InformationWeek

The E-mail software is licensed from Web customer-service vendor Kana Communications Inc. and will be integrated with the Ensemble system. A Web call-back feature will let customers browsing a Web site send a message asking for a customer-service rep to call them immediately.

Davox is a major player in the call-center market, but analysts say it must add Web and E-mail functions to survive. "The call center is only part of the functionality needed to interact with the customer. You have to embrace the Internet," says Peggy Menconi, an analyst at AMR Research.

Other additions do more than simply add new customer-service channels: The Multimedia Agent Desktop brings E-mail and telephone interactions into a single interface, while the Multimedia Manage-ment Reporting application helps managers track contact-center performance and customers across multiple channels.

Blue Shield of California in San Francisco has been using Davox for years in its inside sales group, a 60-person company that targets Medicare recipients. But the insurance company says its senior clientele is pushing for electronic interactions. "We have to take the next step to be competitive," says Dan Coen, director of inside sales. "We're going to work with the prospect the way the prospect wants to be reached."

The company will start rolling out Ensemble 2.0 over the next few months. Coen says Davox's experience in the call center was one of the reasons Blue Shield trusted the vendor to also handle its electronic interactions. "Regardless of the channel, it's the same concept--the prospect contacts us and vice versa," he says.