Survey Analytics, a competitor to tools like Survey Monkey, claims to offer more complex survey types, and better integration with third-party reporting tools and CRM systems. We spent some time working through this with the company's CEO and founder, Vivek Bhaskaran.You can watch a video ReviewCam by clicking the "play" button directly below.

;

Our company, TechWeb, produces plenty of surveys. Perhaps you've participated in some. But outside of being an occasional research tool, products like Survey Monkey, SurveyGizmo and Survey Analytics can provide valuable customer feedback. Survey Analytics appears to be designed to accomplish that.

One of the ways Bhaskaran says his company is different is that it offers more complex survey types. For example, it can help companies determine Net Promoter scores, which indicate product or brand loyalty. Or side-by-side surveys, so preferences can be measured based on an intersection of importance and satisfaction for instance (often, customers will give a product a high score for items that might not be that important; better to work to improve those things customers value).

Another key feature set is the integration with third party products. Bhaskaran says that since most companies bring analytical data into tools like Google Analytics and Omniture, it makes sense to make connectors for Survey Analytics. That way you can mix behavioral data with survey data all in one place. This data can also be segmented. The company also connects through SalesForce.com -- from that software, you can send out surveys, and then you can push that data back into SalesForce.com and connect the data with individual contacts.

Bhaskaran believes that Survey Analytics can offer a great way to crowdsource as well, and he showed me an example of the tool powering the Environmental Protection Agency's efforts to engage with its customers, soliciting feedback and ideas. All of this runs on the Survey Analytics server, but sites can deploy widgets and connect the engagements via tools like Twitter.

Fritz Nelson is the editorial director for InformationWeek and the Executive Producer of TechWebTV. Fritz writes about startups and established companies alike, but likes to exploit multiple forms of media into his writing.

Follow Fritz Nelson and InformationWeek on Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and LinkedIn:

Twitter @fnelson @InformationWeek@IWpremium

Facebook Fritz Nelson Facebook Page InformationWeek Facebook Page

YouTube TechWebTV

LinkedIn Fritz Nelson on LinkedIn InformationWeek