BT adds voice to Salesforce CRM

Salesmen can now dictate information straight back into their office system after BT Business launched a new service that allows Salesforce users to link mobile voice communications to their existing CRM applications and accounts.

The UK carrier is delivering Ribbit for Salesforce, a product from the Silicon Valley start-up it acquired last year.

Ribbit for Salesforce delivers voice-to-text conversion to allow users - especially sales teams - to dictate notes and memos on their mobile phones.

The notes flow directly into Salesforce CRM into the user's email inbox, eliminating the need to type updates.

The productivity tool is already available in the US, where it was awarded the "Best Mobile App for 2008" by US Salesforce CRM users.

BT said the product "simplifies sales management by storing and organising voicemail as email in Salesforce CRM, categorising leads, contacts and in-progress deals. In addition, all voice messages are delivered as SMS or email so users can respond or forward immediately without dialling into voicemail."

Will Stacy, director of marketing for Drive Financial, part of Santander Consumer Finance, a fast-growing US-based automotive finance company said, "Ribbit for Salesforce is exactly the type of solution we look for. It allows each salesperson to be more responsive to leads and to take advantage of every opportunity.

"Our industry is under extreme pressure to do more with less, and our ability to work smarter and more efficiently is one of the keys to our continued success."

BT said the cloud service is available to on a free trial for existing UK Salesforce CRM users and will be commercially available later this year.

Chris Lindsay, general manager, of BT Business applications, said: "As the first supplier to integrate voice services with Salesforce CRM through a cloud computing platform, BT is providing its customers with a huge competitive edge."