With the launch of a new web call center product, Ichat Corp has changed its name to Acuity Corp. The company says it will retain Ichat as the product name for its consumer text-based chat software, but chose to change its own name to reflect a new emphasis on complex systems aimed at large corporations. Apparently too many sales calls were foundering on the rocks of corporate misconceptions about Ichat’s ambition and scope. Ichat held a competition in its hometown, Austin, Texas, and picked the new name from 3,000 suggestions – mostly because all the other good ones were taken, officials admit. Unfortunately for them, the www.acuity.com domain is already taken too. (In other prize announcements, Best Texan Name went to Y’All Net, while Cows In Flight won Most Bizarre Entry.) Like Borland’s recent change of name to Inprise Corp (CI No 3,401), the improvement is not immediately obvious to the casual observer. Even Greg Tapper of Giga Information Group, who follows the company, calls Acuity a bit of a nothing name – although he agrees that the company needed to move away from its consumer roots to be taken seriously in enterprise-space where the real money is. The WebCenter product, which is slated for release on June 30, embodies the enterprise aspirations of the new Acuity. The product tries to encompass all imaginable aspects of customer interaction over the web. It includes a Web Response Unit for managing self-service queries, a net-based automated call distributor which queues customers for connection to the next available customer service agent, and a number of options for real-time interaction, including NetMeeting for voice over IP and videoconferencing, callback, email and, of course, text-based chat. To provide comprehensive customer records and catch lazy agents, WebCenter logs all interactions. It also tracks customer paths through the site, to be recorded in a Datawake. This wake is presented to the customer service agent completing the call, so that the agent doesn’t inadvertantly suggest something the customer has already tried. Already Merrill Lynch and Compaq are using the system, the first to stay in touch with investors and thereby drive up trading volumes, and the second to bring down the cost of technical supprt. By targeting internet-enabled customer service, the company (which we will try to call Acuity) is trying to muscle in on a hotly contested next big thing. As early as February 1997, Forrester Research was reporting plans within AT&T and MCI to link web users to call centers through voice-enabled web sites. Yesterday’s alliance between OzEmail and Bay Networks has exactly the same territory in its sights. With far less capital and – now – no brand recognition, Acuity may find establishing itself as a contender an uphill struggle.
