News

News

• October 24, 2023 24 Oct'23

  Cisco unveils Webex AI tools for hybrid work, contact center

  The vendor's new Webex AI offerings include Real-Time Media Models to track users' voices and movements and Webex AI Assistant tools for making, altering and suggesting messages.

• October 16, 2023 16 Oct'23

  Talkdesk expands its AI offerings for the contact center

  The cloud-based contact center provider adds more tools to monitor large language model-supported capabilities, which are becoming commonplace offerings for CX vendors.

• October 11, 2023 11 Oct'23

  Adobe unveils Firefly AI models to quickly make vivid images

  The CX and multimedia vendor amps up its generative AI image creation offerings with Prompt Guidance, vector graphic production, template generation and photo-style image tweaks.

• October 03, 2023 03 Oct'23

  Zendesk offers more AI tech with AI for Voice, AI bots

  The customer experience vendor released intelligent bots to quickly answer customers' questions and unveiled a tool to summarize transcripts of customer calls with agents.

• September 26, 2023 26 Sep'23

  SurveyMonkey Forms has new templates, pre-built prompts

  The vendor brings new capabilities such as pre-built question fields with Forms, an online form creation tool, to make it easier for businesses to collect data from customers.

• September 25, 2023 25 Sep'23

  Shopify adds Audiences integrations for more segmentation

  The e-commerce vendor builds on its customer segmentation capabilities by adding platform integrations with Snapchat, Criteo and TikTok for creating lists of target contacts.

• September 19, 2023 19 Sep'23

  Oracle's CX GenAI tools consolidate data, manage knowledge

  The cloud platform vendor unveiled GenAI tools to increase productivity for marketers, sales teams and customer service agents by creating content and retrieving information.

• September 18, 2023 18 Sep'23

  Zoom releases work management tools for the contact center

  The video conferencing vendor expands its CCaaS offerings with its Workforce Engagement Management suite, which includes forecasting and scheduling tools for agents and managers.

• September 14, 2023 14 Sep'23

  Social media marketing strategies: Cut cliches, add opinions

  Effective online engagement with customers starts with conversations that use feelings and opinions, rather than cliches and facts, to build lasting relationships.

• September 13, 2023 13 Sep'23

  Pegasystems releases new GenAI tools for Pega Infinity '23

  The vendor is out with new GenAI features for Pega Infinity '23. It also renews its business process management focus and makes other updates generally available.

• September 12, 2023 12 Sep'23

  Salesforce unveils Einstein 1 to embed AI in every app

  The CRM vendor unveils a suite of new capabilities for its revamped AI platform, including a genAI Copilot in every app, and a way to customize the Copilot's functions.

• September 06, 2023 06 Sep'23

  HubSpot unveils AI-based Campaign Assistant, LinkedIn tie-in

  The CRM vendor unveiled a virtual assistant tool, Campaign Assistant, to help marketers build campaigns and an integration between HubSpot and LinkedIn Sales Navigator.

• September 06, 2023 06 Sep'23

  HubSpot unveils AI capabilities, releases Sales Hub tools

  The CRM vendor unveiled virtual assistants to automate customer service and project future sales, and released tools to centralize sales reps' daily tasks and prioritize leads.

• August 24, 2023 24 Aug'23

  Salesforce unveils new tools for field service workers

  The CRM vendor's new tools for service workers include a virtual appointment scheduler and a platform to view details about customers' purchased products and service history.

• August 23, 2023 23 Aug'23

  Twilio's new CDP tool unites data for more personalization

  Twilio's new tool uses its customer data platform, Segment, to connect real-time unified customer profiles with isolated data and boost marketing customization for better CX.

• August 17, 2023 17 Aug'23

  Genesys offers workforce management tool to measure EX

  A contact center management firm uses a Genesys tool that collects information about employees' experience to uncover organizational weaknesses and identify ways to improve.

• August 16, 2023 16 Aug'23

  Online forms tool offers custom designs and user insights

  Digital marketing agency SmartBug Media uses digital customer survey platform Typeform to create custom-designed, brand-appropriate questionnaires and collect user data insights.

• August 14, 2023 14 Aug'23

  Customer communications management key to CX success

  Companies of all sizes are using the latest tech such as generative AI, online store apps, and collaboration tools like video calling to improve CX for B2B and B2C businesses.

• August 02, 2023 02 Aug'23

  Salesforce offers tighter Slack integration with Sales Cloud

  The CRM giant released tools that bring customer data and insights to the collaboration platform, such as instant account updates sent directly to channels for review.

• July 19, 2023 19 Jul'23

  Qualtrics uses AI to analyze customer needs for better CX

  Qualtrics unveils new generative AI tools to minimize time spent searching for and disseminating customer feedback and creating text responses to increase brand loyalty.

• July 18, 2023 18 Jul'23

  Microsoft releases Sales Copilot, teases Insights tools

  The tech giant released generative AI-supported functions for sellers to generate text and summaries, and unveiled new Dynamics 365 Customer Insights tools for marketers.

• July 10, 2023 10 Jul'23

  Genesys Cloud CX gets FedRAMP certified for government use

  The CX vendor obtained Moderate Impact level authorization for its Genesys Cloud CX platform, bolstering security and safeguarding internal operations for U.S. government users.

• July 06, 2023 06 Jul'23

  Event analytics tool answers CX data queries using ChatGPT

  Mixpanel aims to improve users' CX strategy with its new generative AI-supported data query tool, which lets users type CX data-related questions and get answers in chart format.

• June 30, 2023 30 Jun'23

  Salesforce brings more AI tools to Sales GPT and Service GPT

  The CRM giant brings generative AI-supported tools like message creation and call summaries to sales and service workers, and teams with Deloitte Digital for AI safety resources.

• June 13, 2023 13 Jun'23

  Salesforce moves forward with secure, private generative AI

  With its new AI Cloud and built-in Einstein GPT Trust Layer, The CRM and CX vendor is investing in generative AI technology and adding data security and privacy features.

• June 12, 2023 12 Jun'23

  Salesforce unveils AI Cloud with new Einstein GPT Trust Layer

  AI Cloud houses the Einstein GPT Trust Layer with generative AI safety features, including data masking to remove personal information from data sent to large language models.

• June 09, 2023 09 Jun'23

  LinkedIn unveils generative AI-based tools for B2B marketers

  The professional network's new products let marketers create ad copy, message other company Pages, and post different types of ads to attract buyers throughout the buying process.

• June 07, 2023 07 Jun'23

  Salesforce adds GPT to Commerce and Marketing clouds

  The CRM giant adds generative AI capabilities and an expanded Google partnership to help marketers bring personalized content to customers and improve CX.

• May 17, 2023 17 May'23

  Zoom takes on Anthropic's AI assistant for Contact Center

  The video and collaboration platform vendor has allied with OpenAI spinoff Anthropic and is integrating Anthropic's chatbot, Claude, for a decentralized approach to training AI.

• May 16, 2023 16 May'23

  SAP's new CX tools for retailers include generative AI assistant

  The vendor's new tools include Digital Assistant for better personalization, accelerators to use customer data to improve CX, and a platform to sell excess products on the market.

• May 11, 2023 11 May'23

  Google adds Adobe's image generator, Firefly, to Bard

  The AI-backed chatbot will have artmaking abilities with Firefly, an image generator that was trained on hundreds of stock images to avoid copyright infringement.

• May 10, 2023 10 May'23

  Zendesk out with generative AI-supported tools for better CX

  In partnership with ChatGPT creator OpenAI, the customer service vendor introduces smart CX tools such as sentiment analysis for faster workflows and bots for contextual replies.

• May 03, 2023 03 May'23

  Salesforce brings GPT to customer service, sales platforms

  The CRM giant brings generative AI capabilities to its sales and service platforms for fast, relevant email, message and article creation, as well as multilanguage transcription.

• April 28, 2023 28 Apr'23

  How businesses improve customer experience with AI

  AI bolsters the consumer journey by improving personalization for enterprise marketing and unlocking data extraction for customer calls to the contact center.

• April 25, 2023 25 Apr'23

  Salesforce brings Einstein GPT to Field Service Mobile

  The CRM giant harnesses generative AI to let Field Service Mobile users create drafts and discuss customer problems on Slack and help them find self-service tools.

• April 19, 2023 19 Apr'23

  Salesforce integrates Einstein GPT and Data Cloud into Flow

  The CRM giant updated Flow, its automation toolkit, with generative AI and Data Cloud capabilities to trigger automatic responses using natural language prompts and real-time data.

• April 14, 2023 14 Apr'23

  Zendesk teams with OpenAI for new AI-backed CX tools

  The CX giant's partnership with OpenAI brings new tools to help CX personnel summarize content, create knowledge bases and macros, and quickly compose ticket responses.

• April 06, 2023 06 Apr'23

  Overcoming data privacy challenges in digital marketing

  As access to customers' personal data tightens, online marketers must reevaluate their strategies to reach their desired targets in an effective and creative way.

• April 05, 2023 05 Apr'23

  Salesforce forms new Trailblazer community group for sales

  The CRM software giant aims to fill sales personnel gap with new sales-focused learners group named Salesblazer and sales certification for existing courses.

• March 27, 2023 27 Mar'23

  Canva steps up design game with new AI-powered design tools

  The platform provides accessible tools for small businesses that need design help. Canva is also escalating its technology to compete against bigger design platforms such as Adobe.

• March 22, 2023 22 Mar'23

  Adobe unveils new collaboration tool for marketing teams

  The CX giant revealed new technology for faster workflows between marketing, product and data teams to collaborate on marketing campaigns in its new Product Analytics platform.

• March 21, 2023 21 Mar'23

  Adobe Firefly brings generative AI image marketing tool

  The CX giant's Firefly is an image creator trained on millions of visuals from Adobe stock content to understand written commands and make images for better marketing.

• March 21, 2023 21 Mar'23

  Adobe and RainFocus pair for more data insight at events

  The CX software giant pairs with the event marketing services vendor to provide customers with tools for deeper personalized experiences at in-person and online events.

• March 13, 2023 13 Mar'23

  CX personalization drives strategy for customer data mining

  Users are more likely to engage with custom-made, exclusive digital experiences, which ease the flow of zero- and first-party data back to the vendor for improved CX strategies.

• March 08, 2023 08 Mar'23

  Qualtrics' customer experience tools enter rage-filled times

  Qualtrics rolls out new customer experience tools while it ponders a buyout from Silver Lake, a private equity firm.

• March 07, 2023 07 Mar'23

  HubSpot intros AI tools to make content creation easier

  The new AI tools are aimed at marketing, sales and customer service teams that create websites and blogs. They also provide customers with a natural language chat-based experience.

• March 07, 2023 07 Mar'23

  Salesforce joins generative AI ranks with Einstein GPT

  The CRM giant capitalizes on GPT 3.5 tech, weaving generative AI into code creation, Slack tools and customer interactions. The vendor also launched a $250M AI investment fund.

• March 06, 2023 06 Mar'23

  Microsoft's new Dynamics 365 Copilot uses generative AI

  Copilot accelerates routine tasks for marketing and sales teams like creating email responses and collecting customer insight data, intensifying the AI race in CRM software.

• March 01, 2023 01 Mar'23

  Generative AI-supported tools coming from Pegasystems

  CRM platform Pega Infinity will incorporate artificial intelligence language tools for quicker task management, insight visualization and app development.

• February 24, 2023 24 Feb'23

  CRM titan Salesforce is squeezed in a competitive market

  CRM and CX giant Salesforce is plagued by an activist investor, slower business growth and pressure to increase profit margins with layoffs as the CRM market gets more competitive.

• February 03, 2023 03 Feb'23

  Salesforce upheaval likely as Elliott Management moves in

  As the CRM and CX giant's financial fortunes have sagged in recent years, activist investor funds have targeted the vendor for cuts that could slow technology R&D and investment.

• January 24, 2023 24 Jan'23

  Google faces new DOJ lawsuit over advertising technology

  The DOJ alleges that Google maintains an illegal monopoly over advertising technology used by website publishers and advertisers.

• January 18, 2023 18 Jan'23

  Microsoft and Salesforce step up smart store retail tech

  The tech giants are quickly evolving their technologies aimed at the brick and mortar commerce market, with new software for smart store analytics, CX and retail associates.

• January 04, 2023 04 Jan'23

  Telus completes WillowTree acquisition in $1.2B CX deal

  Telus acquired the developer of customer experience products, including mobile apps and unified web interfaces, and strengthened its position in the custom CX and UI market.

• January 04, 2023 04 Jan'23

  Salesforce 2023 layoff plans follow recent executive exodus

  Changes continue to shake up Salesforce, with a 10% workforce reduction and office space closures this year following recent departures of top executives.

• January 03, 2023 03 Jan'23

  Digital marketing tips for growth amid economic uncertainty

  Budgets are down, social media is unreliable, the economy is rough. That could make first-party data, loyalty programs and streaming video better marketing investments.

• December 22, 2022 22 Dec'22

  AI bots lack one critical skill for customer service jobs

  Experts -- including ChatGPT itself -- debate the extent to which customer service AI tools can help contact center agents amid rising demand and high turnover rates.

• December 13, 2022 13 Dec'22

  MuleSoft CEO Brent Hayward on Salesforce integrations, APIs

  In four-plus years since its acquisition, MuleSoft has emerged as vital connective tissue inside and outside the Salesforce platform. Interview with CEO Brent Hayward.

• December 08, 2022 08 Dec'22

  Salesforce-Slack integrations continue as cofounder departs

  Salesforce unveils new Slack and Sales Cloud integrations following news that Slack's cofounder and other executives at the company have stepped down.

• November 29, 2022 29 Nov'22

  Amazon Connect users get Contact Lens AI chat analytics

  Contact Lens expands into chat channels. Also on tap in Amazon Connect: Agent performance monitoring and expanded, machine learning-driven workforce management tools.

• November 10, 2022 10 Nov'22

  Salesforce releases Genie for Healthcare, Patient 360 additions

  Electronic medical records remain the systems of record in the Salesforce universe. Adding a CRM approach on top of that enables a better patient experience, the company believes.

• November 09, 2022 09 Nov'22

  Zendesk updates focus on customer service AI 'ticket triage'

  Zendesk incorporates intelligent triage -- AI-guided routing of tickets based on sentiment, urgency and complexity -- into its customer service platform.

• November 02, 2022 02 Nov'22

  Twilio delivers API-driven customer engagement platform

  Twilio's new customer engagement platform merges Flex customer service and messaging with the Segment customer data platform.

• October 28, 2022 28 Oct'22

  How Musk's Twitter takeover could affect business accounts

  Potential changes to Twitter's advertising and security policies are top issues for business owners who rely on the social media platform for brand visibility and sales.

• October 26, 2022 26 Oct'22

  Contact centers weather pandemic, but are very different now

  As customer service leaders dig out from the pandemic, Great Resignation and Great Relocation, they must deal with growing volume while competing for agents.

• October 25, 2022 25 Oct'22

  Salesforce releases cloud contact center update

  New capabilities in Salesforce Contact Center give agents AI tools for analyzing voice conversations, AI bots for self-service and call routing, and more.

• October 19, 2022 19 Oct'22

  Qualtrics tackles contact center experience measurement

  Can employee experience improvement, especially in the contact center, improve the customer experience? Qualtrics wants users to measure it and find out.

• October 19, 2022 19 Oct'22

  Oracle pushes forward with CX tech amid layoff cycle

  Rumors of the demise of Oracle marketing, CRM and customer service turn out to be unfounded, as the company forges ahead with vertical-specific CX offerings.

• October 13, 2022 13 Oct'22

  Salesforce Industries adds Automotive Cloud CRM

  Salesforce releases Automotive Cloud, a customer sales, service, marketing and commerce platform for car and truck dealers, manufacturers and financiers.

• October 12, 2022 12 Oct'22

  Microsoft adds conversational AI to Dynamics 365

  At Ignite, Microsoft Dynamics 365 users get AI-based automation capabilities with emphasis on conversational intelligence for sales and customer service.

• October 06, 2022 06 Oct'22

  OpenText shares customer experience cloud platform roadmap

  Two years after its initial release, OpenText Experience Cloud finds its footing with integrations to enable composable experiences with content and data.

• September 29, 2022 29 Sep'22

  Digital customer experience top of mind for PGA Tour

  The PGA Tour's head of fan engagement discusses the tech stack that makes the organization connect better with fans, sponsors, golf pros and more.

• September 27, 2022 27 Sep'22

  Salesforce's Marc Benioff and Bret Taylor the latest co-CEO trial

  Some software companies rule their worlds with co-CEOs for years. Other co-CEO arrangements don't last long. We consider the future of Salesforce's current chief executive duo.

• September 22, 2022 22 Sep'22

  Microsoft Viva Sales CRM automation focuses on end users

  Microsoft Viva Sales takes AI notes from calls and automates data entry and other routine tasks. It's the latest tech to improve the sales rep experience.

• September 21, 2022 21 Sep'22

  Salesforce customers react as details about Genie emerge

  Salesforce grows up by connecting all its clouds to one data platform. The hard part will be demonstrating value behind the investments it will require.

• September 20, 2022 20 Sep'22

  Salesforce Genie integrates automation, CDP, AI features

  Salesforce Genie delivers a suite of automation, analytics and customer data tools the company claims is one of its biggest innovations over its 20-plus year history.

• September 15, 2022 15 Sep'22

  Salesforce new training goal: 20K new admins, developers

  Salesforce partners with nonprofits and customers to mint more admins, developers and consultants needed to sustain the company's five-year growth plan.

• September 14, 2022 14 Sep'22

  Salesforce adds automation features across Customer 360

  Salesforce's upcoming Customer 360 features include automation tied together with CDP data for sales, marketing, service and e-commerce.

• September 13, 2022 13 Sep'22

  NFTs can boost customer loyalty -- if people would chill out

  Starbucks launched an NFT loyalty program, which could change the public's -- and marketers' -- attitude toward the technology. But most people still have reservations.

• September 08, 2022 08 Sep'22

  HubSpot's growing CRM takes on Salesforce -- but not head-on

  No one is saying that HubSpot is building a 'baby Salesforce' for small to medium-sized businesses. But it looks a lot like that is exactly what's happening.

• August 31, 2022 31 Aug'22

  DOT dashboard, Biden regs address airline customer service

  The U.S. Department of Transportation's new dashboard shines light on airline passenger rights, and President Biden proposes new rules to make fees more transparent.

• August 26, 2022 26 Aug'22

  Cloud e-commerce revives product information management tech

  E-commerce managers have dusted off a tech oldie: the PIM system, 1990s tech that predates the internet's mass adoption. The new tools, of course, are way cooler.

• August 22, 2022 22 Aug'22

  Salesforce offers new pricing option with 'Easy' subscription

  The Salesforce Easy subscription offers CRM, customer service and rudimentary email marketing in a self-service subscription and lower per-seat price.

• August 17, 2022 17 Aug'22

  NI CMO: Marketing should lead corporate social responsibility

  As Gen Z holds brands accountable for corporate social responsibility values, Ana Villegas, CMO at NI (National Instruments), makes the case that marketing teams should handle CSR.

• August 12, 2022 12 Aug'22

  Third-party cookies remain as Google advertising in DOJ's sights

  If Google gets sued by U.S. antitrust authorities on the grounds its advertising network is a monopoly, marketers need to plan for how it may affect their operations.

• August 10, 2022 10 Aug'22

  Oracle CX layoffs: What customers should do right now

  After the turmoil that has hit Oracle's customer experience division, here's what current enterprise customers need to do next to preserve their technology investments.

• August 10, 2022 10 Aug'22

  Salesforce adds headless commerce capabilities

  Salesforce enables 'composable commerce' -- headless e-commerce, where users bring their own interface designs -- for large brick-and-mortar retailers and online-only sellers.

• July 26, 2022 26 Jul'22

  Oracle releases major Fusion Sales CRM update, facelift

  Oracle Fusion Sales users get a new UX and new features, including microsites called 'digital sales rooms,' which parallel Microsoft and Salesforce sales collaboration features.

• July 25, 2022 25 Jul'22

  SAP green CX tech aids sustainable retail, B2B sales

  SAP users can tackle sustainable e-commerce -- and be accountable to customers wary of 'greenwashing' -- with a bundle of Qualtrics, CDP, e-commerce and other tech tools.

• July 19, 2022 19 Jul'22

  Microsoft releases cloud contact center platform

  Contact center platform technology buyers have another option: Microsoft assembles a CCaaS from Nuance, Power Platform, Teams and -- for those who need it -- Dynamics 365 tech.

• July 12, 2022 12 Jul'22

  HubSpot releases free CMS with marketing, CRM integrations

  HubSpot small-business users are the focus of free CMS, marketing automation and CRM features, after the company spent several release cycles wooing enterprise customers.

• July 11, 2022 11 Jul'22

  Optimizely CEO talks roadmap plans, A/B testing and DXP

  Optimizely CEO explains why the company bet big on digital marketers' perpetual need for A/B testing. Also: how content management systems morphed into experience tech.

• June 29, 2022 29 Jun'22

  Salesforce users get more low-code automation, including RPA

  Salesforce integrates MuleSoft RPA and Composer with Salesforce Flow, which avails low-code process automation and bot creation to line-of-business users.

• June 23, 2022 23 Jun'22

  Microsoft Viva Sales takes on Salesforce-Slack tandem

  The Salesforce-Microsoft rivalry reignites as CRM applications vendors focus on employee experience by automating tasks that subtract selling time from a sales rep's day.

• June 23, 2022 23 Jun'22

  Salesforce Financial Services Cloud features focus on EX

  Salesforce for Financial Services adds employee experience tools -- a nod to evolving digitization of banking, wealth management and insurance users' operations.

• June 20, 2022 20 Jun'22

  AWS Amazon Connect adds case management tools

  The AWS contact center as a service, Amazon Connect, previews tools to manage cases. The features will drive more self-service workflows based on case data.

• June 16, 2022 16 Jun'22

  Salesforce Sales Cloud Unlimited Edition adds AI, automation

  Pricing stays the same for Salesforce Sales Cloud's highest-level subscription, but formerly a la carte tools are now included that span AI-powered analytics and automation.

• June 14, 2022 14 Jun'22

  Adobe adds CDP functionality for B2B use cases

  Adobe catches up with the competition with the release of new customer data platform features for marketers, including a 'data clean room' and tools for B2B users.

• June 08, 2022 08 Jun'22

  Salesforce moves forward with controversial NFT Cloud pilot

  Salesforce integrates with TikTok and adds marketing and e-commerce features to its platform -- including NFT Cloud, which sparked controversy earlier this year.

• June 06, 2022 06 Jun'22

  Contact center orchestration features on tap from Genesys

  Genesys is set to productize contact center technology from LogMeIn Bold360, Exceed.ai and Pointillist acquisitions to better compete with Microsoft, Zoom and Salesforce.