Consona Announces CRM Deal with CQUniversity

Consona (News - Alert), a customer relationship management (CRM) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software vendor, has announced that CQUniversity has deployed Consona CRM.

CQUniversity, an Australian public university based in Queensland, selected Consona CRM in an effort to "centralize and enhance customer service, and reduce operating costs amid funding cuts,"Consona officials say. The university has 22,000 students.

Before deploying Consona CRM, CQUniversity had 11 separate groups providing customer service.

The university standardized on Consona CRM after funding cuts forced a closer look at operating expenditure: "Rather than scale back on programs and services, the university determined it must cut extraneous costs wherever possible, while also searching for new sources of revenue," Consona officials say.

Most knowledge management tools are sold as modules, Consona officials noted at the time, saying "we built our product around that concept that knowledge shouldn't happen in isolation, or be an afterthought."

CQUniversity is also managing its knowledge base with Consona CRM -- "no small feat, given the system logged 26,000 student cases within the first six months of operation," company officials remark.

Bill Gonch, manager, Web and Academic Systems Group, CQUniversity, says the knowledge base "contributes greatly to our success in case management," adding that there is "a leasing synergy at work through the integration of these two solutions. Each part of our efforts enhances the effectiveness of the other.”

CQUniversity Australia is based in Rockhampton, Queensland and operates throughout the Asia-Pacific. Its students come from over 100 countries. Selling mostly distance education, CQUniversity has campuses in Rockhampton, Bundaberg, Gladstone, Mackay (News - Alert) and Emerald plus a delivery site on the Sunshine Coast. The University also operates international campuses in Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne, and the Gold Coast.

About a month and half ago TMC (News - Alert) reported that Consona announced the general availability of Consona Knowledge Management Version 7.3.