As websites go, some are more valuable than others. Corporate websites communicate marketing messages, support sales, provide an entry way to service, and typically offer visitors valuable information. Sometimes they deliver a unique perspective or thought leadership, and usually they provide a glimpse into how the organization views itself.

This weekend Helpstream adopted a fresh new look and expanded content on our website . Among all other things our primary objective in doing this is to engage visitors in a conversation about Social Customer Relationship Management (CRM) and discuss best practices in customer service. Why do this now? Because it’s clear the market wants to know more about the value of integrating social Web technology with CRM. We needed a more effective way to support the volume of interest in Social CRM.

Last week the SSPA’s John Ragsdale raised the question about community and customer service in his blog post What’s missing from the Web2.0 ROI story . Industry heavyweight Oracle has moved aggressively in this direction by merging Community and Sales and by partnering with Helpstream for self service and community case resolution. Salesforce isn’t waiting either. Their Community and IdeaExchange telegraph a shift from traditional focus on process-oriented CRM to Community.

Suffice it to say, there’s an active debate about the role of social media in the enterprise ranging from customer intimacy via messaging platforms to recent market research rating corporate familiarity with a range of technologies including social networking, wikis, blogs and message boards. If you are a customer service practitioner this can make for a bewildering number of positions to consider.

This brings me back to our new website. It’s the latest, but by no means the first or last word on the subject from Helpstream. We set out in 2004 with a group of former Remedy engineers to build an innovative customer service application, and we wound up developing a customer engagement platform driven by a whole new way of thinking about customer service ( try it for yourself ).

You’ll be hearing more about the social Web and Helpstream soon as we launch our own community this Fall. This community will provide you insights directly from practitioners including our customers to whom we owe a debt of gratitude for their innovative spirit and financial support. Moving forward the Helpstream website will provide a gateway to this community. It will help you sort through the alternatives and select winning strategies to build your own vibrant customer community. You can be first to receive notice when the Helpstream community is launched by registering for your workspace today.

In the meantime you can join the conversation live. Please visit us at Oracle OpenWorld , the SSPA Leadership Conference , and Dreamforce where we’ll be talking with customer service practitioners in person to continue this lively conversation.