RightNow plans Facebook, MySpace expansion

Angus Kidman
Monday, 22 February 2010 12:23

Business IT - Technology

On-demand CRM vendor RightNow is expanding the range of social networks its software can interact with in a bid to help companies avoid embarrassing experiences like Southwest's recent run-in with film maker Kevin Smith.
Smith made headlines internationally after revealing via Twitter his experience of being told to leave a Southwest flight because he was overweight. Airlines have often found themselves the subject of fierce criticism via social media, an experience which is likely to become more common for companies of all kinds.

"They sometimes get it wrong because they're businesses with old habits and also because it's a new frontier," said John Kembel, vice president of RightNow's Centres of Excellence for Social Experience. "It's hard to know until after the fact how to deal with each incident. What that kind of situation calls for is a visibility between those responsible for support and operations. You need internal visibility across those processes. We're stubbing our toes; everybody is."

One change Kembel foresees in the future is a shift from having a small group of individuals assigned "Twitter monitoring" responsibilities in favour of a more integrated approach involving entire contact centres. "It's a new capability inside the service organisation so, just as when email and chat were launched, they'd spin it up to a frontline person who understood it. But sooner or later it becomes part of the overall workflow for everyone.

"Brands are moving to the point of not just thinking it's a fad," Kembel said. "They're now trying to figure out how to deeply integrate the experience of social into the fabric of business operations of our business. Social is new, but you can handle it like any other channel." But what tools can help avoid a Smith-type bad publicity incident?