Salesforce teams with Cisco for call centre package

New service combines Unified Communications with Service Cloud.

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

The companies said that the new offering would be known as the Customer Interaction Service and would seek to replace conventional call-centre systems with a cloud-based system.

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

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

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

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

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

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

The service will be available from the first quarter of calendar year 2010.