CMN launches CRM Version 3 Customer relationship management platform includes one-of-a-kind marketing tools

Victoria, BC - July 22, 2004 – Convergent Media Network (CMN) today announced the release of CRM™ version 3.0. CRM is a web-enabled customer relationship management platform with unique marketing and dynamic list management capabilities for small to medium sized businesses. The latest version includes numerous advancements in reporting, administrative, end user customizable sales cycle management and user-control featu res.

Committed to excellence in CRM - With the release of CRM V3.0, CMN reiterates its commitment to creating the most powerful and sophisticated CRM platform for the small to medium sized business sector. “With CRM 3.0 we believe we’ve created something quite extraordinary,” said CMN CEO, Tim Vasko, ” a CRM platform with powerful tools that are on par with - and in some cases exceed - enterprise-level systems, and made it affordable for small to medium size businesses.” CRM recently won important industry recognition when it was named as a finalist in the “Product of the Year” category of the 2004 VIATEC Awards.

CRM 3.0 extends industry-leading features - All versions of CRM are available with a selectable range of powerful and unique featu res. The contact manager module gives users a clear one-stop view of deadlines, assignments, data and contact history, for themselves - and the rest of their team as needed. Users can know in an instant the details of every message sent to a prospect or customer. CRM offers customizable privacy and permission settings so information is properly shared and controlled. And the CRM platform is web-based so users have instant access to their data from anywhere in the world.

New featu res available with CRM 3.0 include enhanced on-screen tools for monitoring and managing contacts and prospects in the sales cycle; increased control and performance when viewing contact history; and graphically-visualized sales process that provides at-a-glance comprehension of where a contact is in the sales cycle. The new version also provides an enhanced searching facility that allows users to quickly find all contacts in a given Stage or Sales Step, such as All Leads or Contacts, and to find all Contacts with outstanding tasks associated with them. And “Quick Search” now searches all name fields, last name, first name, company name, even related spouse names

CRM 3.0 has greatly expanded administration and management screens for defining contact sources and new reports to let management review sales representative progress and activity.

One-of-a-kind marketing tool enhanced - CRM 3.0 Contact Manager also more closely integrates with the CRM Market Manager – a tool for planning, creating, delivering and tracking outbound marketing campaigns. “With the Market Manager we help clients gain something all other customer relationship management platforms take for granted: customers,” said Vasko. Version 3.0 makes it easy to coordinate Market Manager’s newsletter management and delivery tools with CRM Contact Manager.

Customization and easy “syncing” make CRM user friendly - “We knew we could be a standout in CRM if we designed our platform to adapt to how a company does business today. Software must be flexible enough to fit how a company operates. Not the other way around,” said Vasko. “I know a lot of companies are familiar with a situation where they have thousands of dollars worth of software that no one uses because it’s too complex or doesn’t fit their business process. We created a system called BIPED™ [Business In Process Enterprise Design] where a CMN Strategic Advisor maps a company’s business practices, then CMN developers custom fit the software to the company.”

Allowing users to retain tools they are familiar with, like MS Outlook, also enhances the usability of CRM. This is possible thanks to the revolutionary “Easy-Sync” interface that has successfully bridged the gaps between MS Outlook (Exchange), and IBM's DB2 database product line.

Best-in–the-sector Customer Support also key to usability - To further enhance usability and customer satisfaction CRM has introduced the Strategic Advisor program. When a company purchases CRM, the Strategic Advisor who guided them through their purchase and set-up stays with the company as their go-to person for all their CRM questions and training issues.

The most scalable – and secure - CRM for SMB’s - CRM solutions are available as an inexpensive “software on demand” service or deployed in-house depending on a client’s needs and budget. And CRM is MS and Linux compatible; while other MS-based systems could put serious limits on a company’s ability to add new applications CRM adapts to a wider variety of applications. CRM’s backend is built on the IBM DB2 - the same backbone used by all major banks and credit card companies.

Other technological features and enhancements include a unique design of database structu res which employ the IBM DB2 platform and the MS SQL 2000(.NET) platforms. CRM software integrates multiple functions in a single user interface. “The implications of the CRM structure for small to medium sized businesses are immense,” said Vasko. “For the first time, these businesses can have a system that integrates their web presence, customer relationship management and marketing management systems and e-commerce.”