Autumn 2006

As public disquiet mounts over the alleged inadequacies of contact centres, the technology side of the business has responded with what could emerge as a major new initiative to raise competence levels and capabilities.

It takes the form of a CIM Forum (standing for customer interaction management), which is supported by many of the biggest guns in the IT world, including Epson, IBM, Microsoft and Pitney Bowes. The primary sponsors are IBM and Talisma, a leading specialist in CIM technology.

The body states its aims as "to explore thought leadership opportunities, key performance indicators, and technical infrastructure associated with creating consistent, positive customer experiences." It will be helped in this initiative by eVergance, which is described as a CRM strategic advisory firm.

Unlike past ventures of this kind, the CIM Forum claims to be the only organisation concentrating on customer service and sales interactions, highlighting what it terms "the fundamental operation adoption and management" of multiple interaction channels.

The first white paper issued by the organisation focuses on "enterprise chat" - a topic selected because, it is said, this form of interaction is seeing a rapid increase in consumer adoption, and can bring "tremendous results" in both customer satisfaction and return on investment.

According to a report by JupiterResearch, 63 per cent of US online consumers who contacted customer service used text chat at least once in 2005, compared with 41 per cent in 2001.