Clarify organizes customer service
Its e.link package means customers needing help won't be bounced around--one call will do the trick as vendors communicate among themselves to solve the problem.
ClearEnterprise e.link 1.0 is a software package for managing customer service applications. The software will be used internally by both Microsoft and Hewlett-Packard, according to the company.
"This is truly an electronic link between the corporation, the customer, and the vendor," said Clarify's president and CEO Dave Stamm. "E.link will be a single point of contact for the customer while a number of vendors work on a problem."
During a press conference today, Stamm described the all too familiar scenario of a customer calling up Microsoft on what he thinks is a software problem, only to be told to call HP because it turns into a hardware problem.
With e.link, "support can work on the problem without having the customer bounce back and forth between the vendors," Stamm said.
The automated system will allow vendors to exchange customer-related information in a secured, or closed-loop, fashion over public or private connections, including the Internet
Industry partners HP and Microsoft support centers will implement the new front-office system within their companies to allow workers to share background on a specific customer case without having to repeat details over the phone, and without re-keying information.
Current phone-based customer service is very cumbersome and not always timely, said Mark Perry, Microsoft's general manager of Worldwide Support Infrastructure.
"This will allow us to ensure the right solution at the right time for our customers," said Perry.
Officials hope e.link will provide a real-time link between HP and Microsoft, allowing the two companies to manage streamlined, customer-focused business practices across multiple sites and organizations.
"This will allow us to link our organizations together," said HP's support technology lab manager Paul Primmer.
E.link works with Clarify's help desk and support software.
It is priced at $20,000 per server and will ship in October.