Michael Caton

When full-service infomercial service provider ITV Direct was looking for a way to turn inbound calls into sales, it turned to Interactive Intelligences Customer Interaction Center. Since 2000, ITV Direct has grown from a small four-person call center located in rented space above a garage to a 300-employee company that films and distributes infomercials, as […]

Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 is a far cry from Exchange Server 2003, based on eWEEK Labs tests of the first public beta of the new messaging platform. Click here to read the full review of Microsoft Exchange Server 2007. 2 Microsoft Exchange Server 2007 is a far cry from Exchange Server 2003, based on eWEEK […]

One reason often given for failed customer relationship management projects is that salespeople prefer to do most of their work through their e-mail clients. Two CRM products that work closely with e-mail—BizAutomation.coms BizAutomation CRM + Business Management and Avidian Technologies Prophet 3.0 Enterprise—could bridge that gap. BizAutomation runs on top of Microsoft Exchange and presents […]

Prophet 3.0 Enterprise isnt a full CRM system; rather, its core functionality is SFA (sales force automation), with some integrated e-mail marketing tools. The product doesnt have a built-in dedicated support module, although companies can finesse some customer support functionality through the use of custom tabs and fields. The best way to think of Prophet […]

As a Web-based application, BizAutomation doesnt integrate as tightly at the client level as Prophet 3.0 Enterprise does. However, BizAutomation runs on an Exchange server and captures e-mail traffic between sales and support staff and customers to help log and retain communications. From the user perspective, Biz-Automation appears as a top-level folder within the Outlook […]

Companies looking for a relatively affordable way to test the Webcasting waters will find VBrick Systems VBCorpCast appliance a straightforward tool for delivering interactive corporate communications. The $5,495 VBCorpCast combines a small appliance with a Sony Handycam DCR-HC36 video camera and the VBPresenter Microsoft PowerPoint add-in as a way to deliver presentations with streaming video […]

The QMind Design Collaboration Platform does a good job of managing content in a way that makes it easy for teams to create, review, and publish training or marketing content. Click here to read the full review of the QMind Design Collaboration Platform. 2 The QMind Design Collaboration Platform does a good job of managing […]

At the TechEd conference June 11-16, Microsoft provided IT administrators and developers with a more comprehensive look at some of its forthcoming products and technologies. Its easy to get distracted by the broad curriculum at TechEd, so, with limited time, I decided to focus on Exchange Server 2007. I took in two Exchange sessions—one on […]

Word is Google is working on a new service that will deliver a round object with two flat sides that will be the be-all, end-all for moving people and objects. Initial tests reveal a substantial uneven section, but the product is in beta, so some inconvenience for the user can be expected. Google has not […]

For many users, Office 2007 will present an opportunity to work more collaboratively than they ever have before because of the ease with which they will be able to share documents and manage document workflow. eWEEK Labs tests of Office 2007 Beta 2 show that Microsoft has addressed information sharing in a way that can […]