ActionPoint, Inc. Announces World's First Interaction Management System; Simplifies Web Interactions to Help People Do Business On-Line.

Business Editors

SAN JOSE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 24, 2000

ActionPoint, Inc., formerly Input Software, Inc. (NASDAQ:INPT), unveiled today its ActionPoint Interaction Management System for Global 1000 organizations and net marketplaces. A high performance e-commerce software suite, the ActionPoint System is the first to simplify the wide range of complex Web interactions -- interactions between people and e-commerce systems -- needed to conduct business on-line. It then delivers validated and formatted content to enterprise or B2B process automation systems, triggering real-time fulfillment processes.

The ActionPoint System enables e-businesses to build dynamic and intelligent Web interfaces for action points--interactions between people and e-commerce systems. Action points include generating requests for quotes, bid responses, or purchase orders; configuring complex products; or applying for credit cards, mortgage loans or life insurance on line.

Today, many e-businesses report that up to 95% of people that start a complex Web interaction fails to complete it, largely out of frustration with cumbersome Web forms, static interfaces, and slow response times. ActionPoint's new Interaction Management System eliminates these problems by providing dynamic, personalized, and intelligent Web interactions, making it faster and easier for people to complete transactions online. When action points are streamlined, vertical marketplaces secure trading partnerships and achieve critical mass more quickly to stake out leadership positions; dot.coms increase e-sales revenue and retain customers; and Global 1000 organizations secure and grow on-line market share.

"History has shown us that new technologies aren't widely adopted until they are easy enough for people to use," said Kimra Hawley, CEO and President of ActionPoint, Inc. "It's clear from these high abandon rate statistics that people still find it too difficult to do complex business online. We aim to make it easy enough that people switch from their current ways of doing business to doing business over the Internet."

"Our clients like Merrill Lynch realize that it's no longer enough to post electronic forms up on the Web and hope that you can close business on-line," said Albert Ray Edwards, Jr., President & CEO of Lighthouse Consulting Group, an e-business consulting firm. "To succeed in e-commerce, a completely different approach is needed. ActionPoint activates a whole new personalized Web-based experience that is truly interactive, and guides users to complete on-line transactions, unassisted, in real-time. With ActionPoint, our clients can accelerate the deployment of next generation e-commerce sites that encourage self-service and increase e-sales revenue."

Bruce Silver, Principal at Bruce Silver Associates, a leading e-commerce consultancy, said, "There are a number of software vendors which provide single-purpose tools for product configuration solutions. But ActionPoint is the first to have developed a general-purpose XML-based solution that can be applied across all the action points required to consummate end-to-end business on the Internet."

A High Performance E-Commerce Software Suite

The ActionPoint Interaction Management System consists of three complementary software products:

-- ActionPoint Dialog Server: an XML-based product that allows

organizations to rapidly deploy and easily maintain dynamic,

personalized Web interactions at all action points needed to

consummate end-to-end business on the Internet. It moves

transaction intelligence out to the customer's browser,

providing both personalized content, which ensures the user is

only asked questions that make sense in the context of

previous answers, as well as personalized presentation formats

to meet specific customer or partner needs. The Dialog Server

was previously announced under the project name DynamicInput.

-- ActionPoint Enterprise Server: a high-performance,

customizable and scalable system for post-session processing

and integration with enterprise systems. For example, it can

perform lookups and validation from external data sources;

create transaction confirmation documents and email them to

customers; and can convert a Web interaction to a permanent

transaction record for archival and non-repudiation purposes.

It then delivers validated and formatted information directly

to content management, B2B process automation, and ERP 

systems; databases; Web sites; or custom-built legacy systems.

-- InputAccel(R): ActionPoint's award winning capture system

transforms mission-critical data from paper and fax into

e-business ready content. This content is then ready for

enterprise delivery by the new Enterprise Server product.

InputAccel plays a critical role for many Global 1000

organizations that are migrating applications from paper to

the Web, yet must continue to support both forms of customer

interaction. It is also significant for the new net

marketplaces -- according to AMR Research, over 98% of B2B net

marketplaces still conduct transactions today via faxes, phone

calls, and paper invoices.

Ideal Solution for Global 1000 Organizations and Net Marketplaces

The Interaction Management System is designed for both the new Web-based net market intermediaries and ActionPoint's established base of Global 1000 customers.

"ActionPoint has been serving the information capture needs of large organizations for over four years, and these are exactly the applications our customers now want to move to the Web" says Hawley.

"Today, we have an installed base of over 350 Global 1000 organizations, including Amgen, Bank of America, BASF, Compaq, First Union, McGraw Hill, Monsanto, Metropolitan Life, Novartis, Oracle Corp., Prudential, The Home Depot, Toyota, and government agencies such as the U.S. Patent and Trade Office. Because of this experience, we know what it takes to be successful in this application area."

"We've also taken a unique approach, which is to make the new ActionPoint System compatible with systems and infrastructure already in place at these sites," continued Hawley. "This preserves our customers' investments and provides them an 'e-commerce ready' platform for the future."

"ActionPoint's introduction of new technologies for Internet infrastructures that are compatible with systems already installed at over 350 Global 1000 organizations sets an enviable example for an eCommerce community that faces rapid and ongoing evolutions in customer requirements," said Mary Wardley, Research Director, eCommerce Software at IDC. "By adding new eBusiness capabilities to existing infrastructures, customers can make a smooth and rapid transition from traditional methods of doing business to Internet-based eCommerce."

Pricing, Availability, and Support

The ActionPoint Interaction Management System will run under Windows(R) NT and UNIX. The ActionPoint Interaction Management System will be available as separate components or as an entire solution suite in 3Q 2000. Full system pricing begins at $150,000.

For additional information about the ActionPoint Interaction Management System, including white papers, please visit our web site at www.actionpoint.com.

About ActionPoint, Inc.

ActionPoint, Inc., formerly Input Software, Inc., provides e-commerce interaction management software for Global 1000 organizations and net marketplaces. The ActionPoint Interaction Management System enables e-businesses to rapidly build and deploy dynamic and intelligent Web interfaces for action points--interactions between people and e-commerce systems. It also streamlines the collection and transformation of mission-critical information -received via the Web, email or as traditional paper-based documents -and ensures delivery of this as validated and formatted e-content to enterprise or B2B process automation systems, triggering real-time fulfillment processes.

ActionPoint, Inc.'s Nasdaq ticker symbol `INPT' will change to `ACTP' on April 26, 2000. The company recently appeared on Deloitte and Touche's 1999 Silicon Valley Technology "Fast 50" listing of fastest growing technology companies. For more information, visit the company's Web site at http://www.actionpoint.com.

ActionPoint, the ActionPoint logo, "The Brains in the Browser", and InputAccel are trademarks, or registered trademarks, of ActionPoint, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

Please note: Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a "safe harbor" for forward-looking statements. Certain information included in this news release (as well as information in oral statements or other written statements made or to be made by ActionPoint, Inc.) contain statements that are forward-looking, such as statements relating to the future anticipated direction of the futures and securities industry, plans for future expansion, various business development activities, planned capital expenditures, anticipated sales, potential contracts, dependence on existing management, domestic and global economic conditions, changes in federal or state laws, and market competition factors. Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect anticipated results in the future, and accordingly, such results may differ from those expressed in any forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of ActionPoint, Inc.