30 April, 2011
By Greg Morgan
EGain are forging ahead on their own path, by introduced a new multidimensional search function to its knowledge agent and self-service business product lines. With search functionality that changes depending on the user, this new type of search is receiving positive feedback from customers and agents alike.
Anand Subramaniam, vice president of marketing at eGain says “How it conducts the search depends on the user. It can search by keyword or via topic trees or through a guided session or via a chat bot — whatever it takes to ultimately find the answer.”
The eGain system, dubbed “multisearch”, does this by running a user search across a number of different channels, including website, contact centre, enterprise, community, and social content. It works by providing much the same functionality to an agents’ desktop as it does to a customers, which offers both users with a higher degree of transparency and control.
“Multisearch pulls in results from multiple access methods and tells the user where it found the information,” noted Subramaniam. Some of the metrics that are used in the search process include keyword data, metadata, natural language, question matched search, and case based reasoning.
Subramaniam has likened the multisearch process to using a GPS device. “A GPS device will pull up multiple routes for someone to get to his destination. The user can then pick the one he wants to travel. With multisearch, a user may prefer a guided help session or may simply want to slog through the search hits. Someone else may prefer a topic tree.”
Subramaniam says that eGain have been getting very positive feedback since the introduction of multisearch. “In fact, it is helping us win new deals,” he said, so expect to see multisearch functionality on a number of new business websites in the coming year.
