Comverse's Flagship BSS Offering Addresses CRM Shortfalls Faced by Telecom Operators

The new offering directly addresses recent findings from industry research firm Forrester Consulting. The research, commissioned by Comverse, uncovered that operators' current customer management/customer relationship management (CRM) capabilities are not enabling them to meet their key business goals.

The capability gaps span multiple systems and functions: customer management, business and operational support systems (BSS/OSS) and sales and marketing. Even though these areas have interdependencies, they have "grown up" separately, and even with integration, discrete applications speak different languages, according to the study. (The study, "Delivering the Next-Generation Subscriber Experience," is available online.)

To bridge the capability gaps, it is essential to extend a convergent BSS approach upstream to encompass sales and marketing. In July, Comverse announced a strategic partnership with Infor to integrate three key CRM features -- sales force automation, campaign management and interaction management -- into Comverse's flagship convergent BSS offering.

"We are addressing these gap areas in a cost-effective manner by aligning BSS, customer management, and sales and marketing as an out-of-box converged, product-based solution built around one single data model," said Gabriel Matsliach, General Manager and Vice President, Billing and Active Customer Management at Comverse, the world's leading supplier of software and systems enabling value-added messaging and content services, converged billing and active customer management, and IP communications.

"We are taking a refreshed approach to both CRM and the network to deliver a consistent customer experience across the Web, sales force, call center, point-of-sale (POS) and all device touchpoints," Matsliach said. "Our solution combines network intelligence and profile analytics with real-time functionality, which transforms an operator's BSS into a strategic asset."

Visitors to Futurecom 2009, which occurs Oct. 13 to 16 in Sao Paulo's Transamerica Expo Center, are invited to see the demonstration of the new revenue-accelerating CRM capabilities of Comverse ONE at the company's booth (C82.) The demonstration illustrates how the connection between the operator and user is forged and then solidified throughout all phases of the customer experience, thus boosting customer acquisition, satisfaction and retention.

Also at Futurecom, Alice Bartram, Assistant Vice President of Marketing for Comverse's Billing & Active Customer Management, will give a keynote presentation, "Monetization Implications of New Business Models," on Thursday, Oct. 15 from 2:40 to 3:10 p.m., and Comverse's Mauricio Feitosa will participate in a panel discussion, "Value-Added Services: New Models of Application Development for Generating More Revenue," on Friday, Oct. 16, from 11:40 a.m. to 12:50 p.m.

Meetings with Comverse representatives to see the Comverse ONE demonstration, as well as demos for mobile advertising and visual voicemail, may be scheduled by sending an email to:janice.hewins@comverse.com. In addition, demonstrations and webinars about Comverse's products and services are available at www.comverse-expo.com.

About Comverse

Comverse is the world's leading provider of software and systems enabling value-added services for voice, messaging, mobile Internet and mobile advertising; converged billing and active customer management; and IP communications. Comverse's extensive customer base spans more than 130 countries and covers over 500 communication service providers serving more than two billion subscribers. The company's innovative product portfolio enables communication service providers to unleash the value of the network for their customers by making their networks smarter. Comverse's solutions support flexible deployment models, including in-network, hosted and managed services, and can run on circuit-switched, IP, IMS or converged network environments. Comverse is a subsidiary of Comverse Technology, Inc. (CMVT.PK). For more information, visit www.comverse.com.

All product and company names mentioned herein may be registered trademarks or trademarks of Comverse or the respective referenced company(s).

This release contains "forward-looking statements" under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 that involve risks and uncertainties. There can be no assurances that any forward-looking statements will be achieved. Important factors that could affect the statements contained herein include: changes in the demand for the company's products; changes in capital spending among the company's current and prospective customers; the risks associated with the sale of large, complex, high capacity systems and with new product introductions as well as the uncertainty of customer acceptance of these new or enhanced products from either the company or its competition; and risks associated with rapidly changing technology and the ability of the company to introduce new products on a timely and cost-effective basis. The company undertakes no commitment to update or revise forward-looking statements except as required by law.

SOURCE: Comverse

Investor/Business Press: 
Comverse Technology, Inc. 
Paul D. Baker, 212-739-1060 
paul.baker@cmvt.com 
or 
Industry Press: 
Comverse, Inc. 
Steve Eisenberg, 732-652-4712 
steve.eisenberg@comverse.com