Salesforce broadens platform with call center buy

Salesforce.com is again expanding beyond its customer-relationship management roots with an acquisition designed to broaden its service and platform.

The company has acquired InStranet, a Chicago-based maker of call center software, for approximately $31.5 million. The buy gives Salesforce.com technology that it will use both for its internal customer service purposes, and for a new software-as-a-service offering expected to launch within 18 months, the company said.

InStranet makes so-called knowledge base management software, which can improve companies self-service support functions by making it easier for customers to find answers to common support questions.

Salesforce.com plans to integrate the software--which is not currently delivered as an online service--into its software-as-a-service platform. InStranet's 44 employees, based in Chicago and Paris, will join Salesforce.com. Alex Dayon, InStranet's CEO, will become a vice president of product management at Salesforce.com, according to company representative Bruce Francis.

InStranet, founded in 1999, brings some big name customers to Salesforce.com, including U.K.-based telecommunications provider Orange, T-Mobile, Comcast, and other companies. Salesforce.com expects that its new SaaS offering, to be called Salesforce.com Knowledge Base, will give it a technological edge over competitive offerings from Oracle and SAP, the company's main rivals.

[UITD]

Funny, I still cant get the Google/Salesforce link to work no matter how many times I've reported it. You remember that, back in March or so an announcement of how SF is going to partner with Google's services, etc... Ya. Right.
I guess if you try to contact their call center and get a busy signal, you shouldn't be too shocked.
When that SF CEO speaks, I laugh.