FRONTRANGE
For some, convergence is yet another industry buzzword with more hype than substance. And it is true for example that the merging of voice and data networks has not provided inherently far-reaching, enterprise-wide benefits, with the result that, to date, it has not established the strong market presence many predicted. For the channel too, interest has been tempered by the fact that there are now a large number of vendors offering VoIP solutions with limited product differentiation -- and, with this increasing commoditisation, margins have inevitably come under greater pressure.
Yet convergence really starts to look attractive at the next level, that of business applications. By bringing together telephony applications -- including interactive voice response, automatic call distribution, skills-based routing and unified messaging -- with such business applications as helpdesk, customer service and CRM, a business can achieve 'intelligent' customer response.
The concept is attractive for the end user, as internally it reduces the total cost of ownership and the burden of administration: externally it also provides improved levels of client responsiveness and satisfaction, as the customer is put through to the most appropriate agent first time, ensuring that queries are dealt with quickly and efficiently. For the channel too, the ability to add value in this way -- by providing solutions advice and consultancy rather than the more basic product 'sell' -- also provides a very real margin opportunity.
Having said that, and despite the fact that similar problems around integration and management also apply to smaller businesses, the ability to deliver convergence at this higher level has, until now, been both expensive and complex and so restricted to top-end enterprise businesses.
The world is now changing however, with FrontRange Solutions at the forefront of developments to make convergence an affordable mass-market reality. Based on our strong pedigree in developing helpdesk and customer management solutions such as HEAT and GoldMine, we have partnered with Microsoft to develop a fully integrated suite of enterprise-level business applications, based on a common .NET foundation.
So why is this approach the 'real deal' and not another false dawn? In short, because like all successful new technologies it can deliver against identified and substantiated market need.
Working on tight IT budgets, the SME and distributed enterprise market unashamedly demands scalable, flexible solutions which are affordable both in terms of initial purchase and ongoing management. And, with no intention of throwing away hard-earned investment in existing infrastructure, they must be capable of integrating with established CRM, logistics and contact management systems.
FrontRange's response has been to create what is, in effect, a technology eco-system running on a common Microsoft platform, which can readily integrate with any existing IT architecture. Sitting on this are individual ITIL best practice-certified applications such as Infrastructure Management and IT Service Management, which link telephony and business applications and whose modular approach enables users to start small and grow in line with their evolving needs.
In the fight for budget, internal efficiencies have almost invariably won over external service quality. Such an iniquitous choice can now be consigned to history.
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