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As per a report published by the Equal Rights Center in 2011, blind and visually impaired individuals routinely face barriers in receiving information regarding their health care including documents such as test results, prescriptions, etc., benefits information such as Explanation of Benefits, eligibility and termination information and e-delivered communications such as billing statements, summary of benefits and more in accessible formats. This includes information received by visually impaired Americans being covered by Medicare and Medicaid. These individuals are often presented with work-around solutions, such as relying on friends, family or healthcare practitioners to read their private medical information to them. Not only is this a breach of the individual's privacy, but also leads to outcomes that could result in poor health and loss of benefits. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS), an agency of the US Department of Health and Human Services, is the largest single payer for health care in the United States. As per data from the CMS: 90 Million Americans receive healthcare coverage through Medicare, Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program. Approximately 4.3 million individuals over the age of 65 report some form of visual impairment. There are also approximately 700,000 Medicare beneficiaries between the ages of 21 and 64 who have some form of visual impairment. Private healthcare insurers have been contracted by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to offer Medicare and Medicaid programs, and these insurance providers must meet federal regulation i.e. Section 508, requiring that they ensure access to and use of their websites and digital documentation to people with disabilities, including the blind or visually impaired individuals. Non-compliance could lead to penalties and the loss of lucrative contracts for insurers. It is therefore no surprise that document (e.g. PDF) accessibility is a hot-button issue for government and even private healthcare insurers contracted by the CMS. As "public accommodations" under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), healthcare insurers are generally well aware of their legal responsibility to customers with disabilities such as visual impairment, and are quite used to complying with these regulations. But now that accessibility requirements are expanding into cyberspace, healthcare insurers need to find appropriate technology solutions for this new challenge. Until a couple of years ago, it simply had not been possible for healthcare insurers to create high-volume, communications and documents in accessible PDF format. The sheer scale of production, with documents numbering in the thousands or millions, precludes manual remediation because of several limiting factors: Costs of manually remediating documents Delivery time due to the laborious nature of manual remediation Stringent accessibility tagging requirements OpenText has created an automated, software-based solution to address these very limitations. The OpenText Automated Output Accessibility solution can generate accessible PDFs from any high-volume, system-generated input print stream or other formats quickly and efficiently, while keeping storage size at bay. The solution was designed using thousands of man-hours worth of very specific experience and expertise in the system-generated document accessibility space, and our industry-leading transformation engine enables generating accessible output in the milliseconds. In fact, the output generated from this solution has been reviewed by the National Federation of the Blind and other prominent organizations for the visually impaired. Learn more about the OpenText Automated Output Accessibility solution at http://ccm.actuate.com/solutions/document-accessibility.Read More
Upcoming Accessibility Deadlines for Federal Student Loan Statement Servicers
Section 508 and WCAG compliance has been an important mandate for the U.S. Federal Government, and the Department of Education is one of the government agencies actively working towards meeting these requirements for visually impaired students receiving federal loans. The Department of Education has now issued time frames and deadlines for WCAG compliance to student loan servicers that generate and distribute federal Direct Loan Program (DLP) statements, notices and communications. Accordingly, all loan statements, notices and communications, forms and websites need to be made available to borrowers in accessible read-only HTML format or non-proprietary equivalent (e.g. accessible PDF), complying with Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act and WCAG 2.0, within a few short months. The Federal Government has also established additional time frames for testing and verification of accessibility compliance before the actual deadline, for making accessible content available to borrowers. Loan service providers typically generate statements, notices and communications in print stream or PDF formats. Making these accessible using traditional methods is manual, laborious, time-consuming and expensive. Visually impaired students therefore typically experience a lag in receiving critical information included in their statements, notices and communications in formats they can access due to the time lines and delays involved in generating manually tagged accessible PDFs, Braille, Large Print, Audio or HTML formats. This is far from ideal, and visually impaired students are now expecting to be treated the same as anyone else would be with regards to the timely availability of important information. Most Federal Student Loan Statement Servicers are still struggling to find a solution that meets compliance and can be made operational before the required deadlines. While building a new solution from scratch is often how IT departments approach technology challenges, given the tight timelines involved and the level of accuracy, expertise, testing capabilities and technological know-how required in building a solution, it is not an efficient way of addressing this particular requirement. Key points for Federal Loan Service Providers to consider when implementing an automated accessibility solution: The solution should be easy to implement and should not require management of multiple formats Storage costs should not increase as a result of the solution The solution should be infinitely scalable and be able to support the demands of generating millions of documents without performance issues The OpenText Automated Output Accessibility solution addresses each of these requirements, and can generate accessible PDFs from any input print stream format quickly and efficiently, while keeping storage size at bay. The solution was designed using thousands of man-hours worth of very specific experience and expertise in the system-generated document accessibility space, and our industry-leading transformation engine enables generating accessible output in the milliseconds. In fact, the output generated from this solution has been reviewed by the National Federation of the Blind as well as the Department of Education. Using best-of-breed technology and accessibility-specific expertise is the only fool-proof way of meeting the tight time frames and deadlines defined by the Department of Education. Learn more about our solution here.Read More
Accessible PDF Discussion: A Solution for High-Volume Customer Communications
To help them achieve complete web accessibility, organizations require a viable technology solution for automatically generating high-volume (i.e., enterprise-level) personalized customer communications in Accessible PDF format. Such a solution would give blind and visually impaired people immediate and equal access to electronic documents, which they currently do not have. This series of blog posts explains why demand is increasing for customer communication documents in Accessible PDF format, describes current industry practices for producing these documents, and introduces a new technology option that enables organizations to keep PDF format as their default electronic format for high-volume, web-delivered documents of record while enabling full accessibility and usability of those PDFs for individuals who are blind or visually impaired. In recent blog posts we examined the Drivers behind Web Content Accessibility, Best Practices for PDF and Accessible PDF and Approaches to Generating Accessible PDFs. In this post, we will examine a new, patented, state-of-the-art technology solution that is specifically designed to generate high volumes of Accessible PDF. You can also access the complete white paper on this topic, Enterprise-Level PDF Accessiblity: Drivers, Challenges and Innovative Solutions. New Technology for Generating Enterprise-Level Accessible PDFs A first-to-market, enterprise-level technology for automatically producing personalized customer communications in Accessible PDF format is now market available. The new technology converts print streams, documents, and data into Accessible PDFs, either in high-volume batches (i.e., thousands, millions) or individually on demand (dynamically in real time). Organizations can use this type of innovative technology to simultaneously improve customer experience for people with visual disabilities and comply with relevant accessibility legislation such as the ADA, Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act, Section 255 of the Telecommunications Act, and the CVAA. Accessibility Rules Unlike manual remediation, this automated technology leverages a sophisticated, inherently flexible rules model, ensuring that each source document, whether in PDF or print stream format, completely incorporates the specified accessibility rules. Accessibility templates can be easily edited to ensure production continuity of recurring (e.g., monthly) high-volume transactional documents. Organizations may need to secure accessibility expertise (at least initially) to define PDF accessibility rules for each document type, although the various document authors and creators require no specialized accessibility knowledge because the automated technology includes a highly intelligent graphical user interface. Quality Control Visual PDF tag inspection and usability testing is not required on every page, as it is with manual remediation. Instead, quality control can be maintained with automated and manual accessibility/usability testing on small batches of documents. This patented technology utilizes PDF/UA format (ISO 14289-1) and incorporates the Matterhorn Protocol2 to generate Accessible PDF output that has been independently tested and found to conform to WCAG 2.0, Level AA, by nationally and internationally recognized prominent advocacy organizations and well respected worldwide accessibility firms. Deployment This innovative technology can be deployed as a traditional on-premise traditional or virtual software installation, or as a cloud-based solution. Observed Effect on Traditional Format Production Recent cloud deployments of this new technology are having an unexpected, positive effect on the production of traditional alternate formats such as Braille, large print, and audio. These traditional formats, like manual PDF remediation, can be time and cost intensive to produce, and can delay the delivery of customer communications. The rich, structured output from this automated technology has allowed for automation of the production of traditional formats, including Braille, large print, and audio, lessening the labor resources needed for manual processing. Each personalized communication statement or notice can be produced more efficiently, reducing cost and delivery time for alternate hardcopy formats. ePresentment Options With the advent of affordable, scalable technology for automatically producing high-volume Accessible PDF documents, private organizations and government agencies suddenly have a number of new options for presenting online customer communications. For example, organizations can provide Accessible PDF communications by default, creating an inclusionary environment while meeting legislative mandates. This delivery scenario enables blind and visually impaired people to access their personal information at the same time as other customers, without the delays associated with requesting alternate hardcopy formats. Or, instead of producing Accessible PDFs by default, organizations with existing systems for online presentment of PDF documents may choose to provide customers with on-demand conversion to Accessible PDF format, both for current PDFs and archived documents. For online users, this would mean replacing an inconvenient exception process with merely a few button clicks. Implications for Organizations and Individuals This innovative technology solution for enterprise-level PDF accessibility offers blind and visually impaired people equal (and instant) access to electronic documents, empowering them to be more independent, make more timely financial and other critical decisions, and participate more fully in the 24/7 digital world. Imagine, individuals who prefer digital technology can finally say "No, thanks" to exception processes, accommodations, late-arriving hardcopies in alternate formats, and other such hassles. For blind and visually impaired people who do not currently request documents in alternate formats, and instead rely on family, friends, and support workers to help them manage their affairs, this technology gives them another avenue for becoming more independent. With the arrival of this groundbreaking automated technology and its ready availability to organizations producing customer communication PDFs, 20+ million blind and visually impaired Americans have an opportunity to use their buying power to affect meaningful change. They can achieve this by patronizing service providers that offer instant online access to Accessible PDF versions of bank and credit card statements, phone bills, insurance documents, and other routine (yet vital) communications. Likewise, they can demand a comparable level of service from government agencies, non-profits, and institutions of higher education. This type of technology is a game changer for industry, for government, and most importantly for blind and visually impaired people who deserve equal access to the entire internet, including websites, web content, and web-delivered documents. For more information on this technology, visit ccm.actuate.com.Read More
This year at NAB, OpenText is demonstrating an example of how integrated and interconnected technologies working together are able to support the Digital Media Supply Chain. OpenText Media Management is an enterprise Digital Asset Management, DAM, system that is an integral part of the core infrastructure for digital media in organizations whether video, publishing, branding, or global marketing campaigns. What is this "Digital Media Supply Chain"? For many of the largest companies it is a transformation from linear processes to a non-linear, dynamic, real-time delivery supply chain across multiple channels and outlets. Media companies have many projects across multiple production areas – video, graphics, photography – plus contributions from agencies, stock houses and contractors. Delivery is not just for a single channel, but an amalgamation of many delivery and consumption points, each with its own requirements. Media Management is interconnected with technologies from OpenText and others, managing digital media as it is created, stored and delivered. It supports the Digital Media Supply Chain from project initiation and production to delivery and analytics. Unlike traditional DAM systems, Media Management has engineered a platform allowing customers to connect people, processes, and content with a sophisticated yet simple HTML5 UI. Media Management supports enterprise-wide ecosystems and digital media supply chains for global delivery of rich media across multiple channels and platforms. What this means for our customers is a "media-enabled" infrastructure to streamline content and data flows throughout the organization. At NAB, our story demonstrates a complex ecosystem from media creation to consumption with Media Management providing a "single source of truth" and a consolidated asset repository for video, marketing, branding, commerce and global distribution. This sophisticated ecosystem has many interdependent and interrelated technologies. It is not just gluing the technologies together; it is orchestrating the flow of data, collaboration and synchronization, then automating the processes for streamlined input and output. Media Management has an open platform with REST APIs, and web services to integrate and even embed DAM functionality with the many different systems and technologies. This centralized repository for media content, with browser-based, user-friendly search and easy (yet secure) sharing helps eliminate all those multiple islands of unmanaged digital assets throughout an organization. Our story starts as an idea that gets a green light, initiating a new project. OpenText Process Suite orchestrates the people, resources, schedule and budget, triggering a flexible project structure in OTMM for all the content deliverables – such as video promos, DVD covers, one-sheets, web graphics, ecommerce, catalogs, artwork for merchandising, billboards, and cross-channel ad and social campaigns. These deliverables and their dependencies are produced in parallel using, reusing and repurposing content and designs for multiple channels and campaigns, allowing producers to select teams, assign and monitor tasks. It is connected to rights and talent contracts to provide detailed usage and contract information as the project progresses. Creative teams use their native tools integrated with Media Management for work-in-progress, versioning, metadata tagging and storage. Collaboration, annotation, reviews and approval for video and images are done in real-time for single assets or collections with a complete audit trail. Media Management has secure, encrypted file acceleration embedded in the platform guaranteeing fast delivery of large files. All of this supports multiple production centers with Media Management as the central repository to search, collect, manage and share digital content. OpenText Media Management bridges the creative production processes and Omni-channel delivery, enabling a faster and more dynamic media supply chain. It automates transformation of digital media to the proper format, aspect ratio and bit-rate based on the delivery channel allowing automated publishing to Web Content Management Systems, such as OpenText Web Experience Management System, CDN file delivery, integration with ecommerce platforms, CRM, and interactive communications. As marketing and commerce shift to high gear, it provides usage metrics as part of the larger analytics and data to allow better performance insight and the ability to make adjustments. Media Management is a core technology within the OpenText Customer Experience Management (CEM) Suite, which includes Web Experience Management, Interactive Customer Communication. OpenText delivers the integrated environments to support the many different teams involved in the creation, management and delivery of rich media. Digital Media Supply Chains enabled with OpenText technology provide a platform for today and a foundation for the future. Discover more about OpenText Media Management here.Read More
Cloud Quotation Management: Mobility Redefined
Consider this. It's Friday afternoon. The sun is shining and everyone at the office is enjoying the chance to eat lunch outside. You're already considering your plans for the weekend. Then the phone rings with a customer on the other end. He needs a quotation. Right away. You have two options. You can wolf down your lunch, return to your office, and ruin not just your own afternoon, but that of your co-workers and office staff too – trying to put everything together as fast as possible for the client in question. Maybe you are getting home at 8 p.m., if you're lucky, with no energy to enjoy the rest of the day. Alternatively, you can take out your smartphone and have the quotation ready to go before your next bite, sending it directly to the customer or to your manager for approval. And you can have all of that done in a couple of minutes, with calculated prices and discounts, up-to-date information and your company's corporate branding incorporated. Sounds impossible? It isn't. In fact, that's precisely what cloud quotation management is for. It's true that cloud computing has had its fair share of growing pains and inconsistencies over the past few years. At first, scalability, document production, storage and printing from the cloud were, at best, available only by using unwieldy workarounds. And to make matters worse, there were all kinds of uncertainties regarding hosting and the countries in which sensitive data would be stored. But things have changed: many of those problems are now a thing of the past. The impact of these changes couldn't be clearer. Cloud-based CRM systems are becoming increasingly more prevalent, and the number of cloud products, apps and solutions designed to increase productivity is growing day by day. This, in turn, has resulted in the slow but sure migration of processes to the cloud as well. And quotation management is no exception, with benefits that include not only completely new possibilities for sales departments, but also an unparalleled boost in efficiency. Save Time by Using Cloud Quotation Management There's nothing worse than having to waste time. Commuting, traveling, waiting at the airport or train station – few other things are as maddeningly unproductive. That's why vendors such as Salesforce.com, Cobra and SugarCRM are releasing solutions that push the envelope in terms of how useful smartphone business apps can be. And their users couldn't be happier. This trend may or may not have been kick-started by Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, who had a vision of managing his company through his smartphone. And now software vendors and app programmers are pursuing that same vision too, coming up with new business apps every second. The result? Even the most experienced salesperson can now increase their productivity and save valuable time by using cloud-based tools – including cloud quotation management – wherever they are. Increase Reliability by Using Cloud Quotation Management If you work with Customer Relationship Management (CRM) or Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) systems, you are probably already aware of the fact that appropriate process-specific actions are triggered automatically. However, you may not be aware that you can take advantage of this exact same behavior when using cloud quotation management systems. Just like a local or on-premise CRM system, you can rely on processes and actions that will run automatically as soon as they're initiated. Cloud quotation management enables you to trigger these actions and processes from your smartphone or tablet. In fact, these processes can take care of most of the work in the background. They can be used, for example, with PowerDocs to prepare quotations, request approvals and send emails automatically. Reduce Risk by Using Cloud Quotation Management By mapping and integrating company-specific processes into your cloud quotation management system, you can minimize quotation errors before you even get started. For example, the editing process, the data retrieval process and the quotation writing process can all be centrally managed. In addition, the system can be set up in such a way that outside and inside salespeople will be able to access the content they need based on permissions, create quotations with only a few taps by relying on smart querying processes, and send their quotations directly to their customers or to their supervisors for approval. And that's regardless of the number of pages, documents and attachments involved. To put it simply, correctly delineating and defining the processes for cloud quotation management in advance takes a load off sales departments' shoulders, making their work much easier overall. Using the Right Cloud Quotation Management Tool What else do you need to know about cloud quotation management? First of all, it doesn't necessarily require a cloud-based CRM. Cloud quotation management solutions can also be effectively combined with on-premises systems, meaning that, for instance, you can merge data from ERP, CRM and inventory control systems and retrieve, modify or edit it while you're with a customer. In addition, every large CRM vendor has cloud apps available, though these are admittedly difficult when it comes to company-specific processes and mapping workflows in detail. Not surprisingly, this means that independent tools are often worth a look. In fact, these tools can come in very handy when switching between database systems or merging data from various systems, as they allow salespeople to continue working with the user interface they are familiar with, eliminating frustration and the need for time-consuming training in the process. PowerDocs is one of such tools. Be Ready for the Future Today, with Cloud Quotation Management The revolution that is cloud computing, apps for business applications, and mobile working solutions has only just begun and will keep growing more and more in the coming years. Not surprisingly, communications, as well as the speed at which business is conducted, are changing along with it. This is why it's necessary to automate as many processes now as possible, in order to be able to meet the future needs of customers today. Cloud quotation management is not only the perfect solution, but is also an ideal way to optimize quotation management – all while making it easier and faster.Read More
Preparing Quotations: 7 Tips for Success
How can companies ensure that the quotations they prepare will be successful, bringing in more orders? It's a question we're approached with quite often. And we have 2 key recommendations. Although the specifics can vary depending on the project and the customer in question, organizations should always consider the following: Focus on content Use the right tool But this advice is, of course, very broad. So we wanted to use this blog post to break these 2 suggestions down further, applying our own experience working with clients, as well as Gartner analysis on the subject. With that in mind, consider the following 7 tips. 7 Tips for Preparing a Good Quotation Focus on the benefits the customer will achieve if they choose your quotation and products. Buyers are more interested in the results they can expect from a business relationship than in a mere presentation of products or solutions on the surface. Make sure those results are front and center. Don't add anything to your quotation that the customer didn't ask for. Doing so can create a bad impression. Documents that embody the ideas and prerequisites that have been jointly accepted are more likely to succeed. Proactively point out options that can help avoid risks. If it's impossible to fully rule out all risks, make sure to indicate which risks will be involved. Offer options to reduce or avoid them as much as possible. Help ease the way for change. Quotations and associated products can often lead to change within a company, and competing against the status quo will often be your greatest challenge. So support the change process from the moment you prepare a quotation, making the customer feel that you'll be at their side through every single step. Provide information that's relevant. You can perfect the technical process of preparing quotations down to the smallest detail, but if a quotation's contents are not relevant to the customer, or if the customer feels that you did not understand their needs, your quotations will be doomed to fail. Make sure to clearly define and communicate important details. Don't hide any costs in the offer or accompanying documents. Also, make sure the whole company works together and that any external business partners are involved in the process. This is the only way to avoid unintended surprises down the line, ensuring transparency, reliability and certainty, both internally and externally. Follow a standard process. The effort involved to manually prepare a quotation will escalate the moment it starts to get a little complex. That's where the right tools become indispensable. Make sure to follow set structures and focus on the essentials. In other words: focus on content, and use the right tool. Successful quotations depend on both, and these 7 tips will help you achieve that. Preparing quotations with PowerDocs Relevant information, process guidance and standardization are not just buzzwords. Find out what it's like to completely redefine the preparation of quotations with the known reliability of Microsoft Word and the cutting-edge productivity of PowerDocs.Read More
Top 10 News Stories from Actuate for 2014
This has been a huge year at Actuate. Between new products, acquisitions, and growth in our community, we've been busy providing great software across all of our divisions that help our customers meet their challenges in novel ways. Today, as 2014 winds down, we're highlighting ten of our biggest news stories of the year. January 21: Actuate Patents PDF Accessibility Solution for Automated Tagging and Delivery of High Volume Content to the Visually Impaired. We were proud to kick off the year by receiving U.S. Patent 8619272, called "Automated Assistive Technology for the Visually Impaired," for our PDF Accessibility Solution. This software integrates with an organization's existing document management system to capture high volume print streams and automatically create properly tagged, accessible documents. February 5: Actuate Acquires legodo ag to Expand its Accessible Customer Communications Management Solution. The company develops software for generation of personalized customer correspondence via any communication channel, including mobile devices, and its software allows organizations to tap into their existing ERP, CRM, and other applications when creating customer communications. February 6: Actuate Launches New Generation of BIRT Content Services to Streamline End-to-End Accessible Customer Communications Management. Called BIRT Content Services 5.0, this new version of Actuate's CCM product is now integrated with the BIRT iHub 3 deployment platform to enable end-to-end management of high volume customer communications. April 9: Actuate Introduces Document Accessibility Appliance to Automate Remediation of High Volumes of e-Delivered Customer Communications for Access by Vision-Impaired Customers. This virtual software appliance converts high volumes of electronically delivered documents into universally accessible PDF files (PDF/UA). Complying with WCAG 2.0 standards, the appliance helps organizations format and tag statements, bills, invoices, explanation of benefits and policy documents. May 7: BIRT Gains 500,000 New Developer Customers in Six Months; Community Grows to More than 3.5 Million BIRT Developers Worldwide. A quarterly survey by an independent, global developer research firm found that the community of BIRT developers keeps growing. "[T]he growth in the number of developers following Actuate is clearly reflected in the surge in our social media engagement levels," said Nobby Akiha, Actuate's Senior Vice President of Marketing. "Actuate's BIRT social media profile continues to grow organically, with new followers on Facebook, Twitter and Google+, indicating a vibrant and active BIRT community. We have also observed a 50% increase in the number of visitors to our new developer.actuate.com site since its introduction last fall." July 10:Actuate Launches BIRT iHub F-Type – Free Server for Over 3.5 Million BIRT Developers Building Data-driven Reports, Visualizations and Applications. A freemium version of our enterprise deployment platform, BIRT iHub F-Type has metered output capacity that can be expanded with an in-app purchase. Within 15 minutes of downloading BIRT iHub F-Type, a developer can import a BIRT report, schedule secure distribution, and export their report as a full-function Excel spreadsheet. Interactive personalization capabilities are automatically enabled, and developers can use BIRT iHub F-Type to embed dynamic reports and visualizations in applications. July 21: Actuate Announces BIRT Analytics 4.4 for Even Easier and Faster Big Data Advanced Analytics for Business Professionals. Our upgraded big data analytics platform for business analysts and users got powerful new algorithms and functionalities. "BIRT Analytics allows the business professional a way to easily explore and pivot billions of rows of data in seconds, while gaining immediate insights though visual representations of statistical models and advanced analytic techniques," said Peter Hoopes, General Manager of Actuate's BIRT Analytics Group. August 11: BIRT PowerDocs from Actuate is Now Available for the Salesforce1 Mobile App – Empowering Companies to Run their Businesses from Their Phones. Available in 10+ languages, BIRT PowerDocs is a cloud-based app designed to automatically incorporate ERP and CRM data and simplify generation of customer sales quotations and other correspondence within Salesforce1. It's available for test drive and deployment on the Salesforce AppExchange. October 21: Actuate, Braille Works and Venatôre Collaborate to Deliver Industry's First Cloud-Based Document Accessibility Service. Through key partnerships we expanded our offerings for the visually impaired community and for organizations that must comply with regulations such as Section 508 of the Rehabilitation Act. "Equal access to information is a basic right that every government agency must afford to individuals with vision loss," said Paul Schroeder, vice president of Programs and Policy for the American Foundation for the Blind. "The Cloud508 service makes it possible to generate information in accessible formats to meet the access needs of people who are blind or visually impaired." December 5: Actuate Signs Agreement to be Acquired by OpenText. The next chapter in Actuate's story should begin within a few weeks. From the press release: "The addition of Actuate enables OpenText to enhance their products with embedded analytics as well as enter a growing market. Together Actuate and OpenText will seek to extend the benefits of embedded analytics to more geographies and industries." We had to make some tough choices to whittle this list down to just ten entries. While we haven't noted them all here, we're also proud of our increasing profile among analysts and experts including Conformit, Dresner Advisory Services and Forrester; our growing profile in developer, open source, and social media communities; and our satisfied customers and partners like Phototype, IDS, and New York City Transit Authority who step up share their success stories. And we're very proud of our Data Driven Summits, so we're sharing videos of many great demos and panel discussions on the Actuate blog. With all of this in mind, 2015 promises to be another banner year for Actuate. We're glad to have you – our customers, partners and prospects – with us during this exciting time. Subscribe to our blog (at left) and you'll be the first to know when the next big things happen. Calendar image by Dafne Cholet.Read More
Accessible Communications Deadlines Looming for Public & Private Sectors in Ontario
Do you communicate with your customers electronically? An important deadline is looming for businesses that operate in Ontario. If your organization uses PDF documents in its Customer Communications strategy, then you should be concerned about the deadline for providing accessible communication supports in those PDF documents. The Accessibility for Ontarians with Disabilities Act (AODA) was established in 2005 to help fight discrimination against people with disabilities in Ontario. Since then, in 2010, the Ontario Government enacted the Integrated Accessibility Standards Regulation (IASR) under the AODA. The IASR has deadlines for organizations to provide accessible communication supports which are prescribed based on type and size of organization. The Ontario Government and Legislative Assembly are already on the hook to meet this requirement as of January 1st, 2014. The Public and Private sectors are expected to comply according to the following schedule: Large Public Sector Organizations as of January 1st, 2015; Small Public Sector Organizations and Large Private Organizations as of January 1st, 2016; and Small Private Organizations as of January 1st, 2017. A large organization is one which employs 50 or more people. Programs such as paperless billing, which may involve electronic delivery of PDF-based statements, invoices and bills, are almost ubiquitous in industry today, due to their cost savings advantages and various corporate green initiatives. People with disabilities such as blindness, partial vision loss and cognitive disabilities interfering with reading ability, should be as much able to take advantage of these socially-responsible programs as anybody else. Not having communication supports built into these documents creates barriers to their participation and violates their rights under the law. Accessible Communication Supports for PDFs are provided by adhering to the PDF for Universal Accessibility (PDF/UA) standard which requires including a tag structure and other metadata within the file. PDF/UA compliant documents provide information to assistive technologies such as screen readers with regards to what is the meaningful content, and in what order it is to be read. It includes such information as language specification, identification of document hierarchy and alternate text for images used as content. Without these, screen readers see a PDF document as essentially empty. Many organizations take a manual approach to providing accessible formats, by responding to customer requests and sending documents to service providers at tremendous cost (from $5 to $35 per page) to be converted on-demand. However this is an exclusionary approach, requiring people with disabilities to inform these organizations of their disability, which to them is private information. In addition, delays in having documents made accessible by hand can disadvantage the consumer, especially when the information requested is time-sensitive in nature. An automated transformation approach, as provided by Actuate's Document Accessibility Solution, can solve this problem by providing consumers with virtually instant access to accessible versions of their statements, allowing them the same timely access to information enjoyed by their sighted compatriots. Because of its ease of integration with an organization's existing Customer Communications Management (CCM) systems, it can be provided inclusively eliminating the need for consumers to divulge private information. This can all be done at a small fraction of the per-page cost as compared with the labor-intensive manual remediation approach. This not only improves an organization's public image, but also reduces expenses improving the bottom line. Organizations facing these deadlines under the IASR should already be thinking about how they will comply. To find out more about Actuate's Document Accessibility Solution, simply send your request for information to firstname.lastname@example.com, and we would be delighted to start that discussion with you.Read More
Easier Document Transformation Development with Customer Communication Suite 5.1.
Sneak Peek: BIRT PowerDocs Salesforce1 Mobile App
We want to give you an insight into the latest developments of our BIRT PowerDocs cloud software. Today we will introduce you to the new BIRT PowerDocs Salesforce1 Mobile app, which we presented for the first time at the Dreamforce 2014. Take a first look at our app, which you can use to create complex, interactive and process-integrated documents with Salesforce1 and BIRT PowerDocs. How you benefit: you will be able to use all of the features of BIRT PowerDocs on your smartphone! Complex Documents – Just One Click Away Our new Salesforce1 Mobile app lets you create complex documents with just a few clicks. With this new app you can generate all of the documents that you previously needed your PC for. Regardless of whether the documents are interactive, process-integrated or highly complex, all of the features offered by BIRT PowerDocs are supported. BIRT PowerDocs works on all devices and can be integrated into any process. Our well-known interview mode automatically adjusts to your device settings and delivers the full power of professional document generation to your smartphone. This also includes the combination of the user interaction and data retrieval from various data sources. Applications of the BIRT PowerDocs Salesforce1 Mobile App You can easily use the BIRT PowerDocs Salesforce1 Mobile App to create highly complex and yet personalized documents even while you are on the go, without having to manually intervene in the creation process. The interview mode enables to easily implement complex decision-making structures. Of course, the mobile app offers you the additional benefit: it is fully integrated into Salesforce1 and can access all required data. Here is an overview of the highlights: Mobile application is possible Same range of functions – regardless of the user's device Professional and individual document creation – without manual intervention Interview mode enables complex decision-making structures – with ease Presentation of the app at the Dreamforce 2014 We received a lot of feedback during the presentation of our new BIRT PowerDocs Salesforce1 Mobile App at Dreamforce. Many visitors were amazed at how easy it is to create complex documents on a smartphone with just a few clicks. View this short video to see how easy it is to create documents with BIRT PowerDocs.Read More
Better Document Accessibility with Customer Communication Suite 5.1.
Whether you are an Accessibility Compliance Officer, an Accessibility Consultant, a Marketing Communications Specialist, or a Document Transform Developer, you will be excited to know that the Document Accessibility solution from Actuate just got much better. Delivered with the release of the Actuate Customer Communication Suite version 5.1, a number of enhancements and features have been added to our robust Document Transform product that streamlines the delivery of Accessible PDF documents, and improves upon their compliance with established PDF for Universal Accessibility (PDF/UA) standards through tighter alignment with the Matterhorn protocol. First and foremost, in the 5.1 release, Actuate has improved the process of managing alternate text for images used in documents through the introduction of the Alternate Text Administration Console. First of its kind for automated document accessibility, the addition of this simple web-based console provides organizations with the ability to effectively separate responsibilities of managing the development of Document Transform processes from the authoring of meaningful alternate text descriptions for images. This effectively provides the means for the Marketing Communications Specialist and Accessibly Consultant to collaborate on the message, while leaving the Document Transform Developer unencumbered with having to import and export text descriptions into the process. The Alternate Text Administration Console is designed to be easy to use, allowing a Marketing Communications Specialist to review images in need of alternate text descriptions, and enter meaningful descriptive text in any number of languages. Descriptions can then be reviewed by an Accessibility Consultant and/or a supervisor for approval as a prerequisite to being made available to the Document Transform engine for use in the production of Accessible PDF output. The console provides ability to add, edit and remove individual descriptions or images, as well as the ability to tag images for effective administrative categorization and enhanced search capability. Updated alternate text descriptions may be approved, after which they are automatically available for use in the production Document Transform environment without the need to involve the Document Transform Developer. This streamlining of responsibilities reduces the likelihood of errors and omissions in the remediation process, and lets each stakeholder focus on what they do best. Actuate has improved its compliance with the PDF/UA standard by aligning its Accessible PDF Generator output more tightly with the Matterhorn Protocol's set of compliance checkpoints. Additionally, the Accessible PDF Generator now includes an option to preserve the original graphical print order, effectively solving the z-order problem caused when the order of overlapping images is changed, resulting in details being lost. These improvements to our Customer Communication Suite provide peace of mind to an Accessibility Compliance Officer knowing not only that processes to remediate inaccessible documents into standards-compliant Accessible PDF have now been made more robust and flexible for collaboration among stakeholders, but also that the result of these processes produce higher quality Accessible output.Read More
Finding the Right Print-to-Web Solution: 8 Things to Look For
In a recent blog post, "The Customer Communications Transformed: Who Benefits and How it Works," we talked about the recent shift in customer needs, as more and more customers look online – rather than at the more traditional print versions – for their statements and billing information. The experience is not only beneficial for customers, who can have all of their information at their fingertips at any time, but to companies as well, which can save money and gain customer loyalty from the shift. But how do those companies ensure statement information is presented accurately, on-demand and in easily readable formats? To achieve all of that, they require the right technology solution to handle their print-to-web transformation needs. And for that, they need to know what to look for. These 8 solution attributes should be priorities on print-to-web shopping list: A Big Picture Understanding. The technology provider should have broad experience with all components of the customer communications management (CCM) and how content, transformation, visualization, reporting, analytics, etc., fit together in transforming print to web. Flexible High-Fidelity Transformation Tools. Companies don't want a print-to-web solution that's tied to a single input or output format. Look for something more flexible, that can work with multiple input formats (including AFP, Line Data, PCL, Metacode, PDF, TIFF, etc.) and output formats (such as PDF, accessible PDF, XML, HTML, etc.). Multichannel Capability. The right technology will allow customer communications to be delivered across all online channels – from web to mobile and email – and over all computing devices. Accessible Output for the Visually Impaired. In order to stay legally compliant and reach all of their customers, organizations need to consider accessibility, and look for a solution that automatically produces high-volume communications in a WCAG 2.0 compliant Accessible PDF format, usable through screen reader technology. Superior Performance. Look for robust, enterprise-grade performance. Excellent System Integration. Print-to-web technology should be able to interact with products not only within the same suite, but also with popular third-party business systems, for better integration into the company's existing environment. Comprehensive Visualization and Reporting. The right print-to-web technology should accept data from multiple sources, produce multiple output formats, provide informative dashboards and give consumers the tools they need to aggregate, sort, chart, compare and rank data. Fast, User-Friendly Analytics. Analytics can help consumers and companies get more out of their data. Add these together and the result will be a robust, flexible and powerful print-to-web technology that's also easy to use for everyone. A solution such as this will help create an online content environment that will allow both customers and companies to thrive.Read More
Announcing the Customer Communication Suite Release 5.1
Implementing Software for Customer Communications Management Rapidly and Effectively
When addressing Customer Communications Management (CCM), enterprises usually seek a quick and effective project. This post delves into 2 technical issues that play a key role in implementing and running such a system. Predefined Interfaces Help Cut Costs In CCM, one big issue is that of interfaces and connectivity. In other words, how does one add and retrieve data from connected systems into a document; for example, adding the customer information stored in a typical CRM system to digital correspondence? 3 solutions to this issue are explained below: 1. Pull strategy The CCM software retrieves (this is known as the "pull process") the required data in real time from the source such as the CRM system. This process is preferably deployed on two fronts: for on-demand documents, composed in a call center or on a Web portal, and for interactive documents, which can be highly personalized by adding information retrieved from a CRM system. 2. Push strategy The source system hands over (this is known as the "push process") defined data packets to the CCM software in an XML format or as a flat file. This approach needs only to be defined once, and then delivers the best performance. In addition to composing interactive documents, this method is best suited for personalizing mass mailings in stacks or batches. One refers to these as "structured documents", with one example being monthly phone bills. 3. Combination strategy This takes the best from each of the two aforementioned strategies. Based on the application, specific data is handed over to the CCM software while other dependent data can be retrieved in real time via a pull process. This approach functions well for highly personalized interactive documents and for mass mailings or batch processing. These 3 strategies cover the majority of cases, but custom solutions can also be created and used to handle special configurations. For example, Internet services can also be integrated into the CCM software in the area of SOA. Standard Technologies Offer Security Usually, the use of reliable, standard technology eliminates dependence on software manufacturers and their release cycles. The OOXML data format is one good example of a standard application used for customer communications. OOXML – A Standard for XML-based File Formats Microsoft developed the OOXML standard as one means to store documents using XML- based file formats. This format was released in 2008 as the ISO/EC 29500 standard for data exchange between different applications. It is an open format. CCM systems use OOXML for generating various documents. The CCM software interprets the data per defined rules, variables, and dependencies, in order to create documents in the OOXML format or as a print data stream. The resulting correspondence can be delivered to a customer in either printed or electronic formats. Print data streams are languages used by printers to control the entire printing process, and are commonly called PDL (Page Description Language). Systems using the OOXML format as a standard for data processing offer two decisive advantages: Security through ISO certification An open format for full compatibility The second aspect is really useful for handling data. If the internal data format of a program is "open" for CCM purposes, it means that all companies on the market have equal access to the software without facing any legal or technical restrictions that could limit further development. With OOXML, it is also possible to reuse the data or content for printing or other electronic output formats. Seamless Integration of Legacy Systems Using data formats based on the OOXML standard, a company can connect any prior system(s) they have. However, problems may arise in using or connecting a third party system that is proprietary (i.e. neither free nor an open source). One thing is certain – avoiding standard technologies makes it more difficult to find appropriate consultation, and leads to increasing dependence on software manufacturers. It is evident that CCM software offers the greatest possible flexibility for accessing incoming data, and the implementation effort remains reasonable.Read More
Enterprise World 2014 Invites you to Experience Greatness!
Customer Experience , as defined in Wikipedia, is the sum of all experiences a customer has with a supplier of goods and/or services over the duration of their relationship with that supplier. In today's world, this experience can make or break a business. At OpenText we strive to provide our customers with a platform and applications that allow them to deliver great Customer Experiences to their audiences, buyers and stakeholders. Enterprise World provides the perfect venue to come together and share vibrant stories of greatness. In fact our theme for this year's Customer Experience Management track is called: Experience Greatness! This post will help you navigate greatness in products , ROI, peer discussions and technical how-to's. CEM Sessions on Wednesday & Thursday We have over 35 CEM session and activities to help you experience greatness. Keynotes : We begin the day with Main Stage Keynotes from guest speakers and OpenText Executive Leadership. Right after lunch, we will host a mini-keynote session centered on the Experience Suite, where we have organized a "View on CEM" for you. The mini-keynote will tease you with discussions that will continue into more in-depth breakout sessions. It's Time for Action: Lessons in Delivering Great Digital Experiences from across the world. • How are digital channels changing expectations and how should organizations respond? • Are social media efforts like the ALS "Ice Bucket Challenge" creating emotional connections that others should follow? • Beyond satisfaction: what is it that makes customers loyal? • What can we learn from companies that consistently 'wow' their customers? • Next steps: how should you invest to meet Digital Transformation initiatives? Breakouts : After the mini-keynote, we will have 4 CEM tracks running simultaneously. The 4 track themes each cover important facets that are needed to help build a great experience: Track 1: Great Omni Channel Communications Great communication is an art form. Hear from other organizations how they were able to design, develop and deploy rich omni-channel Communications: personalize and target invoices, email, webpages, receipts, documents and more to improve interaction with you anytime, anywhere and across any device. Track 2: Great Adaptive Content Information is an instrument for communication in every organization; dynamically tuning it for each individual's preference is the heart of Adaptive content. This track will highlight how organizations like yours are accessing information from multiple sources to share the most effective content based on user preference. Track 4: Great Experiences With the rise in Digital Transformation projects, many organizations are looking at how to create, curate and manage media, web, documents, social and any other digital assets to deliver the most compelling Digital Experience possible. Looking for ideas in digital marketing, customer self-service, supply chain distribution? Hear how other companies have deliver seamless, comprehensive information flows – creation, publication, distribution, analysis and archiving of content to formulate a great experience. Track 4: Great Responsiveness This track will highlight the importance of creating a responsive web and mobile experience that is consistent, compelling and engaging. Adaptive content delivers experiences that are device agnostic, but only a Responsive system can adjust as users switch between devices and channels. Each track is designed to stimulate conversation and interaction with the audience on a variety of topics. Whether you want to continue the technical discussion or look for business oriented sessions, we have something just for you. Each of the 4 themed tracks above are broken into the following focus areas to help you narrow down to your most relevant area of interest. CEM – Experience Strategy – Market leading companies will share their strategic views on topics such as; how best to find the balance between adopting new digital channels and consistency across existing channels. CEM –Experience Insight – It's all about the metrics. These sessions will provide insights into measurable activities such as; how to best make your customer experience seamless and responsive across the multitude of devices that both businesses and consumers use; or how to improve on your customer engagement. CEM – Experience Best Practices – In these sessions, you will hear direct from the practitioners who will offer their tips and advice on things like; how best to use HTML5 to improve the user experience; or how to optimize social collaboration for positive business impact. CEM – Experience Case Studies – What better way to bring the strategy, metrics and implementation to life than through real-life scenarios? OpenText customers share their stories such as a government's ability to cement the citizen experience with social media capabilities. CEM – Roadmap – Upgrade Path – Product Management will share their vision for the next releases of our Experience Suite family of products, including Tempo Social, Portal, WEM, CCM and Media Management sessions. Hear how you can upgrade to the full Experience Suite and take advantage of this new integrated platform. Innovation and CEM Labs and Meetings Back by popular demand… don't forget to stop by the expo hall and check out the latest Customer Experience Management information workflow (we like to call the CEM LAB) . Here you will find the process of creating, managing, sharing and publishing content all visible in one location. Can't make it through the whole story in one sitting, don't worry, we'll have a time table set that you can pop in and out as often as you can to see it all. Expo Hall: WEM, Tempo Social, Portal, Media Management, Customer Communication Management and WSM pods. CEM LAB: Get your hands on (and give feedback to) the new UX designs for CEM products . Meet the Experts: Just in case you want some 1-1 time with our engineers, product managers, support or services staff on site, you can request meeting times with your favorite experts. As you can see, in addition to the great entertainment we have in store for you (announcing soon) , there are many different activities to partake in over the course of the week. Make sure to keep an eye on this community as my next post will talk about the great customers that are coming to join us and share thier stories. Take a look back at last year's event here. REGISTER NOW to ATTEND! WE HOPE TO SEE YOU THERE!!! http://www.opentext.com/campaigns/enterprise-world-2014Read More
Reasons for Customer Communications Management
The concept of Customer Communications Management (CCM) is quite broad. To understand its importance, let's review the basics and focus on several important reasons why organizations invest in developing and executing a CCM strategy. What You Should Know About CCM Customer Communications Management: Enables corporate-wide deployment spanning different departments and functions. Reassigns responsibility for documents to content specialists. Ensures corporate image consistency. Minimizes compliance and liability-related risks associated with documents. Offers the potential to optimize costs and up-sell / cross-sell. Enables full control over customer communications. Helps avoid errors in correspondence. Provides a central platform for all corporate communications. Optimization in Customer Communications One can maximize profits while cutting costs in the area of customer communications. However, many companies still do not realize this and continue wasting money on postage and impersonal communications with customers. This situation continues to prevail, despite the fact that personalized customer correspondence can and should be optimized more often to help reach corporate goals. A Step Ahead of the Competition with Your Customer Correspondence The way you choose to communicate with customers can be the decisive factor that enables you to stand out in a packed competitive landscape. It is no wonder that a survey of SMEs by IBM® confirmed that customer care is taking on increasing significance for enterprises. The survey revealed that 79% of respondents ranked better customer care as the key issue facing their business. The McKinsey Quarterly listed three facts that highlighted the rising importance of customer communications to enterprises in general: 1. 98% of enterprises lack an effective or efficient strategy on how to deal with documents. 2. For each dollar an enterprise spends on composing a document, another nine are needed to manage it. 3. Even modest investments to optimize document-related processes can have a major impact on the financial outcome. Optimizing customer communications and all other document-related areas adds value to your IT, editing, document creation, and customer management units while distinguishing you from your competitors. Another way to distinguish yourself is by adding a personal touch to your correspondences. This increases customer loyalty as well as works in your advantage when working to win new customers. It also emphasizes to customers the importance of communication to your company. Constant Emphasis on Costs, Control, and Quality The 21st century's personalized service mentality and the advancement of social media as the communications platform preferred by many consumers have brought about significant changes in the area of customer communication. Yet, the status quo of many companies remains unchanged, for example: 1. Each department communicates separately with customers. 2. Many data processing applications and IT systems are inadequately integrated, or are not integrated at all, when it comes to processing customer communications and document creation. 3. The Corporate Identity /Corporate Design are inconsistent, depending on who worked on a particular document. 4. There is no central platform for saving, managing, and extracting information. The aforementioned issues cause problems in corporate communications. By passively reacting or not responding to the new ways in which consumers communicate, enterprises are steadily incurring rising costs. Companies experience serious financial drawbacks by choosing to deploy mostly printed correspondence (an outdated approach) instead of opting for more digital communications. Moreover, the costs associated with following-up on written correspondence are relatively high. Wherever communications generate competitive advantage, inadequate control over those communications could mean a significant disadvantage. For instance, it can be difficult to enforce guidelines and standards of quality without keeping the proper tabs on the communication channels and documenting actions and interactions of customers and employees. Therefore, companies must constantly emphasize the costs, controls, and quality of their communications. These are the key parameters to focus on when introducing modern CCM systems to ensure standardized communications. CCM – A Solution for Enterprises The expression "Customer Communications Management" was used by analysts such as Forrester Research, the Gartner Group, and Madison Advisors, to define a convergent set of information technology solutions for communicating with customers (Figure 1, CCM Framework). Figure 1. Customer Communications Management Framework. The goal of CCM is to optimize the way enterprises communicate with their customers. This does not mean sending more offers or information to customers, but rather boosting the relevance, uniformity, and clarity of communication. Create Personalized Correspondence for the Customer CCM is a field in which software is used to format and personalize customer-specific content and send it in an electronic or physical form. CCM encompasses various kinds of content, including letters, bills, financial correspondence, marketing materials, reminders, offers and more. Recognize the Hidden Potential CCM should be one of the core competencies of any enterprise, since it facilitates direct contact with the customer, regardless of the industry or sector involved. Applications can be divided into structured, interactive, and on-demand documents. The relevant processes fall into the 3 categories below: Structured Documents Structured documents are scheduled, consistently formatted, and rarely need any formal changes; thus template management plays an important role here. Such documents are often created in batches or are offset for print runs. Success thus depends on generating large volumes and controlling the print data streams. Examples: phone bills, brokerage statements Interactive Documents Interactive documents require linking the customer-specific data with predefined structures. Compared with structured output, these call for a high degree of personalization. This means that the software uses a particular set of text blocks, rules, and variables to provide more individualized output based on matching customer-specific and customer-relevant data. Many enterprises would like to see templates, document structures, and text blocks controlled by specialists, while having the option to control documents through multiple channels. Examples: customer correspondence, marketing materials, offers, contracts On-Demand Documents These documents are generally triggered by requests from various incoming channels of an enterprise, such as the web, fax, phone, email, and ERP systems with integrated solutions. On-demand output may be initiated automatically or manually. Examples: service correspondence in a call center, documents from a Web portal The CCM concept is a technical one that can be simplified regardless of the kind of output an enterprise wishes to generate. It applies mostly to the data-handling system (CRM / ERP) used to create the documents. In addition, the concept focuses solely on a conversation with customers. Since implementation is straightforward, the IT department can return to concentrating on its main tasks once it hands over responsibility for the CCM system to content specialists. In our upcoming posts, we will examine core components of a successful CCM strategy in detail – stay tuned!Read More
Generating Documents in the Cloud: 3 Reasons for BIRT PowerDocs
More and more businesses are using cloud-based software to manage their documents commonly needed for daily business. Such documents typically include quotes, invoices, service documents and contracts. The processes for generating documents in the cloud are usually handled manually or using native functionality of the cloud software. Basic functionality limits users and businesses Common documents vary from simple business letters to highly complex, multi-page documents. The more complex the document, the more frequently users experience limitations with native basic functionality of the cloud document generation solutions. Technically, the native mail merge functionality is quite limited – data from only one object can be referred to in parallel with common information about the contact. Publishing options are also limited: for example, documents can only be generated in Word format. In addition, these documents cannot be automatically combined with other Word documents and templates. Sending options often include only an option to download to the local computer. But the biggest problem with the native mail merge functionality is that it is not flexible enough to implement all customer requirements or customer processes. Scripting is (not) a solution Many cloud providers are aware of the technical limitations of generating documents in the cloud and therefore recommend the use of individual extensions. By developing such extensions, one can expand the basic functionality of the applications. This, however, calls for custom software development, a significant risk factor for the project success. Through scripting, certain objects (e.g. from the area of quote in offer management) can be synchronized with other objects (e.g. from the area of an opportunity). This feature is useful for many application cases and is especially well suited for proper administration and maintenance of selected products for a business transaction. In addition, in some cases editors can also be developed to enable template creation. Nevertheless, these extensions cannot compete with the flexibility and range of formatting options found in Microsoft Word or Excel. Therefore, it is usually impossible to add the existing documents of the customer to the cloud. Therefore, this leaves out of scope an important requirement of businesses switching their processes to the cloud. Upgrade through apps: BIRT PowerDocs Due to these limitations and deficiencies, we developed an application for document creation in the cloud – BIRT PowerDocs. This application is fully integrated with customer environments and is based on technology and platform of major cloud providers. BIRT PowerDocs offers users a significant upgrade from the basic functionality of cloud solutions. The advantages include: ability to publish documents in various formats, such as Microsoft Word, PDF, etc.; the option to refer to data from several objects at the same time; multi-channel delivery capabilities to distribute documents via e-mail, SMS, fax etc.; easy use of electronic signatures. These features make the complex world of documents easier to control. Flexibility, variety of options and powerful formatting possibilities allow for a smooth transition to document generation in the cloud. More information on BIRT PowerDocs.Read More
Outbound Customer Communications: Author Once, Publish Many?
Originally published on Doculabs.com For many of our clients today, there are three primary outbound communication channels: Paper via USPS Mail, email via Exact Target (or similar), and web pages via the web site. Unfortunately, for most organizations, each of these channels tends to have a different content authoring team, different publishing processes, and different underlying technologies. In addition, the manner in which the content is structured, in terms of naming conventions, meta-data and hierarchy, is different. As a result, while the world has adopted multiple channels of communications, costs have increased for these organizations, when you would actually expect to achieve some synergies. Consider some stats. On an annual basis, a financial services or insurance client with 10 million customers will likely generate 100 million pieces of physical mail, send 50 million emails (assuming a 25% "e-doption"), and roughly 25 million site visit and more than 75 million page views. In support of these activities, across these three channels, there are typically in excess of 50,000 discrete "templates", and likely a quarter- to a half-million content components used in the various templates. And considering both business and IT resources, it takes more than 100 FTEs to support the authoring, publishing, and delivery processes. Not cheap! Given the magnitude, how do we streamline these processes and gain some efficiency? What about the promise of "author once, publish many" that the industry has been advocating for well over 10 years? Well, in my opinion, the operational constraints of the different target mediums and supporting technologies result in some redundancy. Regardless, though, some efficiencies can be gained. So the key questions our customers ask is: What is the right balance? Can we encourage content re-use within and across channels, without compromising the optimization needed for a particular channel? Here, some suggestions for organizations looking for additional leverage, from the standpoints of people, process, information architecture, and technology: People Cross-pollinate team members. Granted, the skills needed to work in Adobe for web content or Documaker for templates destined for paper, or in Aprimo for email campaigns, etc., involve some specialization. But the fundamental skills needed to understand tone, conform to a style guide, and use brevity apply across all channels. So the more you can cross-train individuals in these three teams, and use common practices for authoring and assigning meta-date, etc., the more you will be encouraging common processes. Organizational alignment. If possible, have the different content authoring teams report directly or matrix to a common set of manager(s); again, consistency is increased. In particular, the different teams will begin to understand and appreciate some of the unique complexities within each channel, but also many of the similarities. And it affords the organization an opportunity to define common operating metrics – the number of change requests, length of time and number of hours to modify content, etc. Process Standardized workflows. While the platforms used to author and publish content may be different in each delivery channel, some degree of process standardization is achievable. Consider, for instance, how change requests are submitted, how requirements are articulated, what additional artifacts are needed, how approvals are collected, etc. In many cases, standardizing these steps simplifies the process, both for the individuals within the publishing teams and also for business users interacting with the various teams. Roles and responsibilities and metrics. The participants in the workflow, regardless of channel, can also be standardized so that everyone knows their role. Most critical is the definition of what tasks business or IT staff are responsible for. In addition, define the key metrics, including the number of units of work needing to be completed and the desired SLAs. Information Architecture Naming conventions and hierarchy. Just about every client I work with complains that they have content "all over the place". Of course, content is everywhere, because no one ever proactively defined these retention protocols. Even if you are using simple file shares, taking the time to define basic meta-data and where content should be stored and how to do version control (even as simple as Filename_v1,… v2) goes a long way toward consistency. Meta-data. When the basics above have been addressed, go a step further to define the essential set of indices that can be used to describe a template or content component. Graphics and design elements are particularly problematic, so get a cross-channel team in the room and come up with the three to five descriptive elements needed from the original creator of the content. Technology Today, the supplier community might claim they do multi-channel support – and if you were starting "greenfield," that may well be the case. But for most of our clients, given the divergence of platforms already in use, they need to create channel-specific renditions. "Rendition" is probably too favorable a term, as it implies simply pushing a button, and magically an email or web page is created. Regardless, if the upstream processes leverage common standards (as outlined above), the particularities of technology platforms can be minimized (but not eliminated). Overall, while the perfect world of authoring once and dynamically publishing across paper, email, and web channels is still a challenge, there are many steps organizations can take to streamline their operations. Developing common skills, processes, and content naming conventions optimizes use of resources to the extent possible.Read More
Using BIRT to Run Your Business From Your Phone
Remember the first time you saw a cell phone? The guy holding it was probably in a business suit and looked pretty successful. And you probably thought, How cool it would be to make phone calls and do business on the road, right? Well the promise of mobile phones and business on the go has evolved again with the release of BIRT PowerDocs for the Salesforce1 Mobile App. This cloud-based app is designed for the salesperson or account executive on the go. With a few clicks, you can automatically tap into your company's enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM) data and parse it within Salesforce1, a popular mobile business app for sales. The result is the generation of customer data such as service requests or sales quotes and auto-generation of the appropriate documents. BIRT PowerDocs conveniently accesses Salesforce1 to manage the delivery of PDFs and Word docs as well as generate and continuously edit customer documents in the cloud. All processes and files associated with quotation creation and management can be saved in a file system or backup server, issued through a wide variety of channels, and even printed directly from Salesforce. Generated documents can be archived in any location. Of course, the app is designed for the modern smartphone, not the brick of a device you see above. Translated into more than 10 languages, the BIRT PowerDocs app can be accessed from any device – including a PC, tablet, or smartphone- running either Android or iOS. The importance of document management cannot be understated. The proliferation of smartphones and tablet computers force companies to turn to mobile apps to manage documents where they need to be competitive. "For instance, the typical output management system is incapable of dialogue, which essentially strikes it out from the system requirements for managing next generation communications," said Christian Rodrian of legodo product marketing in a recent blog. "Similarly, CRM and ERP systems alone do not allow any personalized written dialogue. For communication with customers that is both quick and personalized, a company must deploy CCM [Customer Communications Management] solutions. These CCM solutions can deliver the whole gamut of information generated by customers over social networks and through other digital services; which is necessary for creating and managing meaningful conversations with customers." This latest version of BIRT PowerDocs is immediately available for test drive and deployment on the Salesforce AppExchange. Here's the first in a series of videos explaining the awesomeness of BIRT PowerDocs.Read More
Five Principles of More Personalized Customer Contact
Although corporate marketing departments are striving harder than ever to create more personalized contact with customers, the reality is often quite different. Two surveys we conducted have highlighted major deficiencies in practice and application: other than naming the intended recipient, most messages lack any other notable aspects of personalization. Since correspondence without the use of customer-specific information is not really personalization, the following strategic guidelines for creating personalized correspondence are useful: 1. Forget Conventional Wisdom Most customer correspondence in the form of bills and information is generally in writing. In the past, companies have taken many steps to boost response rates; however, the primary emphasis has been on optimizing content and response elements. In turn, very little attention has been given to customizing correspondence with customers. Naming the intended recipients in mass mailings is far too insufficient to draw the attention of addressees. Personalization means reconsidering the current lines of correspondence and choosing to communicate with customers in a way that evokes the same effect as face-to-face customer service. 2. Stick to Relevant Information Optimizing correspondence means following the principles of quality optimization. In the field of information, this means putting quality before quantity, i.e. limiting the entire contact only to truly relevant issues. An ideal benchmark is the quantity of information needed by the recipient. 3. Allow Customers to Indicate their Preferred Channel(s) of Communication In this electronic age, the degree of acceptance that written correspondence receives from addressees and how welcomed it is, no longer solely depends on content. Therefore, to personalize the correspondence, it is crucial to set up a system that allows the addressee to select their preferred channel for receiving information, whether it is mail, email, texting, MMS, or instant messaging. Customers should also be able to specify their preferred channel for social networking communications. 4. Consolidate Everything You Know About a Customer Today, most companies store information on customers in different systems and databases. However, departments across a company should be able to access all the information about a customer in order to personalize content in such a way that the correspondence grabs the recipient's interest. This calls for the seamless linking of ERP, CRM, and other business applications to integrate and localize all relevant customer data. 5. Set up User-Friendly Interfaces Communication systems should be designed with ease of use in mind. If not, users will tend to avoid the complicated system, particularly if the volume of correspondence is large. Company employees should have software that expedites creation and customization of content matched to intended recipients, especially for personalizing business-to-customer correspondence. This requires an integrated system that contains all relevant information on customers and can be easily accessed.Read More
Putting the "I" in E-Presentment: What's in it for Customers
For all that's been written (here and elsewhere) about the value of e-presentment and online customer engagement, the fact remains that not all customers are yet taking advantage of the efficiencies and conveniences these options have to offer. This is bad news, of course, for organizations that regularly send their customers the likes of billing statements and explanations of benefits, because it means you still have to spend significant money on paper, ink, printing, and stamps to tell these people what you think they need to know in the way you think they want to know it. (They can't, after all, personalize their information on paper the way they can online, so you have to guess.) But it's no news at all for them because, when you get right down to it, they don't care what their hard copy habits are costing you in cash, time, and cross-selling opportunities. No, all each paperbound person wants to know is "What's in it for me? Everything's working fine, so why should I hop on the electronic bandwagon?" Answering this in a compelling way is hard enough, and the degree of difficulty is compounded by the fact that the motivation to jump is likely to differ from one person to another. Some Won't Making matters worse, there are some customers who will never make the change – maybe they can't afford a computer or a smartphone, or they don't know how to use one, or they're skittish because of the recent spate of highly-visible security breaches. For them, your best course of action probably is simply to keep serving up paper, as there may not be any kind of incentive program that will get them to move (at least not without going broke while trying). Or you could just cut them off and force them to go online – but that may just as likely lose them as a customer. Others Will, With a Little Push For the others, sometimes all they need is a little push – it's not so much that they're anti-"e"; rather, they may just have paper so deeply ingrained as a habit that it doesn't occur to them that there may be another way to go. I'll offer myself as the poster child for this kind of customer because I resisted electronic presentment for years – too many cyber gremlins, I told myself. Plus, I liked getting notices by snail mail because they served to remind me that bills were due or accounts needed attention. The "push" in my case was a replacement letter carrier who frequently didn't bother to bring us our mail. After missing a few due dates, I rushed to sign up for all the "e" options I could find – and then, having seen the possibilities, I kicked myself for not changing channels earlier! Hit Them Right Between the "I"s The trick, then, is to figure out what types of pushes to give your non-digital base. Since it's tough (and illegal) to arrange for their regular mail to go missing, let me suggest the following as a few serviceable options that may hit your customers right between the "I"s: Offer a personalized discount: since you'll save time and money, you can afford to incentivize your clientele for opting in to electronic communications of all stripes – and the savvy ones among them know it. So if you're a bank, say, maybe give them 0.5% off the current rate for home equity loans – not just in general, but making specific reference to the home they are living in. If you do the math right, it won't cost you anything, and you'll give some folks the push they need to get off paper and onto a screen. Run a contest: promote the fact that the first/next 20, 50, 500 customers to enroll in your "e" program will be entered to win baseball tickets, or dinner out, or some other perq. Just be sure it reflects the locality in which they live so you're also living the precepts of personalization and make it clear that you have them individually in mind. Profile "customers like me": communicate stories about other "e" people whose demographics and activities resemble those of the malefactors you are chasing. The message is that "if Bob/Mary can do it, so can you!" In this way it takes a page from the Big Book of Best Practices for Organizational Change by highlighting an early adopter and making it okay for others to follow suit. As you see, there are a number of things you can do to try to motivate your paperbound patrons to enroll in your e-presentment program. Some may not be moved by your entreaties and enticements, but others will, and each one you convert represents significant savings for you over their customer lifetimes.Read More
Seven Typical Stumbling Blocks to Written Correspondence with Customers
Contrary to speculations made some time ago, burgeoning digitalization has actually bolstered the role of written customer correspondence, rather than diminished it. Nevertheless, the conventional letter is increasingly being replaced by digital messages. The outcome is that sales and marketing units face even more communication pitfalls, which could jeopardize their customer relationships. The common errors made when corresponding with customers are: 1. Little to No Personalization Experience shows that the more personalized the correspondence, the greater its impact. In reality, things have functioned differently – because business communication is typically done using systems designed for output management or similar approaches. With the dawn of social networks, customers no longer wish to be addressed anonymously – they clearly favor personalized correspondence. 2. Excessive Information that is either Irrelevant or Superfluous We live in an era that generates and disseminates mountains of information. Thus, it is even more critical to limit oneself to truly relevant information when corresponding with customers. The underlying principle of written correspondence is putting quality before quantity. This means fulfilling the information needs of addressees as succinctly as possible – whether dealing with one or a million receivers. 3. Communication Channels Not Specified In this era of electronic communications, evoking a positive response from the addressee means not just delivering the right content but also using the best/correct/right channel. However, enterprises often lack the setup that allows customers to indicate their preferred form of correspondence – whether a letter, email, SMS, MMS, an instant messenger service, or, especially in our time, social networks. 4. Conditions for Proper Dialogue are Lacking The Facebook icon on company websites has long been perceived as a common element used to facilitate customer communications. Yet, many people ignore the fact that this only offers customers one-way communications – because these enterprises do not have the technical infrastructure to systematically handle responses over social networks. The fact is, companies cannot carry on significant dialog through traditional means of automated and impersonal correspondence, which are incompatible with the concept of social networks. 5. A Fraction of Knowledge about the Customer is Being Used in the Correspondence Enterprises typically store information on customers in highly diverse systems and databases. However, in the era of CCM, employees need to be able to access information on customers in order to personalize the content so that the recipient views it as important and meaningful. This calls for seamless linking of ERP, CRM, and other business applications to integrate all relevant customer information, regardless of the system in which it is stored. 6. There are No Systems for Customer Communications Management (CCM) High-volume communications are best achieved under proper technical and operating conditions that maximize customer service and minimize required effort. Therefore, one of the key aspects is to empower employees with appropriate solutions that expedite composing, laying out, and personalizing customer correspondence. This is predicated upon ease of use and seamless access to all relevant customer information. 7. Strategic Positioning is Still the Bottleneck Although nobody questions the significance of the quality of written customer correspondence, people often fail to draw from these conclusions. This was reflected in our recent survey which revealed that few sales and marketing managers have addressed the issue of CCM in a way that enables them to define the need for reorganizing their approach to corresponding with customers.Read More
Getting Personal One Key to Effective Communications
Last time, we discussed the how important it is to use customer history to shape communications planning. This time, we go a step further and explore the technique of personalization, which looks at behaviors beyond just buying history and, properly done, can cement your customer relationships. The first thing to know is that personalization cuts two ways: first, it permits us to send customers communications that greet them by name and include references to individualized local interest. Second, it allows them to customize the whole interaction to suit their needs and preferences. Taken together, these two attributes make it clear that this was prepared with you in mind, and utilizing the techniques properly has been shown to improve engagement by as much as 30-50%. Serve the "Me" Generation "Dear Steve" are two of the most powerful words in a marketer's lexicon, as are others like "You may also be interested in" – as long as I am actually "Steve" and have actually expressed interest in things that relate to the items you think I might care about. Otherwise, it's clear it's a robot at work, and you've lost me forever. Research consistently validates the power of doing this correctly. For instance, a study last year by the University of Amsterdam suggested that identifying a recipient by name "has the highest ability to make the message feel personal and hence bring positive effects." Organizations "should also take person-related factors into account," it concluded – as did, for a slightly different reason, a separate study by the CEB Marketing Leadership Council, which found that a significant minority of respondents now expect some degree of personalization as a matter of course, and a fair number of others don't expect it but would be pleased to see it. Whether you choose to embrace simple mail-merge techniques or provide personalized URLs and landing pages for people to click through to, the evidence is compelling that they want this kind of attention, and feel liked by you when they get it. So it would appear, then, that there's no good excuse for withholding it! Give Control to the Control Freaks As noted, the flip side of the personalization coin involves letting people control the way they interact with you. Especially potent online, this ranges from allowing visitors to modify your Web interface to suit their preference (e.g., by arranging the placing of widgets in a portal, or changing color schemes) to permitting them to retrieve, manipulate, and analyze their account information so they can better engage with you (e.g., by buying something more, paying a bill, inquiring about another offering). This control is important because it leaves customers feeling as if they're driving the relationship they have with you, rather than the other way around. Without getting lost in the depths of human psychology, suffice to say that this speaks to the way people are physically wired, and a little flexibility on your part can go a very long way. Giving your constituents some control is especially valuable when trying to get them to migrate off their beloved pieces of paper (i.e., printed documents) and onto their screens (tablets, PCs, etc.). Getting them to do more things online is great for you since it can save piles of money and throw off all kinds of other benefits. But your customers don't care about that; they want to know what's in it for them. In this case, the answer is "the ability to do what you need to do in the way you want to do it," and that can be a very powerful incentive to make such a fundamental change. The Bottom Line The bottom line here is that the case for personalizing your communications is compelling, in both of the ways we just talked about. But care must be taken to ensure that this personalization is meaningful, or you risk having it blow up in your face. Simply including recipients' first names in your communications is not enough; no, it must be buttressed by messages that read as if they were crafted with each intended person in mind and not merely assembled by a database. At the same time, each of these people must feel he or she controls his or her own destiny when it comes to taking the next step in your relationship. As it is written, "if you love something, set it free" – and in this case, this means by loosening the interface bonds that have so long complicated the access to and presentation of the information they most desire.Read More
Five Hypotheses About Customer Communications Management
It should be mandatory for companies to enable customers to select their preferred channels of communication. In recent years, we have seen a clear trend of consumers preferring digital dialogues; this shift has been triggered by social media channels and mobile technologies. With the current trend, one finds a rising demand for quick response possibilities via customers' preferred channels. Consequently, it is clear that enterprises will have to completely revamp their current customer correspondence. Below are 5 hypotheses on developments concerning CCM (Customer Communications Management): 1. Digital Communications Will Become Much More Significant What we see now is no longer simply a generation of digital natives, who prefer to communicate via Facebook or smartphones. Rather, digital communications is a trend that increasingly encompasses all social groups and ages, as evidenced by downloaded apps statistics. In fact, current projections foresee e-mail, which is not a traditional means of communication, dying out in the near future. Against the backdrop of such dynamic changes, enterprises are forced to redefine their approaches to corresponding with customers both now and in the future. 2. Correspondence with Customers is Becoming Increasingly Personalized People are becoming used to a messaging culture that is defined by rapid, personalized responses. Companies that do not wish to lose touch with their customers through written correspondence are being compelled to set up similar conditions to provide prompt communication. However, generally speaking, firms lack the structure to quickly respond to incoming messages and enquiries with a personal touch. In most enterprises, automated mass mailings still seem to dominate the communication landscape. In the near future, automated, impersonal communication, to a large extent, will be replaced by communication structures that deliver interactive content focused on customers' personal issues. If companies do not adapt to the changing communications landscape their correspondence with customers will become less and less effective. 3. It is Almost Mandatory to let Customers Select a Preferred Communications Channel Each correspondence channel serves a distinct purpose. However, it is important to note that acceptance of these various channels is determined by the customers alone. Customers are not interested in being informed via one main and impersonal channel (i.e. letters, e-mails, texting, etc.). Customers would rather select a communication channel based on their need for interaction and personal preferences. Companies will not be able to continue to circumvent their customers' desire for communication flexibility for very long. Therefore, firms must continue to pursue a strategy of offering customers multiple communication channels to choose from. 4. Mobile Devices are Stepping into the Limelight For a long time, we have seen a change in user behavior as reflected by accelerating purchases of mobile devices. Meanwhile, sales of stationary devices are continuing to lag further and further behind. Hence, written correspondence with customers must definitively shift over to digital and mobile communications. Although noticeable differences still exist in the behaviors of customers across various age groups, these gaps will level out very soon. Thus, enterprises should ensure that they are equipped to effectively handle mobile communications. 5. Customer Communications Management will Transition to New Technologies Conventional systems are a real handicap when trying to fulfill the new demands on written correspondence. For instance, the typical output management system is incapable of dialogue, which essentially strikes it out from the system requirements for managing next generation communications. Similarly, CRM and ERP systems alone do not allow any personalized written dialogue. For communication with customers that is both quick and personalized, a company must deploy CCM solutions. These CCM solutions can deliver the whole gamut of information generated by customers over social networks and through other digital services; which is necessary for creating and managing meaningful conversations with customers. Indeed, CCM is heading towards dialogue-oriented solutions. And CCM not only guarantees fast interaction, it also enables one to apply all the knowledge about a customer stored in various business systems.Read More
Process Management – the Glue that Ties CCM Together!
According to analysts from Gartner, Forrester and InfoTrends, a customer communications management (CCM) strategy is a necessity in the current competitive environment where customer experience rules. Organizations need to be able to interact and communicate with their customers and prospects in a relevant and engaging manner. To tie the components of a customer communications system together, you need a strong, robust, scalable and reliable process management tool that handles high volumes of documents, and that can connect to multiple systems. A strong process management tool can allow your organization to: Orchestrate, schedule and execute complex document and content manipulation in all stages of the CCM process, no matter what the platform and where the processes reside. Monitor the completion of these processes, and make changes where necessary to ensure critical Service Level Agreements (SLAs) are being met. Highlight and handle errors in the processing, ensuring a higher level of quality. Reduce the operational costs and manual labour associated with complex and repetitive tasks, such as storing, printing and delivering high-volume content. To make this happen, you need a process manager with many out-of-the-box, configurable components, including: trigger events, repository adaptors for storing and retrieving content from repositories and archives, document and data transform tools, graphical tools to create and test your organization's process flows (see Figure 1 below for an example of graphical interface), performance tools to elevate and enhance performance. Trigger Events Trigger events start a process, based on an external action. For example, a document arriving in a file folder may trigger a process to transform that document to a more usable format. A robust set of trigger actions including triggers from electronic mail, FTP sites, messaging systems, application programming interface (API) calls and Web Services is definitely desirable for maximum interoperability. Repository Adaptors During the course of the business process, it may be necessary to access documents and content from different sources. A repository adaptor will reach into the repository, using basic search and index routines, and retrieve the document for inclusion in the process flow. Conversely, it may be necessary to load and/or store the content in third-party repositories for later access. Data and Document Transform tools Usually, the data and documents you receive are not in a format conducive with downstream systems. With functional transform tools, the data and documents can be transformed into a standard for the organization, or setup as input into a different system. Data tools include business intelligence, analytics and data manipulation functions that reformat or translate the data from many diverse data sources into the correct format for each system. Document Transform tools allow you to re-purpose your documents, convert them to different formats and standards (like PDF, AFP, Accessible PDF, XML and HTML) to present them online or index them for loading into a repository. Information and images can be replaced, removed and added to documents for specific purposes like re-branding, electronic presentment and targeted messaging. Graphical Process Design Tools A Graphical Process Design tool assists the technical architect or developer in creating the content processes that provide value to the business. The tool must operate in batch and real-time mode, provide a deep set of configurable options and be easy and intuitive to use. Capabilities needed to create and configure processes include routing, rule-based decisions, error handling and process testing. A strong tool will lead to strong processes and real business benefits. Performance Tools Performance is the overall key to process management. At any given time you want to monitor your processes, and have the right tools available to enhance and accelerate their performance. Key concepts such as multi-threading, connection pooling, load balancing, resource caching, system clustering, system redundancy, automated failover and scalability are mandatory to enhance system performance and realize the business benefits. Summary A process management tool is essential for optimal customer communications. It can be used by system integrators and internal architects and developers. It is the product that makes all the other products work more effectively. A process manager tool creates order from chaos.Read More
Making the Most of Your CCM Initiative: Influencing Customer Behavior
Customer Communications Management (CCM) isn't only about communicating with customers – it's about ensuring that you communicate effectively. That means ensuring that customers are sent communications that are relevant to them. For our last post on making the most out of your CCM strategy, we're going to look at how to successfully use CCM to influence customer behavior. This is the final step listed in the InfoTrends white paper Improve Your Enterprise Customer Communications Strategy in Five Vital Steps. Data analytics and business intelligence tools can help companies better understand their customers: who they are and how they behave. By understanding their customers better, organizations can now help tailor communications directly to their customers' needs, predict future requirements, as well as fuel upsell and cross-sell initiatives. Customer profiles – determined by online behavior, social media data and other factors – can help ensure that companies send more relevant, personalized communications, which leads to a higher rate of response. Meanwhile, technology such as personalized landing pages and QR codes can even help track printed communications. This becomes even more relevant as companies push more marketing communications through their CCM platforms, allowing them to become hubs that store, track and measure communications. The right CCM technology, with business intelligence and data analytics capabilities built in, will help provide the functionality to do so. Read the full white paper: Improve Your Enterprise Customer Communications Strategy in Five Vital StepsRead More
Making the Most of Your CCM Initiative: Automating and Integrating
There are several ways to make the most out of your Customer Communications Management (CCM) strategy. We've recently been outlining the 5 steps discussed in the InfoTrends' white paper, Improve Your Enterprise Customer Communications Strategy in Five Vital Steps. The fourth tip relates less to the processes you put in place and more to how they are implemented, with the goal of automating and integrating through the right CCM technology. Most CCM systems are implemented in IT architectures that are patchy at best, with stakeholders often operating in siloes, with limited knowledge of how the overall CCM process works. Legacy systems may be in place and they may be less advanced in terms of their management and tracking capabilities. Corporate IT systems that could be considered part of CCM include enterprise resource planning, CRM, accounting/tax and archiving systems. Having a centralized approach to your CCM system can help ensure that you automate and integrate everything in the most efficient way possible. To ensure this, communications should be stored centrally, whether it's in an archive, an Enterprise Content Management (ECM) system or a CCM solution. Other things to consider include: CCM technology should be easily integrated with other systems. Legacy communications should also be stored and tracked centrally, since modern CCM platforms and post composition solutions can process and store legacy output in an archive. Vendors that invest in cloud solutions can offer the next level of integration, likely including on-premise data and cloud-based delivery. Lastly, the right technology will also ensure that your communications are tracked and stored properly, giving business users and customer service representatives the information they need to communicate with customers. They also allow for the use of data analytics, offering information you can use for upsell and cross-sell opportunities. We'll finish off this series in our next blog post, by looking at one final step to successful CCM strategy: Influencing Customer Behavior. Read the full white paper: Improve Your Enterprise Customer Communications Strategy in Five Vital StepsRead More
Making the Most of Your CCM Initiative: Enabling Business Users
Recently, we've been looking at different ways to make the most out of your Customer Communications Management (CCM) initiatives, discussing some of the strategies listed in the InfoTrends white paper, Improve Your Enterprise Customer Communications Strategy in Five Vital Steps. Our tips have so far involved taking a more centralized approach to your CCM strategy and engaging your customers through mobile technology. Another step to a more successful CCM strategy is finding ways to enable your business users, while reducing IT costs in the process. Standardized processes for document creation, production and fulfilment can sometimes make flexibility in CCM difficult – any changes along the way require approval from marketing and legal, and need the line of business (LOB) or department to sign off on costs. Only then can IT implement any changes. Such a long process not only means it takes a while before those changes are finally made, but can add to overall costs as well. The right technology can help streamline the process, putting less strain on IT. More specifically, template-based technology can help business users create, manage and deploy customer communications themselves. With this end in mind, tiered template communication systems are becoming the norm. In this system, there are three "tiers" of users: The IT user develops data and content constructs to make template creation easy. The business super user builds the templates and creates business rules. The business user then creates, modifies and schedules the communications. This method takes a lot of the pressure off IT, and puts more power into the hands of users, creating a more efficient and flexible CCM system. In our next blog post, we'll look at the fourth step for improving your CCM initiative: Automating and Integrating. Read the full white paper: Improve Your Enterprise Customer Communications Strategy in Five Vital Steps.Read More
Experience Suite Release—Adaptive, Omni-Channel Experiences
Digital technologies have ushered in the "age of the customer." With increasing access to information about products and services, today's consumers are empowered to shop comparatively online, influence the buying behavior of peers, and guide the overall brand experience. They expect immediacy and experiences that satisfy. The sales funnel of the past is being replaced by multiple interactions that create a lifetime of customer value and brands are consistently maintained in consumer communities rather than by advertising or marketing departments. By the year 2020, enterprises need to transform for the age of the customer. To gain a sustainable competitive advantage, companies need the ability to connect directly with the customer to create exceptional, long-term, and rewarding experiences. To nurture deeper relationships with customers, organizations are increasingly required to create consistent experiences, tailored to suit individual needs, across multiple digital channels, touch-points, and even supply chains. Organizations that do this effectively will benefit from deeper relationships with their customers, based on data-driven insights that enable them to more effectively meet their customers' evolving needs. The latest release of the OpenText Experience Suite bundles interlocking capabilities into a comprehensive solution designed to deliver engaging customer experiences across all touch-points. It manages the entire customer experience by combining adaptive content management, orchestrated information flows, and compelling omni-channel experiences—all within a governance framework to ensure consistency. Experience Suite accelerates collaborative media creation, curation, and personalization to ensure that each user gets the best possible experience at every point of interaction. Experience Suite delivers rich, digital engagement through: Faster time to market: with omni-channel and tailored experiences based on analytic insights and market feedback. Responsive delivery: adaptive content management consolidates information from multiple sources to publish the most effective content for the buyer. Adaptive content delivers experiences that are device agnostic and can adjust as customers switch between devices and channels. Unified, seamless experiences: by connecting a broad ecosystem of partners (e-commerce, translation engines, web analytics, social media, and more) to deliver a consistent and seamless brand experience. Governance: through orchestrated information flows to ensure information and assets are effectively managed, governed, and can be reused in multiple instances. Extensible EIM services: engagement can be extended to include comprehensive EIM capabilities, such as enterprise content management to process management, information exchange, and information discovery—all in one environment. Flexible deployment options: Experience Suite gives organizations the option to deploy on premise, in the cloud, or in combination using a hybrid solution. OpenText Experience Suite provides rapid design tools to create and manage content that is delivered to web, social, mobile and print destinations, and is integrated with the AppWorks EIM developer platform, extending capabilities to all of the OpenText product suites. Solutions can be built on the platform to address digital marketing, customer self-service, social communities and brand management initiatives. OpenText Experience Suite combines capabilities that have been architected to work seamlessly together. Technologies include Web Experience Management (WEM), Customer Communication Management (CCM), Media Management, Tempo Social, and Portal. To find out more, read the press release.Read More
Making the Most of Your CCM Initiative: Engaging Through Mobile Technology
In my previous blog post I've been discussing Customer Communications Management (CCM), and how to make the most out of your CCM initiatives, based on the InfoTrends white paper, Improve Your Enterprise Customer Communications Strategy in Five Vital Steps. The first tip considered, in a previous post, was to take a more centralized approach to your CCM. The second is to use mobile technology to better engage your customers. It makes sense. Smartphone use is up significantly in recent years, and people are accessing information on the move more than ever before – especially younger consumers. Interacting with these customers through mobile solutions, if done right, can improve engagement and increase customer satisfaction. Using CCM platforms for mobile technology can also help organizations track, measure and manage their communications more effectively. An effective and centralized approach to mobile technology can go a long way. InfoTrends predicts that mobile adoption will only increase in the years to come, as companies are driven to: – Provide a better customer experience. That includes introducing adaptive and responsive design, allowing content to be adapted to a mobile device's screen size. It also allows users to dynamically select, group content and interact with their communications however and wherever they want. – Innovate business processes. Since smartphones have camera and GPS capabilities, this can make claim processing for example, easier, while QR codes, mobile payments and mobile data verification also add the possibility for further innovations. – Reduce costs. Mobile communications reduce the need for printed statements and provide more efficient ways to interact with customers. Next up in my series on making the most of your CCM: Enabling Business Users and Taking some of the Burden off of IT. Read the full white paper: Improve Your Enterprise Customer Communications Strategy in Five Vital Steps.Read More