RightNow SmartGuide's Intuitive Question-and-Response Interface Helps
Customers and Agents Quickly and Accurately Pinpoint Answers
BOZEMAN, Mo., Aug. 10 - RightNow(R) Technologies (Nasdaq: RNOW) today introduced RightNow SmartGuide(TM), an innovative CRM solution that enhances the quality, speed and consistency of customer service by proactively guiding customers and/or service agents to answers via a uniquely intuitive and effective interface using "decision-tree" logic. This adaptively structured interface enables customers to quickly pinpoint answers by responding to a series of diagnostic questions that guide them to a successful conclusion of their self-service session. It can also be used to improve the performance of contact center agents by providing them with structured troubleshooting dialogs.
SmartGuide prompts users with a series of questions about their issue. Based on their response to each question, the system asks them the next logical question in the decision tree and/or provides them with relevant answers from the knowledge base. It thereby automatically guides them to the most relevant information in the least amount of time.
Using RightNow's patented AI technology, SmartGuide automatically improves its own effectiveness over time by learning from each user's interactions. Therefore, as more users interact with the system, it guides them to the correct answer faster.
"Customer service is about delivering the best answer in the least time at the lowest cost across all communication channels," Gregory Wright, manager of service and support automation at Ricoh Corporation, said. "By automatically asking customers a logical series of questions, RightNow SmartGuide can quickly and accurately provide them with the information they need -- ensuring their satisfaction while decreasing email and call volume in the service center."
SmartGuide is the latest addition to RightNow Service(TM), the award- winning customer service component of RightNow CRM(TM). It complements the patented knowledge base management technology and highly intuitive search tools that have made RightNow the market leader in on demand customer service, and can be added to knowledge bases already in use by RightNow customers all over the world.
"Superlative customer service continues to gain importance as a means of achieving competitive differentiation and maximizing the lifetime business value of customer relationships," Mike Myer, vice president of development and CTO at RightNow, said. "With SmartGuide, RightNow is once again delivering a ground-breaking technical innovation that provides the market with an entirely new way to increase customer satisfaction, reduce operational costs, and implement CRM best practices."
About RightNow Technologies, Inc.
RightNow (Nasdaq: RNOW) provides organizations with industry-leading on demand CRM solutions to build customer-focused businesses. RightNow's acclaimed technology, comprehensive services and commitment to customer success deliver high returns on investment for its customers. More than 1,300 organizations worldwide use RightNow solutions including British Airways, British Telecom, Cisco Systems, Continental Tire North America, John Deere, Nikon and the Social Security Administration. Founded in 1997, RightNow is headquartered in Bozeman, Montana, with additional offices in North America, Europe and Asia. For further information, please visit http://www.rightnow.com.
RightNow is a registered trademark of RightNow Technologies, Inc. Nasdaq is a registered trademark of the Nasdaq Stock Market.
Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995
This press release may contain forward-looking statements. These forward- looking statements are not guarantees of future results and are subject to risks, uncertainties and assumptions that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in any forward-looking statement.
The risks and uncertainties referred to above include, but are not limited to, risks associated with market acceptance of SmartGuide(TM), our business model, our past operating losses, possible fluctuations in our operating results and our rate of growth, interruptions or delays in our hosting operations, breaches of our security measures, our ability to expand, retain and motivate our employees and manage our growth, and our plans for new product releases. Further information on potential factors that could affect our financial results is included in our annual report on Form 10K, and in our other reports on Form 10Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The forward-looking statements in this release speak only as of the date they are made. We undertake no obligation to revise or update publicly any forward-looking statement for any reason. BRNOW
