Answers.com Signs Agreement to Provide Online Customer Support to GE Plastics.Business Editors PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2000 Answers.com Inc. and GE Plastics today announced the signing of an agreement under which Answers.com will provide online customer support for GE Plastics. The agreement was finalized See finalization. following the successful completion of a beta test A test of new or revised hardware or software that is performed by users at their facilities under normal operating conditions. Beta testing follows alpha testing. Vendors of packaged software often offer their customers the opportunity of beta testing new releases or versions, and the started earlier this year. Under a separate master service agreement that was also signed, Answers.com will have an opportunity to work with other GE divisions. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed. As part of the beta test, Answers.com developed the functionality that allows visitors to GE Plastics Web sites (www.geplastics.com/resins and www.askEdison.com) to ask questions about GE Plastics in "plain English Plain English (sometimes known, more broadly, as plain language) is a communication style that focuses on considering the audience's needs when writing. It recommends avoiding unnecessary words and avoiding jargon, technical terms, and long and ambiguous sentences. ." To ask a question, site visitors simply use the new "askEdison" feature, distinguishable by an icon placed throughout the Web site. Immediate responses provide links to relevant information. If no satisfactory response is delivered, site visitors can escalate their question to an e-Technical representative using live chat, send an e-mail to askEdison or search the Web. "GE Plastics selected Answers.com because of its technology, scalability and ability to customize to our requirements," said Gerry Podesta podesta (Italian: “power”) In medieval Italian communes, the highest judicial and military magistrate. The office was instituted by Frederick I Barbarossa in an attempt to govern rebellious Lombard cities. , General Manager of e-Business for GE Plastics. "AskEdison vastly improves the speed at which our customers get answers and information from our Web site. Giving them a good experience each time they visit us online is critical -- and askEdison really helps make that happen." Bill Fogg, Answers.com 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. , said, "This agreement acknowledges the growth and importance of Web-based customer support and the uniqueness of Answers.com's approach. We share GE Plastics' commitment to innovation in the field of online customer support. We believe our solution is a major improvement for companies of all sizes that need to cost-efficiently respond to customer inquiries. Based on our conversations with both GE and other companies with online customer service priorities, we're certain the market demand for our product is strong." Answers.com's technology is one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways for businesses to answer customer questions through its proprietary Answer Retrieval Technology(TM) and AnswerBase(TM). Questions can also be escalated to a company's customer support experts for a personal response, which is then added to the AnswerBase for future inquiries. GE has made it a priority to migrate its traditional "brick and mortar See bricks and mortar. " businesses to new e-business models. In 1999, e-Business became an official GE initiative, joining Six Sigma Not to be confused with Sigma 6. Six Sigma is a set of practices originally developed by Motorola to systematically improve processes by eliminating defects.[1] A defect is defined as nonconformity of a product or service to its specifications. , Globalization globalization Process by which the experience of everyday life, marked by the diffusion of commodities and ideas, is becoming standardized around the world. Factors that have contributed to globalization include increasingly sophisticated communications and transportation and Services as the key growth strategies for the company. In its first year, GE's e-business initiative yielded more than $1 billion in online sales. For 2000, the company's e-Business strategic direction is three-fold: ensure that every GE business has a Customer Web Center offering the highest quality service, sales and support online; migrate internal procurement and supplier resources to the Web to take advantage of increased productivity and cost savings; and ongoing development of new technologies and services that will contribute to online sales growth. 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. GE Plastics GE is a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with a commitment to achieving customer success and worldwide leadership in each of its businesses. GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs nearly 340,000 people worldwide. 1999 revenues were $112 billion. GE Plastics is a world leader in versatile, high-performance engineered plastics used in the computer, electronics, data storage, office equipment, automotive, building and construction, and other industries. GE Plastics components include GE Silicones, GE Superabrasives, GE Electromaterials, GE Specialty Chemicals A Specialty chemical is a chemical produced for a specialized use. They are produced in lower volume than bulk chemicals, of which petrochemicals, made from oil feedstocks, are the most common. However, both are produced in a chemical plant. and GE Polymerland. |
|
||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion