VisNetic MailFlow 4.0 Now Available

VisNetic MailFlow 4 vastly improves stability, scalability, security and email supervision

December 1, 2009 – Deerfield.com Releases VisNetic MailFlow 4.0, the next major release of VisNetic MailFlow – the web based email customer service solution used by thousands of organizations that provides: email routing and tracking, reporting, standard responses, global contact database, customer email history, and much more.

“VisNetic MailFlow 4.0 is the next logical step in the progression of email customer service management,” said Mike Deerfield – Deerfield.com CEO. “At the core of this release is the ability to run multiple MailFlow instances against a single database, which is a key, strategic course of development that ensures that MailFlow can scale to any size organization, while delivering a high level of availability and performance. This new load balancing capability is immediately beneficial to high volume organizations, but also provides peace of mind to smaller organizations, since as their email traffic increases, they can be confident that their email customer service platform will scale to meet their needs.”

“Also included in MailFlow 4 is the feature most commonly requested by existing customers: Outbound Message Approval. This feature is essential for training new staff members or just to collaborate on outbound messages, as it allows specified Agents to have their outbound messages approved by supervisors before the message is delivered. With these new capabilities and a series of additional enhancements, MailFlow 4.0 is a major step forward, and makes it the clear choice for organizations that value their customers’ email,” said Deerfield.

VisNetic MailFlow 4.0 Includes:

Load Balancing – By employing load balancing you will immediately see improved performance and speed, a more stable MailFlow environment and you will “future proof” your MailFlow installation, ensuring that no matter how much your email traffic increases or your company grows, MailFlow will be able to accommodate your requirements.

Load Balancing can be accomplished through distributing MailFlow Tasks such as: database maintenance, message delivery, message routing, ticket monitoring and scheduled reports over multiple servers. Another load balancing usage scenario is to install multiple MailFlow servers, then have Agents login to separate servers (e.g., Agent 1 logs into server 1, Agent 2 logs into server 2, etc.), distributing the workload between servers based on Agent logins, as opposed to tasks. Both servers will share the same database, so it will be as if they are on the same server, but the workload is distributed behind the scenes. MailFlow Load Balancing also allows for manual failover, whereby if one server goes down, another can quickly take over.

Outbound Email Approval - require Agents to have their outbound emails approved by a supervisor or group of supervisors before the message is delivered. Ideal for Agents in training, this feature allows you to oversee and collaborate on messages before they are sent.

Enhanced Alerting - New Agent level Alerts are available that provide commonly requested, immediate notifications, making Agents aware of new inbound emails, tickets assigned to them, outbound messages being approved or returned to them, and more.

Caller ID and Email History Pop Up Window - MailFlow is now capable of producing a pop up window when an inbound call is received, displaying the contact record of the caller, providing the Agent with immediate Caller ID and email history information of the contact before they answer a call.

More information on version 4.0 is available at: http://www.deerfield.com/products/visnetic-mailflow/features/new.htm
Download VisNetic MailFlow 4.0 at: http://www.deerfield.com/download/visnetic-mailflow/
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About VisNetic MailFlow
VisNetic MailFlow is an email management solution designed for businesses who wish to improve their level of email customer service and business intelligence. VisNetic MailFlow combines excellent affordability with super-fast deployment capability and extremely low management burden to offer an incredibly compelling value. First released in 2002, making it one of the most mature email management applications. Today, VisNetic MailFlow is used by over 22,000 agents worldwide – a sampling of which include John Hopkins Medicine, Boston Globe, Blue Nile, Gold Medal Travel Group, Guess Inc. and Lowrance Electronics. Flexible licensing terms includes a 30-day “try before you buy” download and free technical support through an online knowledgebase and email ticket support.
Useful Links:
VisNetic MailFlow website: http://www.deerfield.com/products/visnetic-mailflow/
Request a Guided Demo: http://www.deerfield.com/products/visnetic-mailflow/demo/index.htm
Datasheet: http://www.visneticmailflow.com/resources/vmf_datasheet_v3.pdf
Press Contact:
Don Hoyt
dhoyt@deerfield.com
Tel: (989) 732-8856

Thanksgiving in the USA – Did you know ?

*Thanksgiving or Thanksgiving Day, presently celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November, has been an annual tradition in the United States since 1863. It did not become a federal holiday until 1941. Thanksgiving was historically a religious observation to give thanks to God, but is now also identified as a secular holiday.

The First Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to God for helping the Pilgrims of Plymouth Colony survive the brutal winter. The first Thanksgiving feast lasted three days providing enough food for 53 pilgrims and 90 Indians.  The feast consisted of fowl, venison, fish, lobster, clams, berries, fruit, pumpkin, and squash. However, the traditional Thanksgiving menu often features turkey, stuffing, sweet potatoes and pumpkin pie.

** The idea of a national Thanksgiving Day can be attributed to Sarah Joseph Hale who promoted the idea to President Abraham Lincoln.  In 1863, President Lincoln set aside the last Thursday of November as a National Day of Thanksgiving.  President Lincoln later explained to a friend:  “When I left Springfield (to assume the presidency) I asked the people to pray for me.  I was not a Christian.  When I buried my son, the severest trial of my life, I was not a Christian.  But when I went to Gettysburg and saw the graves of thousands of our soldiers, I then and there consecrated myself to Christ.”  In 1941, Congress made Thanksgiving a national holiday.

*** If you are a Christian, a way to show true thanksgiving to God is to always remember Him. Remembering Him means that He is a part of our thoughts, words, and deeds. It is impossible to give gratitude to God if we never think or speak of Him. When we remember Him we are choosing to think, speak, and act as He would have us do.

All of us have much to be thankful for -  as did the Pilgrims and Indians of Plymouth Colony that historic day in 1621.  Thanksgiving day provides a great opportunity to honor God for all that He’s provided for us. – especially Turkey feasts and Football!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Sources: * Wikipedia **Manteca Bulletin ***About.com

New GM Program Awards Dealerships That Can Answer Customer Email

I was recently made aware of an almost unprecedented program that GM is going to roll out to some of its dealerships.  Basically, in an attempt to improve the dealership’s email customer service and sales, GM is going to pay quarterly bonuses to dealerships that demonstrate they can answer customer emails in 2 hours or less.  Wait … what ?!?

GM is looking for more than a simple auto-response however (our source reveals); they want their dealers to respond with helpful answers to the customers specific questions, not just a reply informing them to expect a call later, or automated requests for more information.

I believe that the only reason GM would be willing to do this is if they suspect they are losing significant opportunities as a result of slow, incomplete, substandard, or non-existent email responses to customer inquiries.  Such was the experience of our own staff members recently while searching for a new vehicle online.

Apparently it’s all over the map with dealerships that are using their online presence to drive sales, with some generating a significant amount of business -  to those dealerships that see little value in their dealership’s web presence.  It appears that GM is looking to change that by providing incentives to dealerships that can show a high level of commitment to email customer service, improving revenue and customer satisfaction in the process.

Could it be that the world is waking up to the idea that customers expect timely. professional responses to their email inquiries?  We’d like to hope so.  I do not think that consumers in general send email inquiries to vendors just for “the fun of it”.  They do so because they are busy, or are trying to avoid the “pushy” salesman on the phone.  Whatever the reason, studies find that if they are ignored - or receive inaccurate or unprofessional responses, they move on.

Do you know how many of your customers are moving on?  To fully understand the challenges of email contact centers, and how you can improve your email customer service, download the  free whitepaper “Customer Email: Handle with Care”.

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Sneak Peek: What’s New in MailFlow V4 ?

Due out in November 2009 – VisNetic MailFlow improves its Scalability, Quality Assurance, Presence, Unified Messaging and Logging Capabilities.

After a tedious 13 Month development cycle, the release of VisNetic MailFlow V4 is imminent.  As stated in an early blog post, due to the upstream penetration into larger customer service organizations – it was necessary to allow MailFlow to scale to the demands of these organizations.  The required foundation-level changes required painstaking attention to detail, was it worth it? We think so!  Additionally, new features were added that will benefit all organizations’ ability to ensure they are delivering the highest level of customer service possible to their customers, while enjoying high-availability.  Below is a list of the of the major new features in VisNetic MailFlow V4:

Load Balancing - VisNetic MailFlow now includes the ability to run multiple MailFlow instances against a single database. This allows users to distribute the MailFlow workload across multiple servers, providing increased stability, scalability and security. By employing load balancing you will immediately see improved performance and speed, a more stable MailFlow environment and you will “future proof” your MailFlow installation, ensuring that no matter how much your email traffic increases or your company grows, MailFlow will be able to accommodate your requirements.

MailFlow Load Balancing can be accomplished through distributing MailFlow Tasks such as: database maintenance, message delivery, message routing, ticket monitoring and scheduled reports over multiple servers. Another load balancing usage scenario is to install multiple MailFlow servers, then have Agents login to separate servers (e.g., Agent 1 logs into server 1, Agent 2 logs into server 2, etc.), distributing the workload between servers based on Agent logins, as opposed to tasks. Both servers will share the same database, so it will be as if they are on the same server, but the workload is distributed behind the scenes. MailFlow Load Balancing also allows for manual failover, whereby if one server goes down, another can quickly take over.

Outbound Email Approval - This new feature allows you to require certain Agents to have their outbound emails approved by a supervisor or group of supervisors before the message is delivered. Ideal for Agents in training, this feature is a safeguard that allows you to oversee and collaborate on messages before they are sent. The feature allows supervisors to deliver the message after review or send it back to the Agent to make edits before sending. It also allows supervisors to enter Notes only viewable within MailFlow to assist with the editing process.

Enhanced Alerting - New Agent level Alerts are available that provide commonly requested, immediate notifications, making Agents aware of new inbound emails, tickets assigned to them, outbound messages being approved or returned to them, and more. These new alerts provide Agents with a new level of awareness and accountability.

3CX IP PBX CRM Integration - MailFlow is now capable of producing a pop up window when an inbound call is received, displaying the contact record of the caller, providing the Agent with immediate Caller ID and email history information of the contact before they answer a call. This new feature is enabled with 3CX IP PBX for Windows and the 3CX Call Assistant w/CRM Integration. It provides a new level of phone system integration, tying different forms of communication together into one common source, and allows your Agents to provide a higher level of customer service.

Database Logging - MailFlow logs can now be saved to the Microsoft database instead of the MailFlow file system. This new feature saves disc space on the MailFlow server, allows logs to be backed up during the database backup process, and is essential for customers utilizing load balancing.

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Which Hotel Chain Does Customer Service E-Mail Best?

At the height of travel season, we decided to conduct a (non-scientific) experiment  to find out which hotel chain does customer service e-mail best.  Using the clever pseudonym “Jane Doe,” we sent this e-mail query to hotel chains with properties near Chicago’s Midway Airport.

Subject: Request for info - room for disabled traveler - Labor Day 2008

Hello -

I'm interested in making a hotel reservation for my brother near Midway Airport in Chicago on       August 31 and September 1, 2008.  (He uses a wheelchair.)  Does the [insert hotel name here] have rooms for handicapped travelers?  If so, how do I make a reservation?

Thanks –

Jane Doe

Within two days of sending our query, we’d received responses from five hotel chains:  Best Western, Marriott, La Quinta, Hyatt, and Hilton. 

Want to learn which hotel does e-mail best?

The quality of the responses was uneven, to put it politely.  To see which hotels provided excellent service and which bombed, download the hotels' e-mail responses and our comments (PDF).
Here’s a quick overview of customer service e-mail winners and losers.
Winners:

• Quick response: Best Western and Marriott answered within two hours.  La Quinta was the quickest, answering within just one hour.  Check our comments to see whether La Quinta’s response was quick and good, or just quick.
• Clear answer to our question: Marriott wins. Here’s the third sentence of Marriott’s reply: “Handicapped accessible rooms are available at all Marriott hotels in the U.S.”
• Polite, professional tone: All five hotel chains used a customer-friendly tone. In fact, four of the five began their e-mails by thanking the customer!

Losers:

• Grammar and spelling: Embarrassing errors slipped through in Best Western’s, Hilton’s, and La Quinta’s e-mails.
• A no-answer reply: Hilton never even mentioned accessible rooms or rooms for handicapped travelers.
• Incomprehensible “from” lines: Customers should be able to tell who’s writing to them by looking at the “from” line.  But some of the hotel chains we tested included unfamiliar abbreviations in the from line or used a sender’s name customers won’t recognize. (Who is internethamp@hiltonres.com, anyway?)

For our complete analysis of the hotel e-mails’ customer service quality, download the hotels' e-mail responses and our comments (PDF). A disclaimer: we haven’t flagged every error in each e-mail; we’ve focused on the ones that affect customer service quality.

(c) E-WRITE, 2004 - 2009.

Marilynne Rudick and Leslie O'Flahavan are partners in E-WRITE, a training and consulting company that specializes in writing for online readers. Rudick and O'Flahavan are authors of Clear, Correct, Concise E-Mail: A Writing Workbook for Customer Service Agents

Customer Service E-Mail In A "Do Not Call" World

The national "Do Not Call" list and anti-spam laws present new challenges for marketers. With customers saying, "don't call us, don't spam us" how can you market your products and services? Take another look at your customer service e-mail. E-mail responses to customers who ASK to hear from you provide an important marketing opportunity. Customer service e-mail may be the last wide-open channel companies have for communicating with customers.

Here are five ways to transforming routine customer service e-mail into e-mail that markets a relationship … with you.

1. Solve customers' problems quickly and completely. They'll be grateful! And grateful customers will tell their friends about your company’s great products and services. "Do you believe it? They sent me the part I needed for my laptop by 10 a.m. the next day!"  Great customer service e-mail can be the foundation for the best kind of viral marketing.            
2. Strengthen your relationship with your customer.  After delivering service by e-mail, send a follow-up message to see if the customer is satisfied with the service he received or the product or information he asked for. Ask “Was your problem satisfactorily resolved?” or “Did you get the information you requested?”
3. Offer relevant information. You could close your e-mail with something like this: "We’re glad to have solved the problem with your laptop battery.  And we thought you’d like to know that we have a way to protect you from unanticipated and expensive repairs.  Check out our service agreement..."            
4. Ask permission to contact the customer again. Customer service e-mail gives you the opportunity to ask customers to opt in to other kinds of e-mail communication.  For example, ask “Would you like to subscribe to our free newsletter for laptop owners?  It features trouble-shooting tips you can use right away.”                                                                                                            
5. Add offers to customer service e-mail.  Reward customers who have communicated with you by e-mail.  Include relevant special offers in your customer service e-mail response: a discount on the next purchase, a two-month product trial, a valuable research report for free.  Be sure your offers are targeted to what you know about your customer’s buying history and interests. Your customer will keep reading—and buying—when your customer service messages contain valuable offers.

A Customer Service E-Mail That Goes The Extra Mile
Here's an example of a customer service e-mail response that goes beyond the traditional and works hard to build a relationship with a potential customer.

To: Linda@webfriend.com
From: CustomerService@wildduckinn.com
Subject: Re: Request for two rooms on Dec. 27-28
Dear Linda,
Thanks for your e-mail asking us whether you could book two rooms on December 27 and 28 for our New Year's Champagne Weekend.  We're sorry to tell you that we are fully booked for that weekend.
However, our affiliate property, Highland Inn, has a similar New Year's Champagne Weekend, and they are still taking reservations for that package. Many of our guests have also stayed at Highland Inn and have been very happy there.  If you'd like to make a reservation at Highland Inn, please call them at 1-800-555-3042.  
We have special events and packages all year. Our quarterly newsletter gives advance notice of these events. That way, you can make reservations early, so we won't have to disappoint you again. May I sign you up for this newsletter?
We hope you'll be celebrating the New Year at Highland Inn and that you will join us for Valentine's Day—or one of our other special weekends.
Sincerely,
Jim McKee
Wild Duck Inn 

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In Brief

With customers saying "don't call us, don't spam us" customer service e-mail may be the last wide-open channel for communicating with customers. Here are five ways to transform routine customer service e-mail into e-mail that markets a relationship--with you.

(c) E-WRITE, 2004 - 2009.

Marilynne Rudick and Leslie O'Flahavan are partners in E-WRITE, a training and consulting company that specializes in writing for online readers. Rudick and O'Flahavan are authors of Clear, Correct, Concise E-Mail: A Writing Workbook for Customer Service Agents

Adding New Tools to the Blogging Toolbox

Hi All – Please bear with me as a I test a new tool for creating blog posts. Seems I’m finding myself blogging more and more these days and between the blogs I am contributing to, such as MailFlow, Mail Server, 3CX, and Dynamic DNS – it’s time for me to take a step forward toward efficiency. In addition, I will be traveling a bit these next four months and I will need a tool that will allow me to create blog posts offline, something that the various blog servers I am tied to do not allow natively.

The tool that I am testing for this blog post is called Windows Live Writer, and it is part of the whole “Windows Live” bunch of stuff that you can get free from Microsoft. One thing that I would note is that if you only want to download and install the Writer tool – you have to be careful during the installation process and de-select all of the other bloat that is selected by default in the Windows Live Writer download manager .

So far I am impressed with it. It makes it much easier to create a blog post, and previewing it is very easy. It’s almost like using a mini version of MS Word to author your blog posts, but it’s way simpler. Adding hyperlinks, pictures (or entire photo albums), videos, tables, maps, and tabs is also quite easy. There is also a plug-in manager that allows to to install one or more of over 100 plug-in’s that are available for it. from the Windows Live Gallery.

We’ll see how it goes :-)

Do You Need a "Writing for Customer Service" Tune-Up?

I'd like to shift gears a moment in this post and talk a little bit about the the skills needed by your customer service reps to be successful at satisfying the needs of your customers via email. I believe that even with all of this technology today, the best customer service experiences are still a result of skilled humans!

But first - a recap: We've spent a lot of time in this blog talking about the importance of "using the right tool for the job" when it comes to customer service email. We've given several examples, statistics, and expressed much concern about the shortcomings of not handling your inbound customer service email quickly and professionally. We've discussed repeatedly how by using a tool such as MailFlow, you can gain and retain customers, thus improving your bottom line.

What we've not talked about much is what human skills are needed to answer customer service email quickly, professionally, and efficiently. Basically, the most skilled customer service agents in an email contact center are good writers, and more specifically, they're good at writing for customer service. They have the skills necessary to communicate with a customer in a caring way, providing the customer with just the information they need - in a clear, non-confusing, professional manner.

The truth of the matter is that these folks are in short supply today and good writing is often the exception, rather than the rule. Some of the gotcha's that are common in today's email correspondence are things such as bad grammar and spelling, slang and contractions, too little or incomplete information, or just a general tone of non-helpfulness.

I am not affiliated in any way with this company, but I did discover a book that has been written specifically targeting "writing for customer service". It is called "Clear, Correct, Concise E-Mail: A Writing Workbook for Customer Service Agents". If you operate an email customer service contact center (or you simply converse with some/all of your customers via email), I think this is an excellent read.

Here's a short description of the book from the author:

"Clear, Correct, Concise E-Mail: A Writing Workbook for Customer Service Agents is a cost-effective, self-paced method of teaching your staff to write customer service e-mail. The workbook is unique. It uses e-mail exchanges between customers and companies to teach customer service professionals the writing skills they need to communicate with customers. "

This book is actually written by the founders of E-Write, a business dedicated to helping others provide professional content for electronic media. For more information about the book, or to order a copy - click here.