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Computerworld - Buy it or build it? When it comes to self- service applications, the answer isn't so easy. To cut costs, companies are moving away from the call center. Instead, they're putting the bulk of their customer- and partner-assistance services on the Web and other self-service platforms, such as interactive voice response systems (IVR) and so-called virtual agents that can respond via e-mail.

			Off The Shelf What to look for in a store-bought self-service system: The ability to tailor an FAQ feature to the context of your business Natural-language processing capabilities The ability to share a knowledge base across all channels, including e-mail, telephone and the Web Good data-import capabilities that allow for the easy incorporation of different file types and data forms in a knowledge base Source: Forrester Research Inc., Cambridge, Mass.

But until recently, no single vendor could offer companies exactly what they needed. This situation has improved somewhat with better tools to integrate legacy systems and customize off-the-shelf software, but many firms are still doing a lot of development in-house or cobbling together custom and store-bought software.
Just ask Terry Povey, director of Web business development at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Carolina in Columbia, an early adopter of Web-based self-service. In 1999, the organization set out to deploy an application that lets its members and physicians electronically access benefits, claims and health information.
At the time, Povey found that her IT staff would have to do most of the development - and many other companies were discovering the same thing. Indeed, nearly half of the 42 companies surveyed last May by Cambridge, Mass.-based Forrester Research Inc. reported that they had developed their own self-service applications, citing the immaturity of products available when they began their Internet initiatives.
"We saw a business opportunity for this software, but when we decided to launch it, there was nothing available off the shelf. And there's still nothing," says Povey.
Luckily, the company had enough in-house expertise to create its own Web application, called My Insurance Manager. But Povey had to look outside her IT department for help with authentication and security and connecting the application to back-end systems. She chose DirectorySmart from Clearwater, Fla.-based OpenNetwork Technologies.
Povey could have outsourced to one of a growing number of application service providers that offer similar Web-based services to the health care industry. But by keeping the data in-house on its own legacy systems, Blue Cross can more easily and quickly provide real-time claims, eligibility and benefits information to members, she says.
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