BT is to be the first UK provider to offer Siebel Systems' CRM OnDemand as a hosted service for small and medium-sized firms.

The service can be set up as a stand-alone installation or integrated with existing on-site deployments of Siebel's customer relatinoship management software. It is billed on a per licence per user per month basis.

According to BT the lack of up-front set-up costs or complex configuration arrangements will appeal to smaller firms which traditionally shy away from hugely complex and expensive CRM deployments.

BT's Siebel CRM OnDemand is an extension of the existing partnership between the two firms which currently touts BT Contact Central, an off-the-shelf customer contact centre based on Siebel's CRM software deployed and supported by BT. ®