ex-Newsgator Enterprise VP launches RSS 4 CRM

Charlie Wood, one of the guys I started reading late 2004 when getting into the Enterprise side of RSS, then he went to Newsgator, left, founded Spanning Partners. And with Siebel taking a freefall, and Salesforce going north, but customers needing ancillary solutions for their new web based ASP CRM systems, in areas like RSS, Charlies' got, I hope, a great niche and solution. Here's a snippet from his press release (separate from his William Shattner/Nick Bradbury Boston Legal enclosures distraction). Given the basic product is free, I'm interested to see what the subscription/charging/monetisation model is. Good Luck Charlie. Great Work.

"Spanning Salesforce is the free service that lets you subscribe to information from your Salesforce.com account via RSS. Released today, version 2.0 adds support for documents, opportunities, cases, escalations, and enhances support for leads.

New Documents
As a field sales rep, you always need the most current presentations, collateral, and price lists. The New Documents feed uses the same technology that powers podcasting to automatically download the latest documents from Salesforce.com to your desktop, laptop, or PDA, so you'll always be up to date.

My Unread Leads
Track new lead assignments using My Unread Leads. Your new leads appear in this feed as soon as they come in, and will remain there until you've looked at them in Salesforce.com.

My Open Opportunities
As leads become opportunities, you'll be able to stay on top of them by subscribing to My Open Opportunities. Opportunities are listed by name and amount and include full details, giving you a bird's eye view of your pipeline.

My Opportunities Closing This Quarter
Easily the most-requested new feed, My Opportunities Closing This Quarter gives you a constantly updated view of your current-quarter deals.

My Opportunities Closing Next Quarter
Also by popular request, My Opportunities Closing Next Quarter gives you at-a-glance visibility into next quarter's business.

My Open Cases
Customer support reps can stay on top of new case assignments with My Open Cases, which are listed by case number and description and include full details.

My Open Escalations
Make sure your most important support cases don't slip through the cracks by subscribing to My Open Escalations