unblu inc., a leader in web customer collaboration, announced today that Gartner Inc., the world's leading IT research firm, recognizes the importance of co-browsing and lists unblu as a sample vendor in this space.

“We are proud to be listed side by side with industry giants Oracle, salesforce and SAP in what Gartner refers to as collaborative customer interfaces” said Luc Haldimann, CEO of unblu inc. “Our listing is the result of 8 years of research and 5 years of commercial use of our technology. Co-browsing allows businesses to rethink customer interaction, a true game changer in the online economy”.

Collaborative customer interfaces are part of the Gartner “Hype Cycle for CRM Customer Service and Support 2013″. In Gartner's view the business benefit rating of co-browsing technology is high, as it makes it possible to offer highly personalized customer experiences using the technology, leading to higher revenues and increased customer satisfaction. Businesses are advised to start planning for using co-browsing as part of their customer engagement strategy now.

In his assessment, Gartner's Michael Maoz highlights consumer demand for better ways to collaborate with businesses online. “In our view there should not be a difference in how customers are being served online vs. how they would be served in the offline world” comments Luc Haldimann. Mr Maoz calls out the concept of delivering customer service through all available channels and describes this new type of consumer as an “everywhere customer”. The expectations of this new type of customer will fundamentally change how business is done – and will equally increase the potential reach any business can have.

With 5 years experience in this area, unblu is at the forefront of a new discipline in web engagement, which is now gaining momentum and becoming a key differentiator for anyone doing business online.

A summary of the report can be found on the Gartner webpage.