WebEx and Parature Team to Deliver Affordable Service Desk Solution for Companies of All Sizes
On-Demand Application Delivers Enterprise Customer Support Capabilities without the High Cost of On-Premise Software
SANTA CLARA, Calif., June 25 /-- Comprehensive support solutions have traditionally been priced out of reach for most small and medium-sized businesses (SMB), forcing many to choose between offering a second-class experience or carrying the expense of a telephone-centric support process. To help these companies WebEx, now a part of Cisco (NASDAQ:CSCO), has partnered with customer support leader Parature to create Service Desk by Parature, an on-demand support and ticketing solution that delivers a world-class customer experience while cutting resolution times and reducing overall call volume.
Based on the new WebEx Connect platform, Service Desk by Parature offers multiple self-service and collaborative support features, automatically manages inbound service requests and provides detailed reporting and management tools. Service Desk by Parature enables support organizations to decrease their support calls and emails by up to 80% while reducing problem resolution time by up to 50%. As part of the WebEx Support Center suite, Service Desk by Parature works seamlessly with the suite's multiple component applications.
"I can't believe all of the features Service Desk by Parature includes, especially at such a small cost," said Joseph Mann, director of information technology, Mullins Labs, a Service Desk by Parature customer. "We have just completed implementation and I haven't looked back."
Service Desk by Parature offers a comprehensive set of support capabilities including:
o Incident Management (eTicket): Streamlines complex support processes by
automatically routing requests to resolve issues quickly.
o Knowledge Management (eKnowledge): Reduces inbound requests with a full
set of self-service knowledge base creation and management tools.
o Relationship Management (eContact): Captures all support activities in
a dashboard view for each account, including a full record of tickets,
emails, notes and call logs for increased efficiency.
o Forum Management (eForum): Enables users to collaborate via multiple
discussion forums to support the needs of different users and highlight
key topics.
"Avoiding customer churn is top of mind for many businesses especially for SMBs," said Duke Chung, CEO and president, Parature. "Customer support is often the first interface for customers post sale and that interaction makes a big difference in customer satisfaction and their decision to remain a customer or do more business in the future."
"With Parature's deep experience in customer support and WebEx's success in delivering on-demand applications to the SMB market, we are able to provide enterprise-quality support solutions to companies regardless of size," added Chung.
"Service Desk by Parature enhances the suite of IT support solutions available through WebEx Support Center and supports our continued expansion into the broader on-demand business applications market," said Jack Chawla, senior director of product management, WebEx.
WebEx and Parature will spotlight best practices for customer support in an upcoming web seminar entitled "The Fast Track to Customer Support Success: Software-as-a-Service" on June 27, 2007 at 10am US Pacific time. To register, visit, www.webex.com/web-seminars/view_event/665016154
WebEx offers enterprise and SMB versions of the Service Desk by Parature. In the coming months, the products will also be available as part of the WebEx Connect Marketplace of applications. For more information, visit, www.webex.com/smb/service-desk.html
About WebEx Support Center
The WebEx Support Center suite and its component applications provide a complete on-demand solution for customer support, customer service, IT help desk and desktop management. WebEx Remote Support allows end-users and employees to get connected instantly via the web to subject matter experts in customer support, a service contact center or an IT helpdesk and receive fast resolution to their issues. WebEx Remote Access customers can manage an entire IT or field device infrastructure from a centralized management console while protecting and securing assets. WebEx System Management enables customers to remotely support and manage employees' desktops and customers' systems.
WebEx Support Center offers a free 14-day trial. To learn more or register for the free trial, visit: www.webex.com/go/support-trial
About Parature, Inc.
Parature is the global leader in on-demand customer support and help desk software. Our web-based support suite enables organizations to fundamentally change the way they support their customers while significantly reducing costs. The Parature suite of modules empowers associations, businesses, educational institutions, and government agencies with the ability to provide critical service information on a 24/7 basis while reducing the inbound support load through customer self-service. As a Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) provider, Parature delivers solutions over the Internet using a secure, scalable application and system architecture, which allows our customers to eliminate expensive up-front hardware and software costs and to quickly deploy and adopt our on-demand software. Parature helps support over 6,000,000 end- users worldwide and is headquartered in Vienna, VA. For more information about Parature please visit www.parature.com/ or call 1.877.GO.PARATURE.
About WebEx
With 2.3 million registered users, WebEx is the global leader in on-demand applications for collaborative business on the web. These applications enhance high-touch business processes, such as sales and training, with efficient web-touch interactions. As an on-demand provider, WebEx is able to facilitate both internal and external collaboration. WebEx delivers its range of applications over the WebEx MediaTone Network, a global network specifically designed for the secure delivery of on-demand applications. WebEx applications support multipoint video conferencing, web conferencing, telework and application remote control. Please call toll free 877-509-3239 or visit www.webex.com/ for more information
About Cisco
Cisco is the worldwide leader in networking that transforms how people connect, communicate and collaborate. Information about Cisco can be found at www.cisco.com/. For ongoing news, please go to http://newsroom.cisco.com/.
Source: WebEx
CONTACT: Colin Smith of WebEx, +1-408-566-5694, colin.smith@webex.com
Web site: www.webex.com/
http://www.parature.com/
