!hey inc. and Answers.com Partner to Provide a Unique Customer Interaction Solution for Live and Self-Service Help Over the Web.Business/Technology Editors NORTH ANDOVER North Andover (ăn`dōvər), town (1990 pop. 22,792), Essex co., NE Mass., on the Merrimack River, in a dairy and farm area; settled c.1644, set off from Andover and inc. 1855. , Mass. & PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 10, 2000 !hey inc., the premier provider of customer engagement solutions and Answers.com, a provider of online customer service tools, today announced a joint marketing agreement that allows companies to implement Web self-help with the ability to escalate to reactive text chat when a self-service answer is unavailable or insufficient. This unique customer support solution enables businesses to quickly, accurately and cost-effectively answer online customer questions. The integrated solution is currently available from both !hey inc. and Answers.com and can be seen at the CRM (Customer Relationship Management) An integrated information system that is used to plan, schedule and control the presales and postsales activities in an organization. Support Services support services Psychology Non-health care-related ancillary services–eg, transportation, financial aid, support groups, homemaker services, respite services, and other services Expo in San Francisco San Francisco (săn frănsĭs`kō), city (1990 pop. 723,959), coextensive with San Francisco co., W Calif., on the tip of a peninsula between the Pacific Ocean and San Francisco Bay, which are connected by the strait known as the Golden on Oct. 24-26, 2000. "E-businesses today are seeking a customer support solution that allows them to provide their customers with immediate assistance while optimizing both their technology and human resources The fancy word for "people." The human resources department within an organization, years ago known as the "personnel department," manages the administrative aspects of the employees. ," said Kirsten Cloninger, e-commerce analyst for Cahners In-Stat Group. "The combination of !hey and Answers.com brings together the strengths of live and self-service help, resulting in a unique solution that gives businesses the ability to immediately and cost effectively respond to customer requests." The combined solution allows companies to offer their customers real-time answers to questions. Customers type in a question that is immediately answered by a dynamic, automatic question and answer knowledge base. If the answer does not satisfy the customer, or if no answer is available in the knowledge base, the customer is offered the option of engaging a service representative in real-time chat. "We chose to work with Answers.com because its scalable, flexible self-help Web product, combined with our customer engagement technology, produced a powerful integrated support solution," said Duncan Mackay Duncan MacKay (born 14 July 1937 in Glasgow) was a Scottish footballer who played for Celtic, Third Lanark, Melbourne Croatia, Perth Azzurri and the Scotland national team. Mackay turned professional when he joined Celtic from Maryhill Harp aged 17 in 1955. , president and CEO (1) (Chief Executive Officer) The highest individual in command of an organization. Typically the president of the company, the CEO reports to the Chairman of the Board. of !hey. "Businesses using our blended products will be able to offer their customers live and self-service options while making the most of their resources." "This agreement recognizes the growing importance of Web-based customer support," said Bill Fogg, CEO, Answers.com. "We share !hey's commitment to innovation in the field of online customer support and believe our combined solution is a major improvement for companies of all sizes that need to cost efficiently respond to customer inquiries." The current version of !heycentersm, !hey's Web-hosted customer engagement solution, features automated Q&A functionality from Answers.com and includes a new design center. The design center is a browser-based interface that allows businesses to configure, customize, and manage their customer engagement solution through Web-based forms. !heycenter's customer facing features for its chat offering are customizable for branding purposes so that a company's chat solutions can integrate seamlessly with the look and feel of its Web site. About Answers.com Answers.com (www.answers.com) is a provider of online customer service tools that help businesses of all sizes manage inquiry volume, minimize costs and maximize customer satisfaction. Established in 1996 by idealab!, Answers.com was recently acquired and relaunched by Net Shepherd, Inc. (www.netshepherd.com) to target the business-to-business market. NSI See Network Solutions. NSI - Network Solutions, Inc. is traded on the Canadian Venture Exchange The Canadian Venture Exchange (CDNX) is now a defunct stock exchange having been acquired by the TSX Group in 2001 and renamed the TSX Venture Exchange. History of the Canadian Venture Exchange (CDNX) under the symbol WEB. About !hey inc. !hey inc. (!hey) helps businesses proactively identify, acquire, service, and retain customers through personalized communication. !hey offers a unified customer interaction solution that allows companies to communicate with customers through all communication channels--Web, voice and e-mail--including applications for proactive and on-request chat, interactive voice response, networked voice, inbound and outbound e-mail routing and management, and dynamic FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) A group of commonly asked questions about a subject along with the answers. Vendors often display them on their Web sites for use as troubleshooting guidelines. . !hey's e-service applications are available both as customizable enterprise products and as a subscription-based hosted service. Beyond software, !hey offers NetRep(TM) resources, live customer service agents with expertise in online customer behavior and sales, who can monitor customer traffic on a Web site and initiate conversations with customers to provide proactive assistance. !hey's current customers span a wide range of industries, including technology, retail, travel, entertainment, real estate, financial services The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please [ improve this article] or discuss the issue on the talk page. and business-to-business markets. Customers include Microsoft, American Airlines, Cyberstateu.com, Knology, Inc., Network Associates, Bizfon, Supportgate.com, isolve.com and other leading companies. !hey is a founding member of the Personalization Consortium, an international advocacy group formed to promote the development and use of responsible one-to-one marketing technology and practices on the World Wide Web. The company merged with icontact.com in September 2000, and is headquartered in North Andover, Massachusetts North Andover is a town in Essex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 27,202 at the 2000 census. History North Andover was first settled in 1646 and was officially incorporated in 1855. , with locations in Fairfield, Connecticut and Chicago, Illinois, and satellite sales offices in California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , North Carolina North Carolina, state in the SE United States. It is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean (E), South Carolina and Georgia (S), Tennessee (W), and Virginia (N). Facts and Figures Area, 52,586 sq mi (136,198 sq km). Pop. , Texas, and Washington state. Telcom-Internet Investors, L.L.C., a subsidiary of Telcom Ventures, L.L.C., The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc., eCOM Partners, L.L.C. and Broadband Ventures are corporate investors. For more information about !hey, visit www.heyinc.com. !hey is a trademark of !hey inc. !heycenter is a service mark of !hey inc. All other products and services are the trademarks of their respective owners. icontact and NetReps are trademarks of icontact.com. |
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