Headline Feeds
Oncontact Software's client-management software (CMS) offering, tailored for the mid-market, promises comprehensive functionality in a simple package. The company's director of business development, Tim Vertz, sums up Oncontact's message in four words: "One solution, one price." Users can manage sales, marketing and customer 
service strategies with a single software suite. "Everything is only one click away," Vertz told CRM Buyer.
Oncontact's single-minded concentration on CRM for the mid-market is unique, according to Gartner (NYSE: IT) research director Joe Outlaw. "It's also the only company in that space that sells a whole integrated suite. Oncontact views CRM as an enterprise-wide activity," he told CRM Buyer.
Others that address the mid-market, albeit with a broader lineup, include the likes of Onyx (Nasdaq: ONXS), Pivotal and SalesLogix. "We'll be hearing more on this front from Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) in the future," Outlaw added.
Make It Easy, Make It Fast
Ease of use and fast implementation are paramount, Vertz said. CMS 6.0 is designed for deployment within 30 to 90 days, unlike CRM suites for large enterprises, which could take six to 18 months to implement, he noted.
CMS 6.0 is set up for either a Windows or Web environment and can be customized using a built-in toolkit. "We do not place any limitation on how it can be customized. We or one of our business partners can do it, or we can train customers to do it," Vertz said, adding that some software offerings on the market limit the amount of customization.
Taking the Middle Road
The Oncontact offering has the right amount of functionality and price for the mid-market, according to Outlaw.
The software features advanced analytics for campaign and marketing management as well as account management, out-of-the-box call-center integration, enhanced integration with Microsoft Outlook and Lotus Notes, support for Office XP, and wizard-driven synchronization to allow field users fast setup and rollout.
CMS 6.0 has a per-user price of US$1,495, unlike competitors that might charge based on different configurations and have separate tool fees, Vertz said.
Keeping It Simple
New employees at the Frantz Group, an integrated direct-marketing company, receive about half a day of training to use CMS 6.0, according to senior project manager Greg Huegerich. He estimated that between 60 and 100 of the company's 190 employees use the Oncontact offering at any given time.
The drag-and-drop interface is easy to use, and the Frantz Group -- an Oncontact customer since the mid-1990s -- can "doctor schema, screens and interfaces without having them destroyed in an upgrade," Huegerich told CRM Buyer.
In the second quarter, Oncontact plans to beef up the product's call-center, customer service and opportunity-management capabilities. "Our R&D has been very focused on ease of use," Vertz said, adding that as the product is upgraded, the key is continuing to ensure that this is the case. "It's important to make sure the user will go through a day of training and understand what's going on. The software is supposed to save you time -- not take more time."
Talkback: 
