Lucent buys Mosaix

NEWS Lucent Technologies has bought Mosaix, a provider of workflow software, in an all-stock deal worth $145m. The telecoms equipment giant said the acquisition will flesh out its call centre product portfolio with customer relationship management (CRM) technology. CRM involves the use of technologies such as datawarehousing and computer telephony integration (CTI) by companies which wish to strengthen their ties with their customers. Susen Sarkar, a senior analyst at the Yankee Group, said: "This type of deal is important. The call centre customer is increasingly looking for a complete solution rather than putting together equipment from several different vendors." Lucent said the deal will enable users to keep their customers "coming back again and again - whether through the door, the mail, the phone, the fax or the Web". Washington-based Mosaix is known for its ViewStar CRM software. The flagship product runs on Microsoft Windows NT, and works with various switches, interactive voice response systems, and databases. Lucent will integrate ViewStar into its CentreVu suite of customer care products.