TMCnews Featured Article

Lagan Express, KANA's Customer Service Software Platform, Specifically Geared to Public Sector

By Susan J. Campbell, TMCnet Contributing Editor

KANA, a company well-known for its excellence in customer service software, recently released Lagan Express to help medium-sized government entities better serve their customer bases. Not long ago, the company was cited in Gartner’s (News - Alert) Magic Quadrant for Social CRM, earning it the title Niche Player.

Lagan Express, a software-as-a-service (SaaS) program, was showcased at the 98^th Conference of the International City/County Management Association that took place earlier this month in Phoenix, Arizona. Because the program operates on a SaaS (News - Alert) basis, it can be quickly deployed in as little as 8 to 12 weeks. The other advantage of this model, according to this CMS Wire article, is the fact that after the initial start-up fee is paid, it’s only necessary to pay for services used so there’s less waste.

The customer service software seamlessly integrates communications from constituents originating from various channels such as virtual agents, self-service apps, Web chat, social networks, email, and phone calls. These various communication pathways are then assimilated into one platform, eliminating the need to toggle back and forth between systems.

According to David Moody, who directs the product strategy division for KANA’s Public Sector, Lagan Express was specifically designed with government entities in mind. The customer service software has the capability to accommodate thousands of users at one time and can process transactions into the hundreds of thousands daily.

Unlike other customer service software providers, Lagan Express allows agents to easily pull any needed information from its Knowledgebase, which helps ensure quick and reliable service delivery to inquiries from all channels, no matter the source. The platform is unique in that it offers the ability to examine information about the interaction within context, so information like customer value and previous purchase history is available right at the agent’s fingertips.

The Knowledgebase is also sophisticated enough to incorporate relevant information from previous self-service exchanges, e-mail conversations, and chat sessions for a richer experience. KANA also created several application programming interfaces (APIs) that can layer on top of Lagan Express and will mesh with organizational systems such as CRM and accounting, which are already in place.

Lagan Express can be implemented as either the Agent Experience platform or the Web Experience platform. Additionally, the two packages can also be employed together. Agent Experience has features specifically tailored to managing and documenting two-way communications conducted via phone, e-mail, regular mail, and fax. Web Experience, on the other hand, incorporates Internet options conducive for Web self-service, real-time chat, and interactions with virtual agents.

KANA also recently unveiled its Web Customer Service platform. With features like built-in escalation routes and just-in-time contextual information, the program is aimed at reducing the need to route calls to live call center agents, which is more expensive. The company’s customer service software offerings also include platforms that complement mobile apps (Mobile Experience) and those that are geared toward social media (Social Experience).




Edited by Stefanie Mosca