Albert Turbocharges Lotus Domino for Faster, Smarter and More Cost-effective Intranet Searches; AMI Discovery Delivers Natural Language Search Capabilities to Lotus Notes.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

Lotusphere 2002

Booth 119

LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 28, 2002

Albert-Inc. SA, a provider of user-centric information retrieval software, announced at Lotusphere 2002 (Booth 119) today, the launch of an advanced tool that helps knowledge workers search and retrieve relevant information from unstructured content stored in Lotus Domino databases.

AMI Discovery for Lotus Domino offers numerous automated features, such as full-text natural language search support, that helps users find the information they need, while decreasing costs and improving the performance of Domino installations.

"Analyst studies confirm that inefficient searching is an incredible drain on the productivity of knowledge workers today," said Beth Krasna, CEO of Albert. "AMI Discovery for Lotus Domino offers the Domino community a solution that saves money, improves the performance of their existing systems and helps end-users find information more effectively."

AMI Discovery for Lotus Domino is based on the Albert Meaning Interpreter technology, which is comprised of interrelated components that perform query-, content- and user-analysis to improve information retrieval. AMI works by intuitively inferring the underlying meaning behind users' search requests. It analyzes queries at a conceptual level and creates an expert query, which is then fed into the system to find the relevant information. AMI's three-tiered analytical approach provides the ability to enter queries in ordinary language without Boolean operators or other search syntax, saving users time, frustration and training.

AMI Discovery for Lotus Domino enables knowledge workers to search disparate content in over 50 file formats, external websites and third-party search solutions from the Lotus Notes interface. Furthermore, AMI Discovery offloads processing requirements from servers dedicated to supporting Domino installations, improving performance.

AMI automatically also learns new word relationships and updates the knowledgebase with this information. This process replaces the need for manual information management tasks.

AMI Discovery for Lotus Domino is now shipping.

About Albert Meaning Interpreter

AMI Discovery for Lotus Domino extends the following features to Lotus Domino:

- Queries can be entered in ordinary language, allowing users to phrase
searches in the same way they would ask a friend or colleague. There is no need
for users to use complex Boolean operators such as NOT, AND, + and OR.

- The application automatically corrects misspellings and typographical errors,
significantly increasing search success.

- AMI Discovery reformulates poorly phrased queries automatically by expanding
queries with related words stored in the knowledge base.

- A profile of the user is created, including details of their native language
and commonly inputted search terms. This data is used to improve the accuracy
of results.

- Content in any Latin-character language can be searched.

- Client-specific vocabulary and jargon are automatically learned by the system
without the need for manual inputting

- A single Albert index can provide search of disparate content across multiple
databases and file formats stored on multiple servers.

- Additions or modifications to enterprise content are automatically updated by
the index within minutes

About Albert

Albert-Inc. SA markets and develops user-centric information retrieval software. The company has created a query optimization software solution, called the Albert Meaning Interpreter (AMI), which is designed to enable non-expert users to conduct powerful information searches. When combined with Albert's advanced indexing technology it forms an end-to-end information retrieval solution.

AMI works by intuitively inferring the underlying meaning behind users' search requests. It analyzes queries at a conceptual level and creates an expert query, which is then fed into a search engine to find the relevant information. This approach not only significantly increases the accuracy of the results returned, but it also allows users to express their requests as they would in everyday conversation.

Albert can also act as a single point of access to all sources of information (e.g. Web, Intranet, proprietary databases etc.), bringing together diverse information sources, and thus greatly increasing the efficiency of information retrieval. By making all the information on an Intranet and other data sources easily accessible to all users, organizations can drastically increase intranet usage and thus maximize return on investment on existing Intranet expenditures.

Founded in 1999, the company has received $23 million in funding from a variety of private and institutional investors including FAST, Bank Pictet, Trust Capital, TAG Group and Christian Mustad. Albert has offices in Lausanne, New York, San Mateo, London, Montpellier and Paris, and currently employs 60 staff. Additional information is available at www.albert.com.