Right Now Technologies, supplier of Web-based customerservice software, is getting ready to upgrade its flagship Right Now Web product with another level of service--access to a human being.

Next week, the company will unveil Right Now Web 3.0 which has four new modules including a natural language auto E- mail response system, an automated customer-satisfaction survey, a service-contract administration component, and expanded support for foreign languages.

In October, the company is expected to release a Java-based utility that will allow users to initiate a real-time Web chat with a customer service representative. The utility, to be called Right Now Live, will also include telephony integration--in which a user can request that a customer- service representative call him to resolve problems or questions.

Right Now President and CEO Greg Gianforte says access to a human is critical to servicing customers online. "If someone goes to a Web site and can't find the answer and has to send an E-mail, the Web site has failed. You have to provide a path to a human." Right Now Web 3.0 ships this month, and is priced at $19,500 for a two-year license.