Etelos (News - Alert) today announced improvements to the Etelos Marketplace, including “enhanced usability for developers, distributors and consumers of Web-based business products.”

 

This update is intended to make it easier for businesses to develop, distribute, sample and buy Web-based business applications, products and services, company officials say. The enhancements are described as “refining” the user experience by defining categories, as well as bringing more applications into the spotlight, according to the company.

 

Furthermore, the Etelos Marketplace says it’s enhanced drill-down capability, user sorting and filtering of results, clearer navigation and information about specific applications, such as which are most viewed. The new “My Favorites” feature, for instance, makes it easier for shoppers to create a short list of applications.

 

“Even if they leave the site, their short list will still be there when they return,” company officials said.

 

The Etelos Marketplace provides businesses best-of-breed open standards-based applications from diverse providers that address the different needs a business may have.

 

“The updated Etelos Marketplace improves the customer experience for selecting the products and services,” Etelos President and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey L. Garon said.

 

In June Etelos announced the release of updated versions of Etelos Projects (project management) and Etelos CRM.

 

The updated versions of these applications, including Etelos Projects for Google (News - Alert) Apps, Etelos CRM, Etelos CRM for Google Apps, and Etelos CRM for iPhone, are now available in the Etelos Marketplace.

 

Etelos has added its proprietary Etelos Ad Serve technology to the free version of Etelos Projects. Already provided in the free versions of the Etelos CRM family of products, this technology allows advertisers to place ads into the Etelos Projects application.

 

Users get the benefit of a free version of Etelos Projects “without being interrupted by irrelevant and obtrusive advertising,” company officials say.

 

“Enabling Etelos Projects with Etelos Ad Serve allows us to provide our advertisers with a highly targeted audience,” said Shelley Symonds, Etelos VP & chief marketing officer.

 

Users can also upload custom branding to Etelos Projects, such as a company logo. This feature extends customers’ branding when they are collaborating on a project with teams outside their company.

 

“In Etelos CRM, users can now capture the lead source that generated a contact showing which marketing efforts are most effective. In addition, Etelos has updated sales opportunity reporting in Etelos CRM to include the identified lead source.

 

Etelos officials say they have “simplified the sign on process for users of the iGoogle interface and the Etelos CRM Portal”. Now, when a user logs into one gadget, the system signs that user into all gadgets, “improving the initialization process.”