iQ MAGAZINE

"Integration with customer-relationship management [CRM] is one of the 'killer apps' for VoIP," says Gary Chen, an analyst at Yankee Group. "For many SMBs, it can be the driving force in the decision to transition from a traditional PBX system to an IP call center."

Chen is talking about Cisco Unified CRM Connector 3.0, an application that integrates Cisco Unified Communications products with Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0. The integration produces what many software vendors talk about but few have achieved: the ability to create a complete, 360-degree view of the customer.

Going Full Circle: The 360-Degree View

Basically, CRM software collects, organizes, analyzes, and disseminates information about customers, including

• Purchases and returns
• Buying habits and other behaviors
• The products they own
• The newer products they're likely to buy
• Service contracts

The call center, and any other point of customer contact, serves as a real-time interface to each customer. Uniting the IP call center with the CRM application can provide a large step forward in terms of managing, and reaping maximum advantage from, the entire customer experience.

For example, if a customer calls to complain about a missed product delivery, a customer-service representative can immediately access information that will help provide a solution.

The call center can be a mechanism for reaching out to "opt-in" customers by telling them about special promotions, inviting them to events, asking for their opinions, and more. Your IP network lets your company integrate customer data and communicate intelligently and appropriately.

"The customer experience represents all of an individual customer's interactions with a company and its brand over time," according to Peppers & Rogers Group, a consulting firm that focuses on customer-based business strategies. "Customers view a company as a single entity, not as a collection of departments or offices."

You should view the customer the same way. If a customer returned a product a week ago and now is unhappy with its replacement, the customer-service agent should know the circumstances. Integration between CRM and VoIP makes a positive outcome more likely.

Levels of Integration

CRM-VoIP integration can be challenging, depending on the cost and complexity of the technology solutions used. "CRM integration brings up technical challenges, particularly in the interfaces, that have kept them apart for SMBs," says Ray Boggs, SMB research vice president at IDC.

You can integrate CRM by using industry standards such as TAPI, XML, and, for Web-based CRM, HTML, according to Scott Klink, a senior consultant for Boice.net. But he says the depth and quality of the integration can vary.

That's why the partnership between Cisco and Microsoft is significant. Cisco Unified CRM Connector 3.0 tightly integrates Microsoft's CRM product with Cisco Unified Communications products, including Cisco Unified Communication Manager. Service agents have complete customer information on their screens at the moment the customer calls.

The integration adds other valuable functions as well.

• Service agents get quick access to complete product catalogs and customer histories.
• Escalation processes can use CRM workflow automation for complex queries.
• Role-based routing lets the customer-service system populate the service agent's screen based on the agent's specific role.

Tangible Benefits

The CRM database maintains up-to-the-minute records of all customer contact, inside and outside of the call center. This feature is especially helpful to a company like Sunset Learning Institute, which does Web-based training, onsite training, and classroom training throughout the United States.

"Every touchpoint is a customer touchpoint, and every instructor is a customer-relationship manager," according to CEO Rick Morgan.

Another company, GreenStone Farm Credit Services, uses Cisco Unified Communication Manager and integrated Microsoft CRM to consolidate customer service despite multiple mergers that left the company with disparate phone systems and customer databases. The 400-employee company, which specializes in agricultural loans, insurance, and financial services for 17,000 customers in Michigan and Wisconsin, wanted to keep its local feel for customer service, even as it grows.

So far, the combination of its VoIP implementation and CRM-based retail applications system has helped GreenStone reduce loan application processing times by 50% and query response times by 70%.

GreenStone anticipates a full ROI within eight months based on reduced telephony costs (employee moves and changes, long-distance telephone lines, and anticipated telephone upgrades), according to Dominic Roberts, vice president of information services.

Better yet, he says, "We're now able to grow our business, cut costs, and handle more customers in our traditional business segments with roughly the same size staff."

About the Author

Jim Buchanan contributes to publications by BritishTelecom, SAP, and others on topics ranging from CRM to snowboards.

Back to Top

iQ Magazine, Third Quarter 2006