RightNow said the addition of HiveLive’s portfolio to its offering will deliver “the broadest social CRM solution in the marketplace” once it is integrated in November.

Greg Gianforte (pictured), RightNow’s CEO, said: “Our clients and prospects are clamouring for more social web functionality. With the addition of HiveLive, we meet all the customer experience needs of consumer-focused organisations today, with market-leading e-service capabilities, a robust contact centre solution, and now an innovative social platform. It is that unmatched combination of customer experience and social expertise that gives us a much expanded opportunity to provide even more value to our clients.”

HiveLive offers prebuilt communities for customer support, engagement and loyalty, which can be tailored to suit specific client needs. The company’s co-founder, John Kembel, said the acquisition by RightNow would help the firm “dramatically accelerate” the adoption of the HiveLive platform.