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CRM Analyst Leaves Gartner for Kana

February 07, 2008

Kana Software announced that former Gartner analyst Esteban Kolsky has joined Kana as a VP and Practical Leader at Kana's strategic services subsidiary eVergance.

 
Kolsky will be tasked with developing and launching programs designed to help Kana customers and prospects receive improved service. After seven years at Gartner, Esteban said, he was interested in returning to his roots in the technology sector.  
 
As a senior analyst in Gartner's CRM practice, Esteban Kolsky established research areas on eService and Feedback Management and advised Fortune 500 and Global 2000 organizations on their customer service strategies and technology selection. 
 
Prior to Gartner, Kolsky worked at such technology companies as Intraware and Tiedosta, and consulted on customer service for organizations such as Bank of America and BDO Seidman.
 
Last November Kana officials said helped the City of Amsterdam improve the quality and efficiency of customer service it offers to citizens.
 
The city was honored with the Dutch KING award 2007 for innovation and quality in public service, and was recently recognized by the European eGovernment award 2007 for its achievements in this area.
 
The City of Amsterdam selected Kana as the basis of its new multi-channel customer service product, designed to make it easier for citizens to access the full range of government services. A combined implementation of Kana's integrated e-mail, web self-service, and contact center applications has enabled the City of Amsterdam to "consolidate on a single point of contact for telephone and e-mail enquiries," according to the Kanalians.
 
Amsterdam has also improved Web self-service, making it easier for citizens to find the information they need online about all of the services managed by local government, including taxation, social services, passports, and driving licenses.
 
City officials say they've "dramatically increased" the number of inquiries handled with the same staff, from 100,000 per month to over 400,000 per month.
 
Prior to launching the Kana product, a complex network of hotlines and switchboards was used to route inquiries through Amsterdam's 15 autonomous districts and 41 administrative departments. The system was so inefficient that when the local authority carried out a survey to find out what inhabitants thought of its customer service, half of them said that they couldn't figure out where to go. So it was inefficient, but hey, it was expensive as all get-out too.
 

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David Sims is a contributing editor for ContactCenterSolutions. To read more of David’s articles, please visit his columnist page. He also blogs for ContactCenterSolutions here.



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