Onyx (www.onyx.com) is tryingto beef up its thin-client CRM portal suite, Onyx Enterprise 2001.The focus is expanding e-services, so the company has added"customer-centric" solutions such as new e-mail functions, chat,and Web self-service capabilities to the package.

With implications for carrier/agent or carrier/agent/ customerinteractions, the e-mail functionality-OnyxE-mailAssistance-includes automatic and assisted e-mail response, a toolthat makes the electronic message a service and sales channel,assigns priority and returns a response to the customer, and routesa suggested solution to the proper people for edits or reviewbefore the customer receives it.

Customer satisfaction, according to Onyx, can be increased withOnyx Web Assistance, a self-service tool that guides customersthrough sales or service processes, and automatically sendsinformation to customers based on needs. The inevitableunanswerable query is automatically flagged and pushed through toe-mail or live interaction, depending on its nature.

Through Onyx Chat, carriers can instantly message Web sitevisitors and deploy information to them; customers can then askquestions and interact live with a service rep.

According to Bill Bunker, vice president of product marketing:"The largest post-Internet challenge companies face today isintegration of their existing business with new, electronicchannels and emerging business models...[We] give companies asingle solution that combines data from Web-based channels...with asingle, unified view of the customer. This is a key to improvingorganizations' customer service levels and saleseffectiveness."

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