Latest Version Advances Customer Service Experience with Embedded Chat, Co-Browse and Social Listening Capabilities

Miami, FL-- (SBWire) -- 10/11/2011 --KANA Software, Inc., a world leader in software solutions for Service Experience Management (SEM), today announced the immediate availability of KANA SEM 11R4, which builds on KANA’s vision for the future of customer service, marked initially by the launch of KANA SEM in 2010. Significantly, SEM 11R4 enables service organizations to collaborate with customers online and gain a deeper understanding of customers through social listening. SEM brings together business process management (BPM), case and knowledge management, social experience management and near real-time analytics in a complete customer-service ecosystem that delivers unprecedented visibility into, and control of, service processes and the customer experience.

Key new features of SEM 11 R4 include:

Embedded Chat: An enterprise-class chat capability that allows agents to engage with multiple customers ? at the same time.

* Embedded Co-Browsing: Synchronized web page co-browsing with full support for all major web browsers and latest web 2.0 technologies.

* Truth Tables: A powerful tool for applying business rules to automated customer service processes. Rules can be created and maintained independently of the process flow, bringing added agility to support processes and convenience to the task of designing personalized Experience Flows™.

* Visual Eventing: Adding to the powerful visual designers, visual eventing eliminates the need for complex coding and customizations. In SEM 11 R4, UI events can trigger changes to the screen and data via simple visual connection of the event to actions.

* Mapping and Geographic Information System: SEM is now GEO-aware. New mapping steps enable maps to display, providing better context to service requests. Agents can track case locations, denote the specific geo-coordinates of incidents, and employ GPS and satellite imagery.

* Experience Analytics: SEM now offers embedded social listening, monitoring and text analytics. SEM 11 R4 includes a robust implementation and integration of the Overtone social listening platform (Recent KANA acquisition). Key listening capabilities have been integrated into SEM as steps in the Experience Flows™, enabling direct channel and social media listening reports to be displayed within the SEM Adaptive Desktop.

Conversations in social networks or incoming emails can be processed to determine neutral, negative or positive sentiments and then given a Sentiment Score, which controls the routing of the message, i.e., the next branch in the process. “It is critical for a company to receive customer feedback about its products, services, and organizational processes so it can address issues that come to the surface, and optimize the customer service experience. This can be done via traditional methods like surveys and newer methods like listening to the explosion of customer comments and sentiments over social channels,” writes Kate Leggett, Senior Analyst at Forrester Research, Inc. in the Forrester May 2011 report “Listening Platforms Find Traction In Customer Service Organizations.”

“KANA SEM 11R4 is a significant release of our next-generation customer service solution that brings BPM, Social and On-line together in a very meaningful way,” said James Norwood, CMO of KANA. “SEM is the result of listening to our more than 600 customers over many years, and working with them to deliver a flexible and enabling platform capable of handling the service experiences their customer’s desire.”

About KANA Software
KANA makes every customer experience a good experience. As the leader in Service Experience Management (SEM), KANA gives managers total control over the customer service process, so they can take care of their brand while taking care of their customers. By unifying and adapting customer journeys across the contact center, web site and social community, KANA’s solutions have reduced handling time, increased resolution rates and improved Net Promoter Score (NPS) at more than 600 enterprises, including half of the Global 100 and more than 200 government agencies. KANA is based in Silicon Valley and has offices worldwide. For more information, visit http://www.kana.com

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