Data mining--the proprietary approach. (New Products).

You can make use of your customer data in any number of ways. Harte-Hanks Inc. suggests a proprietary approach with its new M/CIS (Multi-Channel Information System) program.

Like many competing data analysis programs, the Harte-Hanks system allows you to track customer activity, analyze the data and develop a variety of responses through several media--e-mail, direct mail, telephone and others. Users can create new data fields "on the fly" and add them to the database quickly.

The system generates a "comprehensive view of each customer relationship, revealing important cross-selling and prospecting opportunities that can be planned for readily using a campaign management tool," the company says.

The real advantage to its system, HarteHanks officials say, is that its proprietary nature offers quicker implementations, query and processing speeds than similar open-source programs. And the new software works well with Harte-Hanks's existing customer data management systems and promotes increased efficiency in customer communication, the company says. In addition to offering support for multiple channels, the software also supports multiple list files, multiple versions, improved reporting and the ability to incorporate contact preferences.

"We are helping companies realize significant savings on marketing expenditures by helping them get the right message to the right audience through the most appropriate vehicle," says Spencer Joyner, HarteHanks group president for software and systems integration. "M/CIS represents our most advanced experience in data-driven marketing to date."

The system's "inverted" database structure permits users to access only the information they need in order to respond to a query, which significantly boosts processing speeds, Joyner says. Data can also be integrated with that of other ODBC-compliant third-party software. Information can also be shared throughout the organization because data can run on multiple operating systems.

The software is available as a host, an installed application or through an application service provider. Price varies depending on, among other factors, the size of your database. www.harte-hanks.com