Salesforce.com pairs up with Twitter

The partnership aims to give customer service agents real-time access to information on service level performance, and enable them to answer client queries made through what is now the fastest growing social networking site.

The integration will be available with the Salesforce Service Cloud package, which already lets businesses connect customer service applications with cloud computing sites like Facebook, LinkedIn and Google.

Salesforce said that the package lets businesses offer customer service through web community forums or dialogues on social networking sites.

The new integration coincides with the growth of Twitter as a business tool, and its role in identifying public perception of a particular product, company or service.

Figures released last week from market research firm Nielsen showed that 42 per cent of Twitter users in February were aged between 35 and 49, and 62 per cent used the site at work.

"Simplicity has played an important role in Twitter's success, making it quick and easy for consumers to connect to their community," said Twitter founder and chief executive Evan Williams.

"With Salesforce CRM for Twitter, enterprises can replicate this experience by keeping track of the conversations happening right now on Twitter."

Salesforce CRM for Twitter will help companies search through the 'tweets' that happen on Twitter every day to find out relevant conversations.

After identifying an appropriate tweet, a company can capture and monitor the conversation by creating a record in the Service Cloud that tracks the original post and all subsequent replies.