per user; GoldMine Service and Support licenses will start at $995 per user. GoldMine 5.0 will start at $199 for a single-user license and $995 for a five-user license.