Business-to-Business Internet Marketing, Fourth Edition - Lifecycle ...

Building Customer Relationships 205
strategy. In December 1999, Kana acquired Business Evolution, Inc.
(BEI), a supplier of Web-based customer assistance and support software,
and NetDialog, a provider of self-service customer care solutions.
In 2000, Kana merged with a leading provider of customer
self-service, Silknet. One of the first vendors to successfully enter the
customer support market, Silknet created eService customer interaction
software, an enterprise-wide Web-based customer interaction
application that extends beyond a company’s call center out to the
customer. It integrates multiple means of customer interaction, allowing
the management of phone, e-mail, and Web communications, all
in one application. In early 2001, Kana merged again with Broadbase,
a CRM software vendor.
LivePerson (www.liveperson.com)
LivePerson’s technology allows visitors to e-commerce sites to engage
in real-time text conversations with customer service representatives.
Customers can instantly chat online to ask questions, make inquiries,
and receive assistance from live people. LivePerson acts as a service
bureau or network, so no hardware or software installation is required.
In just a few months after being founded, LivePerson had signed 50
major e-commerce sites as clients.
NativeMinds (www.nativeminds.com)
NativeMinds creates vReps, or virtual representatives, automated customer
service and support agents who answer customer questions via
conversational dialog. NativeMinds says vReps can answer queries directly
in real time, enable users to find information quickly and give
feedback, encourage return visits and longer stays, lead users through
the process of choosing and buying things, be aware of what users are
looking for, provide information on customer habits, and escalate to a
live representative or automated e-mail response when necessary.
Net Effect (www.neteffect.com)
Acquired in late 1999 by search engine AskJeeves, Net Effect provides a
live help service, using a client’s own customer care agents or those
provided by Net Effect in partnership with major national call centers.
Net Effect’s service enables real-time, text-based conversations between
e-businesses and their customers, and users include VerticalNet, The
Right Start, and Southwestern Bell.