InformationWeek

Wednesday, March 4

Oracle Links Front/End Applications To Back End

racle today announced additions to its Front Office Application Suite that will let IS organizations link front- end sales data to back-end financial and manufacturing data.

The integration of Oracle's Front Office suite with its manufacturing and financial applications, announced at the DCI Sales Force Automation Conference and Exposition in Chicago, will help companies keep tabs on both revenue and sales and service costs, the company says. Such links, Oracle claims, will let companies get a full picture of their relationship with their customer, rather than the narrow view typica lly offered through sales interaction data in sales-force automation applications.

In addition to the overall integration, Oracle introduced three new modules to improve sales and service cycles: a Sales Analyzer for the Oracle Sales and Marketing suite, a Service Analyzer for the Oracle Customer Care and Service suite, and an Oracle Call Center suite.

Both the Sales Analyzer and the Service Analyzer collect customer information from front-end, financial, and manufacturing applications, identifying patterns in customer activities. The information lets companies tailor sales and service offerings for specific customers and for specific marketing and sales campaigns. The products also perform analyses of sales contact history, demographics, or credit information.

The Call Center suite is built around the Oracle Telephony Server, which handles calls for all of Oracle's enterprise applications. The suite includes service, customer care, and sales computer telephony integration applicati ons that perform call routing, third-party call control, and screen synchronization.

All three products are due in the second half of the year.

-- Jeff Sweat