Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 'Essures' Growth of Conceptus Breakthrough
Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 'Essures' Growth of Conceptus Breakthrough
REDMOND, Washington, May 4// --
o Medical device company builds worldwide network of trainers, doctors and customers with integrated CRM, other Microsoft technology.
Microsoft Corp today announced that Conceptus Inc has chosen Microsoft
Dynamics(TM) CRM 3.0 to help assure the continued growth of the Essure(R) system, Conceptus' flagship medical device.
Since FDA approval of the Essure system, a permanent birth control procedure, in 2002, sales have grown to over US$40 million, including 100 percent year-over-year growth in 2006. The Mountain View, California-based company selected Microsoft's premier customer relationship management (CRM) software to streamline tracking of Essure-trained doctors and stimulate the customer demand and discovery of these physicians.
"Building a worldwide market for a paradigm-shifting medical procedure
requires a large, coordinated marketing, sales and training effort," said
Jeff Letasse, senior director of IT for Conceptus. "Microsoft Dynamics CRM
3.0 offers the powerful technology tools needed to turn an emerging
breakthrough like the Essure procedure into a gold-standard procedure in a
matter of years, rather than the decades that it often used to take."
ISS Group Inc, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner, developed the CRM
system and assisted in integrating it with the company's websites and other
systems using the ISS Group's iBridge data connector for Microsoft Dynamics
CRM (which has been Microsoft tested and certified). Microsoft Dynamics CRM
3.0 provides a complete suite of marketing, sales and service capabilities,
all with a familiar and consistent user experience based on the Microsoft(R)
Office system and Microsoft Office Outlook(R).
The software's service-oriented architecture enabled VelocIT Inc, another
Microsoft partner responsible for the web integration portion of the effort,
to create loosely coupled services that integrate data and processes from
throughout the company.
Specific benefits that Conceptus has begun realising since ISS, VelocIT
and Conceptus completed deployment in January include the following:
o More reporting options. Conceptus' network of more than 100 field
salespeople and trainers and other employees can enter customer
information and reports about doctors via role-based CRM features.
Data and reports can be entered through Microsoft Office and Outlook, a web browser, or a broad range of mobile devices. The wide array of electronic data-entry options has eliminated manual retyping of reports into the system, a task that used to require a dedicated full-time employee.
o Easy data input. Close integration with Outlook enables employees to look up customer information, send and manage e-mail, set up
appointments, and capture customer or doctor discussions from within
the familiar environment of Outlook. Since deploying Microsoft
Dynamics CRM 3.0, the amount of customer and other data captured by
Conceptus has increased tenfold each month since the upgrade,
according to Letasse.
o Integrated data and web services. Close integration between Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0 and Microsoft BizTalk(R) Server has helped Conceptus synchronise data about its growing network of Essure-trained doctors with the mapping and other locator services available to potential patients on Conceptus' Essure brand web site. New doctors are added to the location services automatically after Conceptus employees enter their information into the CRM system. The process used to take days, according to Letasse.
o Ease of upgrade. "Using the Microsoft upgrade methodology and the
inherent service-oriented architecture of Microsoft Dynamics CRM 3.0,
we were able to upgrade a highly configured CRM 1.2 system to CRM 3.0
within just three months," said Mark Klein, senior manager of IT at
Conceptus. The process was expedited by the ability to reuse existing
web objects defined in the older version. "We only had to update the
web services and test, versus rewriting each object, taking months out
of the project timeline," Klein said.
"Customer relationship management software is only as good as the
quantity and quality of the data that businesses capture," said Michael Park,
corporate vice president for US Microsoft Dynamics. "Microsoft Dynamics CRM
3.0 gives businesses what they want most in a CRM system: easy integration
with their existing systems, and tools and features that allow employees to
easily and frequently capture customer data throughout the workday."
About ISS Group
Founded in 1986, ISS Group(R) (Integrated Systems & Services Group) is a
Gold Certified Microsoft Business Solutions provider specialising in Sales
and Customer Service solutions for the Manufacturing & Distribution
Industries. ISS Group's solutions portfolio includes Microsoft Dynamics CRM,
ISS Group eCommerce Applications, other Microsoft technologies such as
SharePoint(R), BizTalk, Exchange, SQL Server(TM), Microsoft Office, Microsoft
mobility, Microsoft Office Business Scorecard Manager, Visual Studio(R) and
Microsoft Operations Manager, as well as additional 3rd Party products which
integrate with and compliment the Microsoft and ISS Group applications. For
additional information on ISS Group, please visit our website at
www.issgroup.net.
About Conceptus
Conceptus, Inc manufactures and markets the Essure Permanent Birth
Control system, an innovative medical device and procedure designed to
provide a non-incisional alternative to tubal ligation, which is currently
the leading form of birth control worldwide. The availability of the Essure
procedure in the US is expected to open up a market currently occupied by
incisional tubal ligation and vasectomy, which combined account for more than
1 million procedures annually.
About Microsoft Dynamics
Microsoft Dynamics is a line of financial, customer relationship and
supply chain management solutions that helps businesses work more
effectively. Delivered through a network of channel partners providing
specialised services, these integrated, adaptable business management
solutions work like and with familiar Microsoft software to streamline
processes across an entire business.
About Microsoft
Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is the worldwide leader in
software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realise
their full potential.
This material is for informational purposes only. Microsoft Corp
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