The Lexicon of CRM : From J to Q

J

J2ME - Java 2 Micro Edition. A highly optimized Java runtime environment targeting a wide range of consumer products, including pagers, cellular phones, digital set-top boxes, and car navigation systems.

JDBC - Java Database Connectivity. JDBC technology is an API that lets you access virtually any tabular data source from the Java programming language. It provides cross-DBMS connectivity to a wide range of SQL databases. There is also a new JDBC API, which provides access to other tabular data sources, such as spreadsheets or flat files.

K

Kbps - Kilobits per second. Note that Kbps is NOT the same as KB (Kilobytes). There are 8 bits per kilobyte. Hence, for example, if you have a 56 Kbps modem, it actually transmits 56/8 = 7 KB per second, maximum. This is often a source of confusion when users are downloading software from the Internet, and they see download rates of less than 7KB. 4KB, which is equal to 32 Kbps, is a typical, actual download speed.

Knowledgebase - A database that is stocked with information that has been reviewed by technical staff, with notes added, to make the information within it true "knowledge." Knowledgebases are often accessible by customers via the web, and may contain such items as Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), known bugs, answers to previously asked questions, white papers, and the like. Used intelligently, a knowledgebase can be a time saver for both users and Customer Support Representatives alike.

L

LDAP - Lightweight Directory Access Protocol. LDAP is a client-server protocol for accessing a directory service. It is most often used to identify corporate network users, and maintain their passwords, on a central server repository. Some CRM and other enterprise-application vendors are building access to LDAP services into their programs, so that two lists of users and passwords do not need to be maintained (one on an LDAP server, one in the application itself).

Lead Aging - A statistic used by marketing and sales professionals to give them an idea of how long leads may be outstanding. It can give the company an idea of how well certain marketing campaigns are working, which types of users to target more successfully in the future, and the like.

Lead Qualification - Automation that pre-qualifies leads according to pre-established business rules before they are entered into a system and passed from Marketing to Sales for pursuit of sale.

Live Chat - A Customer Support service where a Customer Support Representative conducts a live, online text chat session with a user. Usually initiated by a website user who wants immediate access to help, but doesn't want to disconnect from the Internet to call the company by phone.

M

Mbps - Megabits per second. Similar in concept to Kbps. There are 8 bits per byte. Hence, the rate of 8 Mbps actually represents 1 MB per second.

mCRM - Mobile Customer Relationship Management. A new term that covers the area of field force automation and remote access to corporate information in real time. Such access is becoming more and more critical as economies move towards the service sector, and there are more people in the field working at client company sites who need access to corporate data.

Metadata - Metadata is "data about data." It's often used when talking about XML (eXtensible Markup Language). In XML, two pieces of information are sent for one piece of data: one is the data itself, and the other is information about the type of data that is being sent (the metadata). For example, we may send Contact Name information via XML to another company. We would not only send the actual name (for example, "Joe Smith"), but we would also send information to tell the other company that "Joe Smith" represents a Contact Name.

Middleware - Software that sits in between two disparate applications and helps those applications "talk" to each other. Examples of middleware include IBM's MQSeries and Microsoft's MQMS. Middleware can operate on one of four different levels: the data level; the application interface level; the method (or messaging) level, and; the user interface level.

Multi-Channel Support - Provides customers the ability to access the company via multiple "channels," or methods of communications. Typical communication channels include web chat, web forms submission, email, phone, fax, Voice over IP (VoIP), and live chat.

N

Natural Language Search - This is a type of search against a knowledgebase or database that allows the user to ask questions in a natural way; i.e., as if they were asking a real-live person the question, as opposed to restricting their input to some less intuitive method such as keyword searches with Boolean (and/or) options. An example of a natural language question might be: "Why is it that when I am using my computer, at various times the keyboard input freezes, and I am no longer able to type anything into any application? I must use my mouse to shut applications down and reboot to regain keyboard input."

O

ODBC - Open DataBase Connectivity. This is a standard protocol that is used to run queries against databases that are not "natively" supported (supported directly, with their own language) by an application. Most databases support ODBC connections to front-end tools, in addition to supporting specific applications natively.

ODS - Operational Data Store. Part of the data warehouse; fed with scores, behaviors, and clusters in near real-time, to be able to react live to customer actions on the web site. The idea is to better serve the customer by reacting to his actions in real time.

OEM - Original Equipment Manufacturer. The term is typically used to identify the company that actually creates the hardware or writes the software that customers ultimately buy. They may use channel partners or Value-Added Resellers (VARs) for everything from Sales, to Marketing, to Implementation, but the original source of the saleable item is the OEM.

OLAP - OnLine Analytic Processing. In the business-intelligence world, OLAP represents a "live" report in which users can employ such devices as pivot tables, drill downs, and real-time calculations to derive much more information from one report than is typical with a static report. As an example, a report that shows sales per state, through OLAP technology, may allow the user to drill down on a specific state to see sales per city within that state, in real time.

OLTP - OnLine Transaction Processing. That portion of the software that enables daily business operations such as order entry.

Operational CRM - This is the heart of what we have traditionally just called CRM. It represents those pieces of CRM that automate functions internal to the company, such as Sales, Marketing, or Customer Support functions. It's that part of CRM packages that interact with ERP packages to get product moving, facilitate the flow of internal information between individuals and teams, and automate or facilitate daily tasks. For more on Operational CRM, see the Article CRM is Busting Out of Its Britches: Operational, Analytical, and Collaborative CRM are Born.

Opt-In Marketing - This is a type of marketing where users give a company their permission, either directly or indirectly, to market to them. You often see requests for Opt-in marketing when filling out User Profiles on web sites. They often ask at the end if it would be OK for them to send your information to related and relevant parties who might have offers that would be interesting to you. By saying 'Yes,' you have "Opted-in" to marketing from those associated companies.

P

PBX - Private Branch Exchange, which is a private telephone network used within an enterprise. Users of PBXs share a certain number of outside lines for making telephone calls external to the PBX. In conjunction with PBX's, Automated Call Distribution (ACD) software is often employed in call centers to enhance the function of PBX's, by providing such capabilities as rules-based routing of calls, call queuing, and the like.

PDA - Personal Digital Assistant. The short-hand term for the handheld devices currently on the market, such as Palm-OS-based units, Pocket PC-based units, and units based on the Symbian OS from Psion (Symbian is due to make a bigger splash in the U.S. as the OS of choice on so-called "smart" phones - cell phones with PDA features - in the near future).

POI - Point Of Interaction. An internal shorthand to indicate at what "touchpoint" a customer began his interaction with the company. Relevant to companies that want to know what channels of communication customers prefer and are most useful for the company to develop.

Portal - A web site that combines elements of targeted information relevant to a given audience. For example, a company might set up a supplier portal, including information only relevant to their suppliers (such as inventory levels, corporate contact information, instructions for shipping and invoicing the company for parts shipped, etc.).

Portlets - These are sub-areas, or windows, within a Portal, that contain different pieces of information. For example, in an Employee Portal, you might have Portlets that separately contain: HR information, Corporate Announcements, Industry information and news relevant to their position, and maybe a Portlet to their favorite web site.

PRM - Partner Relationship Management. Third-party sales channel automation capabilities, allowing companies to distribute Leads, perform web-based sales, conduct promotions and establish discounts, etc. It also provides a mechanism for the initial partner to analyze the performance of its partners via analytics.

PSA -Professional Services Automation. These are services, now associated with CRM packages, that help automate the tasks of, say, a consulting company that offers Professional Services to clients. A PSA package might contain Quoting tools, Project Management Tools, personal time and expense reporting, as well as personnel optimization schemes, matching the customer need to the employee who is both capable and available to fill that need.

Q

QBE - Query By Example. There are a lot of ways to search databases. You can submit keyword searches, conduct natural language searches, and you can perform a QBE. With a QBE, you use an existing screen to enter information into the various editable fields. The values you enter represent the criteria you want to use in your search. For example, if two fields contain a First Name and Last Name for a contact, and you wanted to find all the Joneses in the database, you would type 'Jones' in the Last Name field, and run the query. The query would return information on all the Joneses in the database.

QoE - Quality of Experience. It's no longer acceptable to simply produce a great product. Next year, the competition will have caught up, and maybe even surpassed you, on your features and functionality set. Instead, companies are now focusing on the more broad term Quality of Experience, which represents not only the strength of the product, but also the ease with which the customer can do business with the company, rounding out the customer's entire Experience with the company, from Sales, through Purchase, through Support. See the article CRM and Technological Solutions: Be the Customer for more in-depth information about customers' total experiences with companies.

QoS - Quality of Service. Not quite what you might think. It means, what level of network services are provided to each client on the network. Companies, having to deal with network and storage performance and capacity bottlenecks, are turning to this concept of QoS, where the level of service that is offered a user on the network may be prioritized, based on a certain set of criteria. For example, the CEO might demand the highest QoS at all times, and would be given preferential treatment at printer queues, storage devices, and network bandwidth.

The Lexicon of CRM : From A to I

0 - A

360 degree view of the customer - A term used to describe the ability for virtually anyone in the company to know anything about the customer (products bought, support calls made, web site visits conducted, etc.). A "complete, 306 degree view" of customer information.

3G - Supposedly the ultimate wireless protocol technology that is already being used in areas outside of North America where countries have more readily converged on wireless protocol standards. Believed to be coming to the U.S. in 2002 or 2003. Supports data transmission rates between 384Kbps and 2Mbps.

ACD - Automated Call Distribution. An add-on feature to Customer Interaction Center PBX's (phone switches), ACD's intelligently handle and route incoming calls based on defined criteria (such as, next available employee, skillset, workload, group, etc.).

Ad Hoc - "In real time," or "On the spot." We often talk about Ad Hoc Queries, which are database queries that are created by the user in real-time.

Analytical CRM - A subset of Corporate Business Intelligence, which enables the generation of reports and graphs from information stored in databases to help users analyze various aspects of their business. For more details, see the Article CRM is Busting Out of It's Britches: Operational, Analytical, and Collaborative CRM Are Born.

API - Application Programming Interface. Typically, a "set of API's" will be released by the vendor of software, to enable programmers to write new code on top of the application more quickly by making use of pre-packaged code within an API set. Often used to either augment functionality, or to link one application to another.

ASCII - American Standard Code for Information Interchange. It represents the set of common characters that are typically recognized in America, including letters, numbers, and symbols. Each ASCII character is represented by a 7-bit number, from 0 to 127. For example, the ASCII code for uppercase 'M' is 77. Most computers use the ASCII text set, which makes it possible to transfer data from one computer to another.

ASP - Application Service Provider. In its simplest form, an ASP is a third-party service firm which deploys, manages, and remotely hosts a pre-packaged application or suite of applications in a "rental" or "lease" agreement. No software or hardware typically reside at the customer's site.

ATP - Available To Promise. This represents what product is currently in inventory and not claimed by another order; hence, available to promise to the current customer who is inquiring about availability.

Automated Request Routing - The ability of CRM software to route incoming requests based on defined criteria such as: person's name, skillset, group, availability, knowledge, or geographical location.

B

B2B - Business to Business. Represents business that is conducted primarily between two businesses.

B2C - Business to Customer. Represents business that is conducted between a business and end users or customers.

Bluetooth - A wireless protocol that allows two objects to communicate with each other, transferring data and transmitting information without having to "point" at each other as today's devices equipped with IrDA technology do.

BPR - "Business Process Reengineering." Includes business process analysis, design, and/or re-design, in advance of technology purchase decisions. For an in-depth discussion, reference two TEC Articles: CPR on BPR: Long Live Business Process Reengineering. Part I: A Primer and CPR on BPR: Practical Guidelines for Successful Business Process Analysis.

Business Intelligence (a.k.a. Analytics) - A global term used to represent the ability of software to generate information (via reports, graphs, and charts) about the performance of various aspects of the company and its customer relationships to foster intelligent decision-making.

C

Call Me Now - A web-based electronic Service (or "eService") feature which enables the customer to immediately request that a support representative call them over a POTS (Plain Old Telephone System) line for discussion.

Channel - Short-hand for Sales Channel; represents other companies that aid a company in the sale, and often implementation, of its products.

CIC - Customer Interaction Center. The term has supplanted the age-old term Customer Support Center. Meant to represent a more global view of the services this department conducts, including not only Service, but potentially Sales (via Telesales) as well as Marketing (via distribution of Marketing literature, running Outbound campaigns and the like). It's meant to represent a centralized Sales, Marketing, and Service organization that is co-located and cross-trained.

Clickstream Analysis - The analysis of the path that a user took through your website (as they clicked hyperlinks to access various areas). The data is used to understand such things as what areas of the site are popular, and, in turn, what products or services are being most inquired about, etc.

Client-Server - The 1980's model of corporate computing, where application processing was split (often haphazardly) between servers and client, or desktop, machines. For example, if a user were to run a query on a database, the database server might simply run the query and push all the data to the client; then, it's up to the client to do all the manipulation on the data (organization, summarization, formatting, etc.).

Collaborative CRM - Those pieces of CRM software that interact directly with the customer. Typically refers to web components, like web conferencing, web forms handling, automated email handling, and unified message handling and intelligent message routing; web assistance tools such as Live Chat facilities, and Voice over IP (VoIP), and collaborative web browsing. For more details, see the Article CRM is Busting Out of It's Britches: Operational, Analytical, and Collaborative CRM Are Born.

Collaborative Web Browsing - The ability for a Service Representative to "push" web pages to a customer's screen, or to lead the customer's browser with his or her own browser. Often used in the shopping process, when users are confused about next steps.

Context-sensitive Help - Help information that is specific to the location of your cursor on the screen. For example, if you had a question about a particular field on the screen, you could place your cursor in the field, and then request Help, and the Help system would be intelligent enough to provide information about that particular field (how to fill it out, in what format, etc.)

CRM -Customer Relationship Management software is defined as: software that promotes the direct interaction between customers and the company through support of the people and processes involved in the entire customer lifecycle. CRM software fosters a comprehensive, integrated approach to the customer, putting the customer at the center and integrating such corporate functions as Sales, Marketing, Customer Support, and Field Sales and Service, all in an effort to increase Customer Satisfaction, improve internal morale, increase sales, and differentiate the company from its competitors. (It can also mean "Corporate Records Management," but not in the context of TEC research.)

CSR - Customer Support Representative. The term for the employees who staff the Customer Interaction Center.

CTI - "Computer-Telephony Integration." Links incoming phone call information with information that already exists in the database related to that phone number, auto-populating Service Requests with basic information such as Contact Name, Address, Company Name, etc.

D

Dashboard - A member of the Business Intelligence family that represents near-real-time data feedback about particular performance measures. Called a "Dashboard" because the visual implementation of the functionality often looks like the dashboard of a car, with dials and gauges representing the "pulse" of the organization.

Data Mart - A Data Warehouse on a departmental level (for more information, see Data Warehousing).

Data Mining - A general term that represents exploring data sets and finding the valuable nuggets of information which help companies make better-informed decisions.

Data Warehousing- The collection of information from multiple, disparate databases into one database, against which Data Mining tools can be run to gather corporate-wide business intelligence.

DBA - DataBase Administrator. The engineer in the IT organization that keeps the corporate databases running at peak efficiency, maintains data backups, and ensures the accuracy and "cleanliness" of the data stored in the databases.

DSS - Decision Support System. An automated system that enables an employee, typically a manager, to make better decisions based on the analysis of collected data. The TESS (Technology Evaluation Support System) database system offered by TEC is an example of a DSS.

E

EAI - Enterprise Application Integration. Represents the efforts that often need to be made to link data between disparate applications running on different databases. CRM packages are trying to avoid external EAI requirements by building in and automating the links between their application components and data.

E-Business - An umbrella term for a total presence on the Web including the E-Commerce component.

E-Commerce - Sales and Service via the Internet.

E-CRM - Another vague term, but understood here at TEC to mean, any Sales, Marketing, or Service functionality that is automated electronically, typically via the web.

EDI - Electronic Data Interchange. The precursor to XML (eXtensible Markup Language). EDI represents, if you will, a common language that two databases can use to speak to one another directly, without human intervention. For example, if one company wanted to send a Purchase Order to another company via EDI, it could do so if both it and the receiving company follow EDI conventions and pre-establish EDI links between the two companies.

EMA - Enterprise Marketing Automation. A key component of most CRM packages, EMA enables the automation of typical marketing tasks, such as the compilation of campaign lists, and the qualification of leads.

ETL - Extraction, Transformation, and Loading. A term used with Data Warehouses. Part of the Data Warehouse functionality set, where data is pulled (Extracted) from disparate databases, Transformed into more easily understandable, and better linked form, and then Loaded into the Data Warehouse for Data Mining.

Extranet - That part of a company's own Intranet that is shared with a subset of external users. Typically protected by password or some other means.

F - G

Fail over Capability - The ability for a server, when it fails, to "fail over" to a machine that is running in parallel and provide seamless, non-stop processing for users.

FAQs - Frequently Asked Questions. A list of questions that are repetitively asked of Customer Support Representatives. If a user views the FAQ list, they will find answers to the most commonly asked questions, saving the Support organization time and effort in handling repeat questions or problems.

FFA - Field Force Automation. Automating tasks and delivering content to employees, typically both Sales and Service Staff, who are in the field visiting customers.

Field-level Validation - The ability of a software package to validate what a user has entered into a particular field on a screen either in real time (usually when the user tabs out of the field), or in batch (typically when the user attempts to leave the screen). Types of validation include: checking for the existence of data, and checking for data that is entered in a particular format.

GPS - Global Positioning System. Starting to be incorporated in CRM Field Force Automation systems, so that the home office knows the location of its field resources (either people or vehicles or the like), and can use that data for more intelligent routing of field personnel.

GUI - Graphical User Interface. The standard style computer interface since it was introduced by Apple Computer in the late 1970's. Represented by icons, windows, and multiple fonts.

H - I

Horizontal Applications - Applications that include functionality across corporate disciplines, such as Sales, Marketing, or Service.

IM - Instant Messaging. The ability for two or more users who are online to communicate via text in real time on their computers.

Inference Engine - A problem resolution engine that prompts the user to answer questions about the problem that they have, and based on the answers, will ask additional questions or make recommendations about actions that should be taken to resolve the problem. Acts almost like a stand-in for the back-and-forth that is typical between customer and Service Representative when problem solving.

Intranet - A network internal to a company that is based on the protocols of the Internet (namely, TCP/IP).

IrDA - Infrared Data Association. A communications protocol developed by a consortium of technology manufacturers for transmitting data via infrared light waves. The two units communicating must maintain a line-of-sight, and cannot be more than three feet apart. IrDA ports support transmission rates of approximately 115 Kbps (similar to traditional parallel ports)

IVR - "Interactive Voice Response." IVR is a software application that accepts a combination of voice telephone input and touch-tone keypad selection and provides appropriate responses in the form of voice, fax, callback, email and perhaps other media. IVR is usually part of a larger application that includes database access.