Salesforce teams with Cisco for call centre package

Cisco and Salesforce have introduced the Customer Interaction Cloud

Cisco Systems and Salesforce.com are teaming up to offer a new service for enterprise call centres.

The companies said that the new Customer Interaction Cloud will seek to replace conventional call centre systems with a cloud-based offering.

Customer Interaction Cloud combines elements of Cisco's Unified Communications platform with Salesforce.com's Service Cloud 2.

Customers would use hardware and software from Cisco's Unified Contact Center system for call routing and telephony services. Customer service agents would then be able to access and manage customer data through the Service Cloud 2 platform.

Central to the service would be a special connector component which will link the two services and give operators access to the Service Cloud 2 features.

"The combination of Cisco's Unified Communications and Salesforce.com's Service Cloud 2 will provide companies with a true cloud-based option when it comes to their customer service needs," said Alex Dayon, senior vice president of service and support products at Salesforce.com.

"Companies will no longer have to manage routers, servers and switches when it comes to their contact centre. They can focus on delivering the best customer service possible."

Simplification is not the only goal of the new campaign. By combining the two services into a single product, Cisco and Salesforce.com hope to offer customer service representatives greater access to information, and the ability to work with customers across multiple channels of communication, such as blogging and social networking services.