By David Sims
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The news as of the first coffee this morning, and the music is Israel Kamakawiwo'ole's "Somewhere Over The Rainbow/ What A Wonderful World:"

Dealer Technology Group has announced that DiversiForm, a vendor of service department retention marketing and CSI products and services, will begin to market DealerLOGIX, DTG's customized sales process suite.

The integration of the companies' products is intended to create a "total service-drive sales product for the retail automotive industry," according to DTG officials.

"In most cases, automotive dealers do not have formal sales processes for the service advisors on the service drive. That's where DealerLOGIX comes in," said Mark Brandon, CEO and founder of DTG, adding that combining DealerLOGIX with the DiversiForm’s TRAX Services "will now provide a complete up-selling product to their customer base as part of their total CRM package."

Most dealerships build their businesses through marketing and customer feedback, Brandon says, "leaving out the most important piece -- a sales process." The DealerLOGIX Suite has what are called "Service Advisors" with a PC, or Tablet PC-based sales tool which "allows them to maximize sales with each customer visiting the service department."

DiversiForm already provides marketing and feedback services through its customer retention programs, ScanTRAX, PhoneTRAX and ReminderTRAX. DealerLOGIX will allow the company to include a sales-driven method, "which will complete the full circle of service CRM capabilities," DTG officials said.

DiversiForm designs and delivers printed forms and customer retention services to the automotive industry.

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Dubai-based Cyber Gear has announced the launch of customized Web-based SMS gateway products "for organizations in the region." Organizations that need to communicate via SMS to their clients and prospects can directly send personalized SMS messages from their Web site.

According to Sharad Agarwal, CEO of Cyber Gear, the Web-based SMS product "allows organizations to communicate with their clients using our SMS gateway. Our proprietary software supports database groupings, real time tracking and integrates well with our e-CRM offerings."

Clients can buy SMS messages in bulk.

The Cyber Gear SMS software has the ability to integrate with the "opt-in" subscribers of www.MiddleEastPostBox.com, an SMS messaging and e-mail marketing portal in the region.

Cyber Gear is a Web development company located in the United Arab Emirates. Clients include Standard Chartered Bank, Grand Hyatt, Ramada Hotels, Shell, NFO World Group, Xerox, Sharp, Toshiba, Etisalat, BurJuman Centre, Union Properties, Kingdom Centre, Saks Fifth Avenue in Riyadh and Citystars in Cairo.

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Catching up with… call center vendor TouchStar Software, which has announced a "record year of growth and profitability" in 2006.

Last year the company increased sales, acquired a competitor, restructured its customer support infrastructure, further developed its international business, and increased staffing to improve from 2005's results.

TouchStar remains one of the fastest growing companies in Colorado as well as in their industry, company officials claim. TouchStar was named as one of the Denver Business Journal's "Fastest Growing Large Private Companies in Colorado" for the fourth year in a row.

The firm finished 2006 with a 100 percent increase in revenue, a 280 percent increase in profitability, and recruited 120 new employees. Annual sales more than doubled from 2005 to 2006, and TouchStar had its most profitable results to date.

The company claims more than 50,000 call center agents using their products worldwide.

TouchStar finalized its acquisition of Davenport, Iowa-based Sigmaworx during 2006. Sigmaworx has been a provider of call center products for over 20 years, and gave TouchStar an experienced staff, a new product offering, and more than 2,000 legacy clients.

The strategic implementation of a new Customer Service Division and the development of TouchStar University's internal education program were completed as well.

TouchStar expanded abroad beginning in 2001, and has since opened international offices in England, India, South Africa, and the Philippines to create an international presence.

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IEX TotalView was selected to" help Reliance BPO enhance the performance and streamline management of up to 10,000 contact center agents," according to Nice officials. IEX TotalView was purchased through Nice channel partner Avaya Global Connect Ltd., and comes on the heels of the decision recently announced by Nice and Avaya to extend the companies’ long-term distribution agreement to include TotalView from IEX.

Albert Hainston, head of workforce management and MIS for Reliance BPO, said the profitability of a contact center "is a function of effective workforce usage, a component of direct costs."

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