Lucent Technologies today announced that it has been selected by British Telecommunications plc to supply multimedia call centres for BT`s Corporate Customers allowing them access to a wider range of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solutions.
Lucent, which is rated the number one supplier of new call centres in the UK and Western Europe by Dataquest and is the U.S. market leader, will provide BT`s corporate clients with an expanded portfolio of CRM solutions. The solutions are based on Lucent`s DEFINITY platform, which enables a range of powerful communications capabilities for corporations. The Lucent solutions will be offered through BT`s Corporate Client portfolio, the sales channel to BT`s corporate accounts in the UK.
The relationship reinforces the companies` leadership position in this growing market. IT research company, Dataquest estimates that over the next five years the call centre market within western Europe will be worth lb2.3 billion ($3.7 billion) and that the infrastructure already established will form the basis for technology enabled CRM.
"Lucent Technologies is delighted BT has selected us to meet the growing needs of its enterprise customers in this fast moving area of CRM," said Dave Johnson, President of International Markets Lucent Technologies` Enterprise Networks group. "BT is a significant provider of services to corporations in the UK, while Lucent offers industry-leading solutions that help corporations build and sustain relationships with their customers. We believe that our joint expertise and technology will further enhance BT`s overall business proposition."
Danny McLaughlin, director, BT Corporate Clients, said, "Customer relationship management is one of the key issues on every boardroom agenda.
This new relationship will give our customers unparalleled access to CRM expertise, a more extensive range of call centre solutions and extensive investment in research and development. Lucent`s addition in the BT portfolio offers our customers an unbeatable proposition, whatever their requirements."
Lucent has recently further enhanced its CRM capabilities with a global strategic alliance with Siebel Systems, Inc. to integrate Lucent`s state-of-the-art customer care and workflow management solutions with Siebel `s market-leading front office software Lucent Technologies` Customer Relationship Management solutions comprise a broad array of systems, software and professional services that help companies deliver on their commitments to customers. They include multimedia customer care and computer telephony applications, customer relationship management software, predictive dialing solutions and interactive voice response products.
British Telecommunications plc (BT) is one of the world`s leading providers of telecommunications services. With a market capitalisation of around lb80 billion, it is one of the largest private sector companies in Europe. Its principal activity is the supply of local, long distance and international telecommunications services and equipment in the UK, serving 28 million exchange lines. International direct-dialed telephone service is available to more than 200 countries and other overseas territories - covering 99 per cent of the world`s 800 million telephones.
BT has developed a world class solutions capability and will deploy Lucent CRM propositions through BT Business Information Systems and the newly created BT Syncordia eCRM Solutions business.
BT is expanding its presence overseas rapidly and has operations in more than 30 countries worldwide, with joint ventures in the Republic of Ireland, France, Switzerland, Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, Japan, Latin America, Singapore, Malaysia, Korea and India. Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J, USA, designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronic components. Bell Laboratories is the research and development arm for the company. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit the company`s Web site at http://www.lucent.com.
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