At Blue Cross-Blue Shield of Rhode Island (BCBSRI), the numbers told the story: About 180 customer-service reps were using old "green screen" technology. With dumb terminals connected to a claims-processing system, trying to handle a total of 900,000 calls per year. Each call took about 10 minutes, ...

CRM software revenues are expected to reach $30 billion in the next several years, according to research firm Cahners In-Stat. Even so, CRM implementation projects are often cited for high failure rates. To avoid losing customers, these projects need to succeed in more dimensions than just company m...

More than 600 companies partner with SAP, offering add-on systems to enhance the utility of the industry giant's software. One of them, Revelation Software Concepts of Melbourne, Australia, recently announced SAP certification for Rev-Trac version 5.0, its change control management tool. In an effor...

Connextions Health has begun selling a CRM product that lets organizations proactively anticipate and prevent patients' problems before those problems escalate into significant events. One customer that has signed on to Connextions' healthcare CRM offering is Blue Cross Blue Shield of Florida (BCBSF...

Cisco Systems has announced plans to acquire Riverhead Networks, a privately held provider of technology that could help prevent distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks on corporate networks, for $39 million in cash. Riverhead's technology will enhance Cisco's suite of integrated security produ...

Google recently announced the integration of local search results into Google.com. Currently in beta, Google Local allows users to find relevant local information with neighborhood business listings, maps, directions and Web links. Combining sources from its catalog in excess of 4.3 billion Web page...

Yahoo has announced an offering that will marry its instant messaging offering with British Telecommunications' BT Communicator service, creating a call management package that integrates PC-to-phone calling, Internet call waiting and directory lookup with Yahoo's Messenger service. Voice over Inter...

Research firm IDC has predicted overall PC semiconductor revenue, from desktop and mobile units combined, will grow 18 percent to US$53.6 billion in 2004, marking the highest annual growth rate expected during the study's forecast period. "The recovery of the PC semiconductor market will hit its str...

A quiet trading day on Wall Street segued into a small dip after market close Thursday when semiconductor leader Intel narrowed its first-quarter revenue expectations. The company said revenue in the quarter will total between $8 billion and $8.2 billion, compared with a previously forecast range of...

Spurred by rulings designed to improve corporate accountability, companies are scrambling to comply with an escalating burden of legislative record-keeping requirements -- and they are spending millions of dollars on consultants, lawyers, auditors and technology in the process. Now, IBM has stepped ...

Although companies are tightening the security of Windows-based servers, they face some unknown risks when corporate data takes to the streets on mobile devices such as PDAs, notebook computers and USB memory drives. Many are finding that sound policy is their greatest weapon against data loss. "A p...

Computer security experts thought the impact of MyDoom would fade on February 12th, as the program reportedly was designed to terminate itself on that date. Instead, MyDoom's creators are suspected of masterminding a new malware attack that started Monday. The new worm, Doomjuice, landed on every co...

Venture capital commitments ended 2003 on an up note, with the fourth-quarter amount raised closing at $5.2 billion. That amount represented almost half -- 47.8 percent -- of the total amount raised in all of 2003. Amity Wall, manager of research operations at VentureOne, told the E-Commerce Times t...

Microsoft has issued a critical update bulletin affecting users of its Internet Explorer Web browser. The cumulative update contains eight patches to prevent security breaches. The notice comes nearly a week ahead of the company's normal monthly update, planned for the second Tuesday of the month. A...

PeopleSoft has reported earnings that paint a mixed picture, with revenue up but net profit down as a result of charges related to its J.D. Edwards acquisition. Revenue in the fourth quarter increased to $685 million. However, fourth-quarter net income plunged 70 percent. Analysts noted that while t...