Cloud Computing: Upcoming Salesforce.com CRM release focuses on Chatter, customer service

Grazed from InfoWorld. Author: Chris Kanarkarus.

Salesforce.com’s next CRM (customer relationship management) software release will contain a slew of new features, with many focused on the Chatter collaboration and messaging tool as well as customer service, according to a set of official release notes. Many new features associated with Chatter concern usability and access to the system. For example, now iOS device users will be able to launch Chatter Mobile from their Salesforce.com email.

This is an important update "as most folks are still email-dependent," said analyst Ray Wang , CEO of Constellation Research. Another major new feature, albeit available only as a pilot, is called Salesforce Files. It allows users to "securely sync files between Chatter and your desktop and some mobile devices," according to the notes. "This is the competitor to Box," and something customers should look at, Wang said…

For core sales automation, the upcoming release introduces Console for Sales. This gives users "easy access to sales intelligence and helps you quickly contact leads, assess companies, and identify key contacts — all in a dashboard-like interface that means more access to contextual data with fewer clicks and less scrolling," according to the notes…

Read more from the source @ http://www.infoworld.com/d/cloud-computing/upcoming-salesforcecom-crm-release-focuses-chatter-customer-service-225617