Commments?
MCI Systemhouse and Chordiant Software Team to Create 'Customer
Interaction Solutions'
Joint Offerings Will Target MCI Strategic Accounts in Financial Services, Telecom,
and Integrated Travel Industries With
Powerful Customer Interaction Solutions
ATLANTA, Feb. 24 /PRNewswire/ -- In a move with dramatic implications for the
$5.5 billion call center market, MCI Systemhouse, MCI's global
information technology company, and Chordiant Software, Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif.,
today announced a complete set of sophisticated, next-generation
customer interaction solutions for Fortune 1000 companies whose customer
communications require a broad array of highly personalized transactions.
Under terms of an agreement announced today, MCI Systemhouse and Chordiant will
team up to deliver a family of powerful, high-end solutions for MCI
strategic accounts in commercial, regulated and government sectors, and including
financial services, telecom, banking and integrated travel industries. The
agreement also provides significant cross-selling opportunities for the two companies,
as each agreed to make the other its ''preferred solutions provider'' of
products and services to its customers in the enterprise call center market.
Called Customer Interaction Solutions, the MCI Systemhouse-Chordiant product suite
will include a complete set of applications, telephony and legacy
technology, services and implementation expertise. For the first time, consumer-based
companies will have a single source to help them create a dynamic,
personalized customer interface to manage all customer transactions and business
processes across the enterprise. For consumers, the key benefit is they will
finally be able to conduct any business, using any ''touch point'' -- telephone, fax,
e-mail, the World Wide Web, or standalone kiosks.
The two companies have teamed on multiple key accounts and today announced their
latest customer. Toronto, Canada-based Canadian Tire Acceptance
Limited (CTAL), the financial services division of the largest hard goods retailer in
Canada, CAN$4 billion Canadian Tire Corporation, Ltd., has chosen MCI
Systemhouse-Chordiant for its next-generation Customer Interaction Solutions.
''The rapid growth of call centers and related technologies has at times made electronic
inquiries and transactions an extremely complex process for
consumers,'' said Scott Ross, president and chief operating officer for MCI
Systemhouse. ''We believe that's about to change, as a result of today's
announcement.''
''This agreement with MCI Systemhouse allows Chordiant to work with a top- tier
player to accelerate the market,'' said Carol L. Realini, president and CEO
of Chordiant Software. ''We reached this point because both MCI Systemhouse and
Chordiant have seen the excitement and interest enterprise customers
have for these solutions. This partnership confirms the market opportunity and the
value of the Chordiant application to enterprises in consumer-based
businesses.''
Key elements of the Customer Interaction Solutions will include:
1. Chordiant CCS -- Enterprise-wide customer information system software
applications for customer service representatives, consumer self-help, business
analysts and operations management based on Chordiant's CCS-Customer
Communications Solution(TM).
2. MCI Systemhouse Consulting & Integration -- Integration of the call center (front
office) operations with back office transaction and fulfillment systems.
3. MCI Telephony & Networking -- Support for a wide variety of customer access
mechanisms, including the telephone, Internet, e-mail, fax and kiosk, and
support for major on-premise and network-based computer telephony integration
solutions.
4. MCI Systemhouse Business Intelligence Software -- Integrated, real-time support
for customer loyalty, retention and promotion programs using advanced
customer data warehousing techniques.
5. MCI Call Center Services-- Professional services covering all aspects of call center
design, telephony and computer integration, systems integration,
Internet enablement and call center productivity consulting.
The new offerings will make it possible for corporations to respond to several major
business trends of the 1990s -- the need to build customer brand loyalty;
the need to better manage all customer interactions; and the desire of customers to
have multiple access points to useful information that directly affects their
lives.
''Corporate America turns over a large percentage of its account base every five years,
so there is a very real need to find better ways to reach and retain high
value consumers who want personalized, high-touch service combined with high-tech
efficiency,'' Ross said.
The MCI Systemhouse-Chordiant agreement contains a number of key provisions,
including an MCI Systemhouse plan to train more than 200 additional
consultants on Chordiant's CCS-Customer Communications Solutions software, the
call center industry's most sophisticated application environment for
managing enterprise-wide customer interactions.
The two companies will establish a joint ''software factory'' to produce the Customer
Interaction Solutions, documentation and training materials. MCI
Systemhouse will create ''Centers of Excellence'' at MCI Executive Briefing Centers to
demonstrate how the Customer Interaction Solutions apply best
practices for handling customer relationships. MCI Systemhouse will also implement
Chordiant software in its own internal call centers, which serve companies
nationwide.
Finally, the two companies will undertake market awareness and industry specific
marketing campaigns based around the Customer Interaction Solutions
brand.
About Chordiant Software
The premier provider of next-generation call center software for customer- focused
enterprises, Chordiant Software, Inc. is dedicated to empowering its
customers to leverage their call centers to achieve competitive advantage. Its flagship
software product, CCS-Customer Communications Solution, transforms
a traditional call center into an Enterprise Business Center(TM), which allows
companies to respond quickly to business changes, and to enforce best practices
for customer interactions enterprise-wide.
About MCI Systemhouse
MCI Systemhouse, MCI's global information technology company, is the industry's
only single-source provider of convergence products and services that
address businesses' total networking, communications and consulting needs. With 120
offices and approximately 8,500 professionals worldwide, MCI
Systemhouse is preparing major corporate, mid-sized and public sector clients in
North and South America, Europe and Asia with enterprise solutions for the
new millennium.
TRADEMARKS: CCS-Customer Communications Solution and Enterprise Business
Center are trademarks of Chordiant Software, Inc.
SOURCE: MCI Communications Corp.
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