Software helps recruit, retain, and inform students.
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Press Release Summary:
Available under SaaS delivery model, RightNow Higher Education includes pre-configured, best practices-based guides or templates that help learning institutions improve recruitment and retention efforts. Student services campaign roll-outs proactively inform students about critical activities, offering instant online access to information. Also included, analytical and reporting tools allow organizations to keep track of their progress in achieving recruitment and retention goals.
Original Press Release:
RightNow Delivers Tailored Solution for Higher Education
BOZEMAN, Mont., March 28 -- RightNow(R) Technologies (NASDAQ:RNOW) today announced the availability of RightNow Higher Education, a new offering that combines its next-generation customer relationship management (CRM) solution with its extensive experience working with more than 100 higher education institutions such as Columbia University, DeVry University, Imperial College London, Minnesota State Colleges and Universities, and New York University. The new turn-key solution will help institutions recruit, retain, and inform students.
Based on RightNow 8, the company's enterprise-class, on demand solution for service, sales and marketing, RightNow Higher Education includes pre-configured guides or templates based on industry best practices, that are designed to help learning institutions dramatically improve recruitment and retention efforts while reducing costs. It is available under RightNow's software-as-a-service delivery model, which allows learning institutions to implement quickly, without having to make extensive investments in infrastructure.
Higher education institutions consider recruitment of qualified students a top priority, one that is increasingly challenging given budget constraints, competition from other schools, and Internet-savvy prospective students that expect easy, immediate access to information. RightNow Higher Education includes recruitment guides that can help an institution drive and track the recruitment process. The guides make it easy for schools to monitor the status of prospective students, the strategy used to recruit a student and specific follow-up tasks assigned to university staff related to each prospective student.
Using RightNow, Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand, is able to deliver highly personalized information to a diverse range of prospective students while meeting extremely tight cost constraints. "RightNow has helped us quickly, accurately and cost effectively communicate with prospective students, bolstering our recruiting efforts," said Charles Brooks, the university's international e-marketing manager.
After successfully recruiting students, schools then focus on retention. Providing immediate, online access to a wide range of information is one way learning institutions can keep students and parents happy and strengthen retention rates. RightNow Higher Education includes campaign guides, based on industry best practices, to help schools deliver timely information to students and parents. These campaign guides make it easy to quickly roll out student services campaigns that proactively inform students about critical activities such as academic advising, registration and financial aid.
In addition to proactive communication, RightNow provides immediate and accurate information for students, parents and alumni online. For example, the University of Houston (UH) uses RightNow to provide students with instant and up-to-date information on academics, financial aid and campus life. Through a RightNow-powered "Ask Shasta" system, UH has been able to provide this information over the web, dramatically reducing incoming phone calls and emails. UH estimates this reduction in incoming inquiries has saved the university approximately $1 million annually. "RightNow has had a major impact on the quality-of-experience we are providing to our students," said Betty Roberts, the former UH vice president of technology support services. "We are getting valuable information to people where and when they need it, and we are doing it at less cost to the university than ever before."
RightNow Higher Education also includes analytical and reporting tools designed specifically for higher education, which allow organizations to keep track of their progress in achieving recruitment and retention goals.
"With more than 100 higher education clients, RightNow has gained a great deal of insight into the challenges these organizations face in providing information and support to students, parents and alumni," said Greg Gianforte, CEO of RightNow. "We've combined our knowledge and industry best practices with RightNow 8, our most advanced product release ever, to provide a tailored solution that will help learning institutions all over the world better serve students."
For more information about how RightNow Higher Education can help ensure exceptional student experiences, join the RightNow web cast today, March 28, at 8:30 am PT. To register for the web cast go to: www.rightnow.com/events/event.php?id=9651
About RightNow Technologies
RightNow (NASDAQ:RNOW) delivers the high-impact technology solutions and services organizations need to cost-efficiently deliver a consistently superior customer experience across their frontline service, sales and marketing touch-points. Approximately 1,800 corporations, government agencies and learning institutions worldwide depend on RightNow to achieve their strategic objectives and better meet the needs of those they serve. RightNow is headquartered in Bozeman, Montana. For more information, please visit www.rightnow.com.
RightNow is a registered trademark of RightNow Technologies, Inc. NASDAQ is a registered trademark of the NASDAQ Stock Market.
CONTACT: Katie O'Connell of RightNow Technologies, +1-925-674-1487, or cell, +1-510-304-3707, koconnell@rightnow.com
