Sony Online Entertainment Plays Well With Kana
Since deploying the customer relationship management (CRM) solutions from Kana Communications, Inc. a year ago, Sony Online Entertainment has seen a dramatic improvement in their customer service functions and practices.
As any online gamer knows, response time to customer inquiries is critical and it needs to be accurate. At Sony Online Entertainment’s Web site, The Station, agents now respond to customer queries in less than 24 hours thanks to Kana’s Web-architected enterprise relationship management (eRM) technology. As the host of multi-player online games, The Station boasts more than 10 million members and more than 88,000 simultaneous players. Customer service representatives receive more than 6,000 Internet-based questions, comments and interactions using Kana each week.
Sony deployed Kana a year ago and the technology has already paid for itself, according to George M. Scotto, director of customer service for Sony Online Entertainment. “Our players need answers fast so they can stay in the game and continue their adventures,” Scotto said. “Kana helps us provide a level of service that matches the quality of our content. It strengthens our customer relationships, reduces expensive phone-based interactions, and handles a customer base expected to quadruple in the next year.”
Prior to choosing Kana, Sony Online Entertainment used standard messaging software to manage customer relations. With Kana’s multi-channel service and support, inquiries are automatically categorized and routed to the appropriate agents, reports and analytics are produced and the overall knowledge base stays updated.
Headquartered in San Diego, Sony Online Entertainment Inc. is a subsidiary of Sony Corporation and Sony Pictures Digital Entertainment. Sony Online Entertainment Inc.’s Web site features EverQuest®, the most successful massively multi-player online role-playing game in history, as well Jeopardy! Online, Wheel of Fortune Online and many other popular attractions and communities.
Kana Communications, Inc. manages the full set of communications channels such as e-mail, Web, chat, instant message, Voice over IP (VOIP), phone and person-to-person, as well as e-business and communications applications to integrate the marketing, sales and service functions. Kana’s customer list includes Cisco, Chase Manhattan Bank, eBay, priceline.com. Yahoo! and Northwest Airlines. Kana has also established strategic alliances with companies like Accenture and IBM.