Partnering (and Adapting) for a Multichannel View

Speech analytics provider CallMiner announced today its partnershipwith Clarabridge, a Virginia-based text analysis software company. Combining CallMiner’s Eureka!, which analyzes unstructured voice data with Clarabridge’s Content Mining Platform, which scans unstructured text, CallMiner chairman Jeff Gallino says the partnership allows the vendors’ customers a "full breadth multichannel view of the end user."  

CallMiner, which has a similar partnership with predictive analytics company SPSS, has not yet determined how it will market Clarabridge technology with CallMiner’s software. "We will probably just co-sell with Clarabridge and offer an integrated solution, but in the short-term it’s not a join venture solution offering," Gallino states. "We’re definitely talking about it, but it’s not something we’re taking to that stage right now; we’re going to feel out how the market would take that."

Larger companies, says Gallino, seem most likely to employ a solution analyzing both text and data, stating that organizations with a need for both a strong Web and contact center presence – such as an online retailer processing both catalog and online orders – would be a potential customer for the partners’ co-sells. He adds, however, that a similar co-sell package could also be scaled for a small-to-medium-sized business at a more affordable cost.

Until now, CallMiner’s primary customer deals centered around their speech solutions, which remain the company’s focus. In the Oct. 2007 issue of Speech Technology Magazine, CallMiner senior vice president of business development and cofounder Cliff LaCoursiere stated that 90 percent of customer-business interactions still funnel in via phone to a business’ contact center. Despite the importance of accurate statistics garnered from call center interaction analytics, Gallino also says the need for text analysis is growing. As end users interact with companies on a variety of channels, vendors must prepare to meet the needs of a company seeking a total look at customer satisfaction.

"We’re already seeing a fairly strong convergence of mobile platforms for voice and data, and the younger generation just doesn’t use the Web in the traditional way that maybe my generation does," Gallino says. "I think, consequently, you’re going to see more multichannel, but not a reduction of voice. There’s going to be a huge surge of unstructured text, but it won’t reduce the voice; the pie will just get bigger."