DMA taps eStara for online voice customer service
Web-voice service provider eStara will add links to the Direct Marketing Association's Web site allowing visitors to contact a DMA representative by phone with a click of a button, the company said yesterday.EStara is placing links on the DMA's Web site, www.the-dma.org, for DMA members and other site visitors who want to talk to an agent to get more information on the association's conferences, exhibitions and sponsorship.
Visitors with a microphone and speakers hooked up to their computers will have access to a DMA representative via an Internet phone connection. Those without such equipment can type in their phone number and have a DMA representative call them back.
Details of the agreement between Reston, VA-based eStara and the DMA were not disclosed. The DMA may later expand its relationship with eStara by adding links to outbound e-mails that recipients may click to reach a representative by phone.
The phone links will help DMA Web site visitors save time and get information quickly, said Robert Blakeley, the DMA's director of Internet development. According to eStara, connection times for those who use the phone links average less than 20 seconds.
