PeopleSoft CTO Rick Bergquist said it is a natural extension to the multi-channel focus that characterized CRM 8.8, which added features for improved CTI and support for newer communication modes such as web chat mode. Instant Messaging takes things to the next stage, he said, enabling customers to control how they interact with an organization while helping to improve efficiency within the organization.
The breakthrough is that the PeopleSoft initiative will enable IM to be delivered as part of the business’s application infrastructure, with functionality accessed either from the PeopleSoft portal or directly from within mainstream business applications. Despite the lack of a unified IM system, PeopleSoft’s IM functionality will also support simultaneous conversations with users of the difference services because it uses adapters to integrate with each of the three supported systems.
PeopleSoft customers who take the IM route will have access to messaging features such as presence detection, follow-me functionality and privacy settings. Presence detection allows users to immediately determine whether or not a messaging partner is on-line. Follow-me functionality enables messages to be forwarded to different devices such as mobile phones, or converted into speech and delivered through voicemail. The privacy settings ensure that users are not subject to unwanted communications.
Although IM is increasingly used by individuals within enterprises on an unauthorized basis, it is not widely used as an official means of communication. There are several issues that need to be addressed, and security is top of the list. As reported by ComputerWire last week, businesses are in danger of being caught out by vulnerabilities appearing as a result of unmanaged and unregulated use of public instant messaging systems provided by MSN, Yahoo, and America Online from inside the enterprise network.
Although IM is a powerful complement to email and telephone for people to chat with peers, business colleagues and friends, the introduction of direct peer-to-peer links over a public IP network dramatically changes the corporate security posture and will need to be evaluated carefully. IM products generally contain no provisions for message logging, confidentiality or security. The lack of audit trails, logging or archiving features, as well as use of anonymous screen names and file attachments delivered via IM are all viewed as security threats. Only corporate-focused products include sufficient controls and tools for safe corporate use. Bergquist admitted that there are security issues, but said they are being addressed by the service providers. There will also be network usage issues, but Bergquist said that IM usage patterns are different to other methods such as telephone in that they are characterized by being interactive, instantaneous and terse when compared with the closest alternative of a telephone conversation. There is a suggestion that while the loading on the digital network will increase through the use of IM, the load on the conventional telephone system may be reduced.
Effective use of IM brings cultural challenges, and demands an understanding of where it is appropriate to use it. In a business situation it is likely to be used where parties already have an established and ongoing relationship such as between a business and a supplier in order to optimize the relationship, where the addition of interactive and instantaneous communication will help drive efficiencies.
In a separate announcement, PeopleSoft announced Enterprise Portal 8.8, which includes support for IM, plus new capabilities such as Resource Finder, which is aimed at reducing the cost of maintaining company directories and organization charts, and wizard-powered user-driven site management to ease the task of tailoring or branding sites.
Source: Computerwire
