Oracle has announced the next version of its Siebel CRM product, which it said takes account of the latest developments in customer relationship management.

Anthony Lye, Oracle CRM vice president said in a web cast today, “CRM needs to understand new relationships that are developing between customers and business and between customers and customers.” Businesses must expand their communication channels accordingly, he added.

It is for this reason that Oracle will now offer Siebel Chat and add more self-service web capabilities by updating Siebel Self-Service with Java-based J2EE applications that are based on the Fusion Middleware.

Siebel CRM 8.1.1 will also offer users more comprehensive search capabilities.

Lye explained that there had been a shift by businesses from deploying back-office CRM strategies to front-office strategies. “For example CRM is now a pivotal point for pricing and promotions,” he said.

New features have been added to Siebel Loyalty, Siebel Marketing and Siebel Sales to give users more insight into customer actions and analytical abilities, he added.

Also announced by the database giant today was Oracle CRM Gadgets.

“These are small applications that leverage desktop and Adobe Air technology,” explained Lye.

The first of the new Oracle Gadgets – CRM Gadgets for Sales – will allow businesses to combine corporate data on their customers from an organisation’s CRM system with public data from the internet

“CRM needs to understand social networks and has to employ collaborative techniques,” Lye said.

Pre-built integration with Oracle Contact Centre On Demand will allow users of the gadget to make phone calls and capture the call information directly into the CRM system.

Examples of individual gadgets include a My Contacts Gadget that will allow users to search contacts from their Siebel CRM or Oracle CRM On Demand application and from social networking sites. A Top Accounts Gadget will provide a mashup of key account management data from the CRM system together with internet-based content.

CRM Gadgets for Sales will be made available as a free download to Oracle CRM customers with existing contracts. The gadgets will be ready for use on any desktop operating system or web browser, Oracle said.