Banter closes $20 million second round

Customer service software maker Banter said Monday that it has raised $20 million in a second round of funding led by Mayfield, which also led the company's first round of $15 million with Lucent Venture Partners in March 2000. The San Francisco-based company makes software that automatically handles customer service interactions such as e-mail and online customer service. Banter's software electronically processes customer questions received via e-mail and sends out the appropriate reply, according to the company. The software also monitors the kinds of questions a company's customer service center receives to seek out patterns and determine if customer questions are being answered correctly.