Customer service linked to social media.

• Position: YOUR LIFE - Brief article

Thanks to the mushrooming landscape of social media, the rants, remarks, and random comments made by consumers are more accessible now than ever. New software platforms allow companies to monitor millions of new media sites in real time--and, in some cases, respond. They chat, text, e-mail, or even tweet.

"We think it's really the future of customer engagement," declares Tim Houlne, CEO of Working Solutions, a Dallas, Texas-based customer service and sales agency. "Companies need to find the conversations most important to the brand--and engage. Ignorance is just not an option."

Nationwide, fewer sales and service agents sit in massive call centers focused on the telephone as the single channel by which to engage customers. Many now work from homo or a smaller boutique office of their choosing. They are expected to monitor...