When the work is complete, Oracle Applications Release 11i will plug into Cisco-driven networks and call centers, letting Oracle-based CRM systems use Cisco's network routing and telephony features, according to the vendors. Cisco and Oracle also plan to build an IP infrastructure that handles data, voice, E-mail, and Web traffic and supports the integrated systems.

The alliance is the most recent in a series of partnerships between CRM and networking vendors. Last month, Siebel Systems Inc. agreed to work with Lucent Technologies Inc. spin-off Avaya Corp. to build a CRM package that includes computer telephony integration, E-mail routing, and contact-center workflow. Last fall, Nortel Networks Corp. acquired CRM vendor Clarify Inc.

Analysts say vendor-driven integration can help companies get the most out of their CRM systems and avoid expensive and tedious internal development such as integration of telephony. "It's easier to form a single view of the customer when you can deploy it over a single pipe," says Yankee Group analyst Robert Mirani.

At Household Credit Services Inc., which uses Cisco's interactive call-management software, the deal makes Oracle the favored candidate in the company's months-long search for a CRM vendor, says Steven Row, manager of integrated processing for the Salinas, Calif., company's resource planning department. The Oracle integration "kind of plugs the gaps," he says.