IMA announces EDGE 3.7.SHELTON, Conn.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 14, 1997-- New version of leading call center solution builds on computer-telephony integration (CTI (Computer Telephone Integration) Combining data with voice systems in order to enhance telephone services. For example, automatic number identification (ANI) allows a caller's records to be retrieved from the database while the call is routed to the appropriate party. ) strengths, provides rich feature set for improving customer relationship management Information Management Associates, Inc. (IMA (Interactive Multimedia Association, Annapolis, MD) An earlier trade association founded in 1988 originally as the Interactive Video Industry Association. It provided an open process for adopting existing technologies and was involved in subjects such as networked services, scripting ) - The Customer Interaction Software Company - announced today at the Call Centre Solutions trade show in Amsterdam its EDGE(R) TeleBusiness(R) Software System, version 3.7, will be released in June. EDGE is IMA's development environment for building enterprise-level sales, marketing, telemarketing and customer service applications. The new version of EDGE delivers expanded CTI gateways and interfaces to leading telephony products, simplified application development, and improved flexibility, allowing businesses to better manage relationships, increase sales, and build customer loyalty through their call centers. EDGE business applications are constructed by linking together component objects in a building block approach to enable the user to perform functions required in a call center ranging from simple individual tasks to complex business processes. "With EDGE 3.7, users get open, state-of-the-art client/server technology that can help generate immediate results from their call center - effective customer service, increased telesales productivity, improved information access - what IMA calls Total Customer Management" said Al Subbloie, IMA's 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. . "The automated call center now becomes a mission-critical component of a business's strategic plan, and a direct contributor to the bottom line". EDGE 3.7 combines a number of new features that lets end-users create powerful, feature-rich customer interaction applications based on an open, distributed, three-tier client/server A three-way interaction in a client/server environment, in which the user interface is stored in the client, the bulk of the business application logic is stored in one or more servers, and the data are stored in a database server. See client/server. architecture that allows for the distinct separation of presentation, application and database layers. This architecture provides the system performance and scalability that is critical for mid-size and large-scale call centers and permits hardware, relational database and operating system independence. The new version leverages and expands EDGE's already robust CTI integration capabilities. "IMA's expertise in computer-telephony integration has been instrumental in its success, and they're building on that strength" said Chris Pavlic, senior research analyst at Aberdeen Group. "CTI continues to grow in acceptance and importance among users." Highlights of EDGE 3.7 include: -- Tight integration with Hewlett-Packard's Customer Contact Manager (CCM CCM Contemporary Christian Music CCM Critical Care Medicine CCM County College of Morris (New Jersey) CCM Chama Cha Mapinduzi (political party, Tanzania) CCM CORBA Component Model ) middleware. Users will be able to build tailored EDGE customer-service applications and execute standard computer-telephony-integration functions from within these applications, such as dial, call transfer or call- conference. CCM will carry out these actions by bridging the applications to a broad range of automatic call distributors (ACDs), telephone switches and interactive voice response units (IVRs). -- Support of Novell's popular TSAPI (Telephony Services API) A telephony programming interface from Novell and AT&T. Based on the international CSTA standard, TSAPI is designed to interface a telephone PBX with a NetWare server to provide interoperability between PCs and telephone equipment. middleware standard, allowing full-featured integration of EDGE with PBXs from a wide range of vendors, such as Ericsson, Lucent Definity, Nortel and Siemens HICOM HiCom High Commissioner HICOM High Command HICOM US Navy High Command Communications Network HICOM High Technology Communication . -- A direct telephony gateway to Aspect Telecommunication's Application Bridge, providing standard and advanced telephony functions in EDGE when using Aspect PBX/ACD equipment, such as ANI, DNIS (Dialed Number Identification Service) A service that enables a company to identify which telephone number was dialed. A PBX often receives calls on the same port that were dialed to different 800 or 900 numbers, and the DNIS data contains the dialed number so , call/data transfer, and call conferencing. The gateway eliminates the need for third party middleware in the Aspect environment. -- The new IVR (Interactive Voice Response) An automated telephone information system that speaks to the caller with a combination of fixed voice menus and data extracted from databases in real time. Link provides a mechanism for streamlining the use of EDGE with a variety of IVR systems. By publishing an API library, IMA has allowed users and IVR vendors to easily combine disparate IVR systems with an EDGE application. -- IMA's MQ Link module offers increased legacy system support via a tight integration to IBM's MQSeries product, allowing EDGE to exchange information across heterogeneous host systems in an environment transparent to the end user. MQSeries offers built-in communications protocols that simplify programming and utilize robust messaging functionality spanning diverse operating system platforms. About EDGE: IMA's EDGE customer interaction solution currently supports Windows 3.X, Windows 95, Windows NT workstation clients, a wide variety of UNIX UNIX Operating system for digital computers, developed by Ken Thompson of Bell Laboratories in 1969. It was initially designed for a single user (the name was a pun on the earlier operating system Multics). platforms, and Oracle, Informix and Sybase relational databases. IMA has also announced plans to provide server support for Windows NT and database support for Microsoft SQL Server A relational DBMS from Microsoft that is a major component of the Windows Server System. It is Microsoft's high-end client/server database and is closely integrated with Microsoft Visual Studio and the Microsoft Office System. . The EDGE client component offers various integration options for linking to other desktop applications such as DDE (Dynamic Data Exchange) A message protocol in Windows that allows application programs to request and exchange data between them automatically. DDE - Dynamic Data Exchange , DLL (1) See data link layer. (2) (Dynamic Link Library) An executable program module in Windows that performs one or more functions at runtime. DLLs are not launched by the user; they are called for by an executable program or by other DLLs. , etc. IMA has developed, and will soon be releasing, call center products that support the Internet and corporate-based intranets through Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser, Netscape's Navigator browser, Sun's Java and JavaScript, as well as Active X. About IMA: IMA is a global leader in providing comprehensive software solutions designed to enhance the quality of each interaction a business has with its customers. The company's EDGE(R) TeleBusiness(R) Software System is a suite of client/server applications and tools that help organizations maximize the potential of customer relationship activities - telemarketing, telesales, account management and customer service and customer support on an enterprise-wide basis. IMA also offers a full range of professional consulting, technical support and maintenance services. IMA solutions have been licensed to over 175 corporations worldwide, including: Bank of New Zealand Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) is one of New Zealand's largest banks. The first branch opened in Dunedin on 2 December 1861. BNZ is now owned by National Australia Bank. For a large part of New Zealand's history the banking industry was divided between Trading and Savings Banks. , The Anserphone System, FHP fhp or f.hp. abbr. friction horsepower , Inc. and NationsBank. IMA has over 220 employees, with headquarters in Shelton, Conn., and offices worldwide. More information about IMA products and services can be found on the World Wide Web at: www.ima-inc.com -0- EDGE and TeleBusiness are registered trademarks of IMA, Inc. Other products and company names herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. CONTACT: IMA Bob Ventresca (203) 925-6878 bobv@ima-inc.com or Corry Consulting Kathy Corry (401) 849-2396 corryk@ima-inc.com or GS Schwartz & Co. Inc. Langdon Cook/David King (212) 725-4500 lcook@schwartz.com |
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