AMR releases CRM report

Industry analyst firm AMR Research has released The Customer Management Market Sizing Report, 2007-2012, its assessment of the current and future state of the CRM market, states Destination CRM.

The report estimates that customer management software revenues in 2007 topped $14 billion, a 12% jump over 2006 revenues; the growth rate among the top 20 vendors in the space was even higher, at 28%.

Long-term prospects are just as rosy with AMR projecting a market size of more than $22 billion in 2012.

Advanced Call Centre Technologies (ACCT) is setting up shop in Douglas, Arizona, with plans to employ nearly 700 people in the next few years, reports Bizjournals.

That would make the company the area's largest private employer, according to the Arizona Department of Commerce and city of Douglas, which partnered to bring the business to the south-east corner of the state.

Recruiting efforts included a $275 000 Economic Strength Project grant to the city for the widening and reconstruction of a six-road intersection, as well as the widening of San Antonio and Florida avenues to handle traffic at the call-centre site. ACCT will operate out of temporary city-owned offices until its permanent facility is ready at the end of the year.

Researchers at IBM's India Research Laboratory have developed advanced data masking technology that helps call centres protect critical data without disrupting customer service or business operations, says CNN Money.

The new data masking technology helps call centres and IT-enabled service organisations by providing effective security and privacy of data which helps in managing customer trust and protecting the brand, which is critical for the call centre industry.

Developed by IBM's India Research Laboratory, the technology is a speech analytics tool that helps in complying with security and privacy legislation and compliance standards, which, in turn, enhances customer satisfaction.