Astea International appoints Ben Smits as new managing director for Europe.

CHALFONT, Pa.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 2, 1996 -- Astea International (NASDAQ: ATEA), the supplier of client/server customer interaction software, today announced that Ben Smits has joined the company as its new managing director for Europe, effective immediately. Mr. Smits will report directly to Zack B. Bergreen, Astea's president and chief executive officer. Joining Astea from Sybase, where he was director of professional services, Mr. Smits brings a significant amount of experience to the role -- building on 30 years in the high-tech industry and many years of experience in strategic management.

In his role as European MD, Mr. Smits will be responsible for Astea's European operations including regional development activities, corporate direction and sales. His appointment will spearhead Astea's next stage of growth in the European marketplace -- moving the company from set-up phase to a comprehensive pan-European organization.

"We are very happy that Ben Smits is joining us to head up our European operations," said Zack Bergreen, Astea's president and chief executive officer. "Astea has an exciting future and strong management in key markets is vital to our growth plans."

Industry analysts project that the customer interaction software market will be valued at $2 billion by 1998 -- the fastest growing market next to the Internet. Astea is committing itself to the market, and has already enhanced its product portfolio with two recent acquisitions. The acquisition of Bendata in February this year adds depth to the helpdesk software product line, and the recent acquisition of Abalon AB will enhance Astea's marketing and sales automation solutions.

"In today's global marketplace the key differentiator that provides competitive advantage is the creation and maintenance of customer satisfaction," added Bergreen. "We see Ben Smits' appointment as pivotal in making Astea a major force in Europe's maturing customer interaction software market." Prior to Sybase, Mr. Smits worked for Intergraph for ten years, including his role as European customer services director. During his time there he started up the company's professional services activities in Europe. Intergraph was actually Astea's first customer in Europe. Based on Mr. Smits' recommendation Intergraph bought Astea's field service software, DISPATCH-1, in 1986, which led to Astea establishing a European organization headquartered in The Netherlands.

Mr. Smits began his career in the computing industry with NCR, which he joined in 1966 as a field service engineer. In the early 70s he joined Digital as a support engineer and moved on to major account management, before transferring to Digital's European headquarters in Geneva as European Marketing Manager. In the early 80s he joined Hewlett-Packard as Customer Services Manager for Africa, the Middle East and Mediterranean countries.

Astea International

Astea International delivers innovative, customer-oriented software and services that transform how organizations interact with their customers. Its products enable organizations of all sizes across a range of industries to automate and streamline their customer support, field service and sales operations, while increasing profits and customer loyalty. With more than a 500 employees worldwide, Astea markets its products through a direct sales and services network throughout North America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia. The company's customer base of approximately 2,000 companies and 40,000 end users includes such industry leaders as Mercedes Benz; NCR; E.I du Pont de Nemours & Co; Chevron; Ricoh Corp.; ICL Sorbus and Savin Corp. Astea's corporate headquarters are located in Chalfont, Pennsylvania, USA. Its European headquarters are located in Houten in the Netherlands and Astea's UK office is in Reigate, Surrey. Astea can be reached at [phone] or via e-mail at [e-mail] or on the World Wide Web at http://www.astea.com.

CONTACT: Clare Moulton

Astea International Inc.

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Christine LeCompte

Beaupre & Co. Public Relations 

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