Akibia Revs Up Bell & Howell's Customer Service to Automotive Dealers; New, Real-Time e-Customer Service System Drives Customer Satisfaction of over 12,000 Users Nationwide.

Business/Technology Editors

WESTBOROUGH, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 27, 2001

Akibia Inc., the leading provider of eCRM solutions and mission-critical IT support services, today announced the successful launch of a real-time e-customer service solution created specifically for the Publishing Services Division of Bell & Howell Company (NYSE: BHW). With this newly automated, real-time solution, Bell & Howell accelerates the delivery of customer support and service to the over 12,000 automotive dealers around the U.S. that use its electronic parts catalog systems.

Akibia has been providing technical support, logistics and field engineering to Bell & Howell's automotive dealer customers for several years. Specifically, these dealers use Bell & Howell electronic parts catalog systems to provide them with quick access to accurate and up-to-date parts information for 20 of the world's largest automakers, with parts information dating back to 1980 for most vehicles. If any of these customers have a non-application problem with the system (e.g., hardware or operating system issue), Akibia provides the necessary technical support and field engineering to resolve the problem. Prior to the rollout of this real-time e-customer service solution, however, Bell & Howell would typically have to wait until the next business day to receive a report detailing the actions that were taken by Akibia to resolve a customer's issue.

"Based on our current relationship and our history of providing exceptional customer service, Bell & Howell trusted us to build this crucial business system," said Akibia CEO, Thomas D. Willson. "Figuring out the technology was the easy part, the challenge was in developing a solution that works for all parties involved, and that's just what we did."

How It Works.

Now when a customer calls Bell & Howell with a system problem, the customer service representative retrieves the customer's profile, records the current problem, and sends the pertinent information to Akibia in real-time via the Internet. Moreover, while the service representative is on the phone with a customer, he is provided with real-time updates on the service call such as the field service technician's estimated time of arrival or problem diagnosis information. Then, as soon as Akibia's field engineer has resolved the problem, the actions taken are entered into the customer profile, and are instantly accessible to Bell & Howell.

"In just three months, Akibia was able to accomplish everything we asked for and then some," commented Corey Roberts, Vice President of Sales and Marketing for Bell & Howell. "We placed a premium on the delivery of this tool and are extremely happy with the results from a business point of view. Our customers have expressed their enthusiasm for this accelerated service and are now reaping the benefits of faster, more helpful customer service."

Automating the system has helped Bell & Howell's sales and service management do their jobs better, too. Through a reporting function, the new system can generate up-to-the-minute trending analyses that can be retrieved online. With this new information from Akibia now at their fingertips, Bell & Howell is able to better meet their customers' needs and manage their business more efficiently and effectively.

Using a phased approach, Akibia addressed Bell & Howell's most urgent needs first and implemented additional functionality as needed. Akibia is continuing to work with Bell & Howell to incorporate further enhancements to the system in future phases.

About Bell & Howell

Headquartered in Skokie, Illinois, Bell & Howell Company (NYSE: BHW) is a leading information solutions and services provider to industries worldwide. In each of its businesses, the company transforms information through software and services, helping its customers operate more effectively and efficiently. Additional information on Bell & Howell can be found at http://www.bellhowell.com.

About Akibia

Akibia, Inc is the leader in eCRM consulting and mission-critical IT support services. Formed in 2000 by the merging of Polaris Service and Polaris Solutions, Akibia is headquartered in Massachusetts with principal offices in New York, Dallas, San Francisco, London and Amsterdam. The company employs more than 450 multi-talented people worldwide. Our clients include Akamai Technologies, Inc., Cisco Systems, Inc., PTC, Bose Corporation, Monster.com, Citibank, Scudder/Threadneedle Investment Services, Ltd., and AT&T Corp. For more information call 508 621-5100, or visit the Akibia website at www.akibia.com.