Padding its tech client roster, search specialist iPhrase has landed a contract from home and small business networking equipment maker U.S. Robotics. Financial terms were not disclosed.
iPhrase’s OneStep offering will help U.S. Robotics customers find information about DSL modems and other products online, deflecting service center calls.
For example, a user could ask, “How do I connect to the routers utility configuration?” iPhrase will return the information necessary to answer the users’ query.
Previously, U.S. Robotics found that 90 percent of its customers dialing into the center had tried unsuccessfully to resolve their problem online, a worrisome fact. In addition to aggravating customers, the inefficiency hurt the bottom line.
“The margins on U.S. Robotics’ products are extremely thin,” Andre Pino, an iPhrase vice president, told internetnews.com “If they get even one support call to cuts into them a great deal.”
Pino said U.S. Robotics was impressed with the performance of its natural language search and navigation technology and its five-week implementation time.
For Cambridge, Mass., iPhrase, the U.S. Robotics win adds to a customer list that includes Gateway and National Semiconductor.
The win comes shortly after iPhrase enhanced the analytics technology in its OneStep product, to help customer better understand what users are seeking and tweak their site content to reflect it.
iPhrase is currently working on a new version of its search software. It is scheduled to be released around mid-year.
