Siebel’s Pre-Oracle Plan
BOSTON — Siebel CEO George Shaheen was on the job just five months when Oracle CEO Larry Ellison made a Godfather offer. The decision to accept the $5.85 billion bid was an easy one, but Shaheen can’t help wonder what…
Colin C.
Siebel CEO: No Slowing Down
BOSTON — Siebel Systems’ days as a standalone company may be numbered, but its days as a customer relationship management innovator are not. That was the message CEO George T. Shaheen delivered to 4,000 attendees of Siebel CustomerWorld, the first…
SAP to Build Home Depot’s IT Foundation
BOSTON — Home Depot , which until recently ran on a “stack ’em high and let ’em fly” mentality, will reshape its IT operations with the help of SAP . The pact between the world’s third-largest retailer and third-largest software…
BT to Pipe Customer Calls Through VoIP
BT will stick with its longtime telecom equipment vendor Nortel when it shifts its U.K. and Indian call centers to Voice over IP technology. The London carrier will phase in Nortel Centrex IP ACD (Automatic Call Distribution) systems over the…
BT Makes ‘Contact’ With VoIP
To improve customer service and save money, BT is having Nortel bring Voice over IP to its U.K. call centers. The $5 million contract is one of the largest deployments of a VoIP-based “virtual contact center” in Europe, the companies…
PeopleSoft Forecasts Earnings Dip
PeopleSoft warned that it will miss second-quarter financial targets, citing the strain of fighting off Oracle’s hostile takeover bid. “Although we have been able to meet or exceed our financial projections since Oracle launched their hostile tender offer more than…
Siebel Sees ‘Tech Refresh’ in Banking
Betting on a “technology refresh” in the banking sector, business applications provider Siebel Systems on Tuesday said it has bought Eontec for $70 million cash. Another $60 million could be added to the purchase price if Eontec hits revenue, product…
Level 3: Use VoIP for Toll-Free
Wholesale communications provider Level 3 launched a new service Tuesday that lets businesses use Voice-over-IP technology to handle calls to their toll-free numbers. The new service, dubbed “VoIP Toll Free” promises to cut costs for companies and is being marketed…
Novell Strives to Improve Customer Service
Adding to its IT customer list, enterprise software provider Kanisa has signed network software specialist Novell as a customer. The license deal includes Kanisa’s Support Center and Support Site products, which will help Novell’s 500 call center agents and millions…
2Wire Touts Customer Service
Most IT firms view customer service as a necessary, but expensive, part of doing business and are happy to outsource. Not 2Wire. Three years ago, the company had five representatives working out of its San Jose, Calif., headquarters handling calls…