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Companies that supply solutions that help other companies improve the experience their customers have in their interactions with them have not been slow to innovate and continually bring new products to market. This week was a prime example of that. TMCnet editors discovered a number of new offerings designed to improve customer experience management efforts.

One of those discoveries was made by TMCnet Contributing Editor Rahul Arora who reported that Crunch.co.uk, an online accountancy firm, announced the addition of a Skype button to its website, which it says will provide not only free calls, but accountancy advice for its UK SME and freelance customers who use any online device with Skype access.  

Nokia Siemens Networks (News - Alert) has also introduced a solution designed to enhance the customer experience. TMCnet Contributor Raju Shanbhag reported that the company has launched a Facebook (News - Alert) app designed to help Facebook users in the management of their personal telecom services, and enhance its range of self-care portals . The new app is said to allow customers to check their account balances, browse and make purchases on special offers, as well as make recommendations to friends.

TMCnet’s Executive Editor Paula Bernier (News - Alert) reported on a new market offering that claims to put “a pretty face on customer service.” The company behind this is Hold-Free Networks, which Bernier said launched SaaS (News - Alert)-based services that allow customers to “tap into mobile applications from the businesses they want to reach and input personal data with one or two clicks.”

This action will result in them getting a return screen pop alerting them on their mobile devices to a timeframe when they can expect a connection with a live agent who already has their personal information, and spares them the frustration of waiting on hold as well, the article explained.

Meanwhile, TMCnet editors reported on customer-facing entities that have selected solutions to enhance their customer experience management efforts. One of them is Miami University, which TMCnet Contributing Editor Raju Shanbhag reported chose Oracle CRM Demand to help transform its legacy admissions system which had become outdated. With this new solution from Oracle, the article said the University of Miami hopes to be able to improve upon its student recruitment efforts while also better addressing its growing communication needs.

Another customer-facing entity that has selected a solution to provide better customer experiences is JT, a provider of voice and data, consultancy, co-location, Internet, security, mobile and support services and is said to be “widely recognized as the largest provider of data hosting services within the Channel Islands.” A report from TMCnet Contributing Editor Rajani Baburajan said JT chose a solution called Comverse (News - Alert) ONE Billing and Active Customer Management from BSS, mobile Internet and value-added services provider Comverse.

Baburajan quoted Dave Newbold, chief operations and technology officer at JT, as saying, "We operate in a highly competitive marketplace, and continually look to improve our products and services to satisfy our customers' requirements. To do this, JT needed to move to a converged billing and CRM solution that would support our growth ambitions.”

One final note, it was reported this week by TMCnet Contributing Editor Deepika Mala that Amdocs, provider of customer experience systems, has signed a reseller agreement with Aternity Inc., to sell Aternity’s Frontline Performance Intelligence Platform.

As always, TMCnet editors will continue to bring you the latest news on the customer experience management front throughout the coming week. If you miss any of it, you can catch up at week’s end with our Customer Experience Management Week in Review article.