Hey everyone,

In an effort to get you more acquainted with who we are, we wanted to take some time every week to introduce you to a member of the team. Starting this Friday, 6/12/09, and continuing every Friday following, we will be doing a short post about one of our team members.

Each post will hopefully bring you closer to knowing more about the entire SpiceCSM team. Each post will include information such as business experience, skills, areas of interest, what each member is working on at Spice, hobbies, and so much more. Sure some of that information is available on our About Us page, but this will get down and dirty with each member, no matter what their role or responsibility is. I will attempt to include a picture of each person, but no guarantees they won’t break the glass… just kidding we all having dashing good looks. Be sure to stay tuned for this Friday’s post about our COO, Mark Cornett.
Best,
Justin

Announcing the latest product update to SpiceCSM!

IE Compatibility

We’ve fixed the issues with IE, optimized for IE 7+. This requires IE users to install the Microsoft Silver Light plug in.

Database Held Process Files

We’ve modified the Process Editor/Reader to hold the process files in the database instead of a flat file system. No worries though, as we did not remove the ability to save or load a file in the editor. By adding this functionality it has allowed us to achieve the following.

• Implement basic revision control functionality including saving a process in a ‘Pending’ status and the ability to ‘roll back’ to prior versions.
• Implement a ‘bug tracking’ feature for process content that ‘flags’ the node in the process and gives visual ques on nodes that have outstanding issues in the editor.
• Implement a security hierarchy that allows for individual agent access (for editing) to allow for collaboration.

With this new feature it becomes much easier to manage and optimize your process content.

Pete Blackmer

Senior Application Developer

In case you have not had the chance to check out the blog at OpenCSM, I wanted to give you an update of the recent activity, and let me tell you, there has been a lot.  If you now go to www.opencsm.org/download, you will find the latest code for download.  Each project has been updated, so if you are following any of the projects and were looking for a bug fix or feature upgrade make sure to check it out.

Last Friday, Mark Cornett, our COO, made a blogpost titled, New Releases Announced, which outlines all the work and changes that have occurred.  The news includes everything from license changes to new features, so be sure to check it out.  Also, I’m glad I was finally able to convince our great developers to open up a little and make announcements about each of their projects.  Each of their posts are available at the OpenCSM Blog, so be sure to check those out as well.

We have been working real hard lately to bring the latest in CSM technology to both the SaaS and open source communities. Thanks to everyone that has given us their input and we look forward to more. Be sure to continually check beack here for the latest in technology, industry news, and best practices, and if your interested in our open source efforts make sure to check out www.opencsm.org

Not interested in managing an open source version, Spice Help Desk is currently available on-demand for your convience. If you have any questions about our products be sure to give us a call at (866) 3311-CSM or shoot us an e-mail at sales@spicecsm.com.

The team and I will be venturing west to Las Vegas, NV in early April for the 2009 HDI Annual Conference & Expo. We are very excited to announce that we will also be exhibiting at this great conference, which is being held at the beautiful Mandalay Bay Resort.  HDI 2009 Conference and Expo is the largest annual event for technical support professionals, attracting over 2,000 attendees. The four day event provides help desk, customer service, and IT support professionals with education, insight, and thought leadership. Seminars, case studies, in-depth round table discussions and workshops are led by industry experts, representatives from top solution providers, and seasoned practitioners.

We will be occupying booth #752 so please feel free to stop by, meet the team, and if you have the time check out a demo of Spice Help Desk.  As part of our involvement in the conference we will be giving away a prize (something cool like an ipod or wii) so make sure to stop by the booth for a chance to win.

There is currently a special discussion on the LinkedIn group page dedicated to meeting up at the conference, so if your interested feel free to make a post.   We are looking forward to the show and hope to see everyone there.

What the heck is this CSM thing all about anyways?

Well, it’s our way of differentiating the process of managing the customer service and support from the rest of the CRM and business functions.  CSM stands for Customer Service Management, and entails everything from supporting customer complaints to solving problems.  In today’s economy, this business function is gaining more and more attention and deserves to be seriously looked at. Not just as a side project.

Each organization has its own policies and procedures when it comes to customer service, and it’s our mission to make it possible for all organizations, small and large, to care about the customer service that they deliver.  We have a long history in customer service and support and want to make that knowledge and wisdom available to our community.  This is where the Spice application suite comes in.

Whether it’s through the use of our innovative process engine and business rules or in the ticket and case management, Spice Help Desk is designed to revolutionize the way businesses offer support.  If you have any further questions we would be glad to answer them. You can email us at info@spicecsm.com or sales@spicecsm.com or give us a call at 1(866) 3311-CSM.

Follow us on Twitter: @SpiceCSM

As we get underway here at SpiceCSM, please utilize this blog as your main source for company news, industry updates, and anything Customer Service Mangement related.  We are very excited to finally debut our first product Spice Help Desk which is available on-demand or open source.

We greatly appreciate you stopping by the site and encourage you to get involved in any way possible.  Shortly there will be the ability for a 30-day free trial, but in the mean time feel free to check out our open demo.

If you have any questions at all, please feel free to contact us via email at info@spicecsm.com or by phone at 1(866) CSM-3311.