Customer relationship management (CRM) software vendor RightNow Technologies has released the latest version of its on-demand enterprise CRM offering, designed to give firms the ability to collect and analyse user feedback to improve the customer experience.

RightNow May 08 features feedback management capabilities for the chat channel, complementing previous releases of the product which cover email, phone and web channels, according to RightNow vice president of products, David Vap.

The new release includes capabilities for firms to survey their customers online. These surveys can be triggered automatically after an online chat with a service agent or conducted anonymously after a consumer triggers a pre-defined event such as abandoning a shopping cart.

These stats are then compiled for detailed analysis, while individual responses can be fed into personal profiles for future use, said Vap.

"There is enough cynicism in the consumer marketplace now that firms are starting to take [feedback analysis] a lot more seriously," explained Vap. " They are now making feedback actionable so they don't perpetuate this cynical attitude towards it."

In order to enable the effective collating and analysis of customer feedback, the product is able to cluster surveys which contain key topics.