Astute, Inc. Releases New Modules for PowerCenter eCRM Solution; Expanded Internet and Telephony Capabilities Enhance Multi-Channel Customer Contact Management and Reporting System.

Business Editors, High Tech Writers

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 14, 2000

Astute, a leading provider of eCRM solutions for Global 1000 companies, today announced five new modules for its flagship product PowerCenter(TM). The new modules expand the Internet, telephony and reporting capabilities of PowerCenter, which is used to manage customer interactions by companies such as McDonald's Corporation, Michelin and The Kroger Co.

With the new modules, PowerCenter users can enhance their ability to process email, use their Web site for interactive customer management, decrease response times to customer inquiries, and maximize the productivity of customer contact center personnel. They include PowerCenter Email(TM), PowerCenter FAQ(TM), PowerCenter Chat(TM), PowerCenter Interaction(TM), and PowerCenter Business Intelligence(TM).

According to Joe Sanda, president and CEO of Astute, the enhancements are a result of rapid market acceptance of PowerCenter, the rise in the use of the Internet in customer communications, and increased use of one-to-one marketing by Global 1000 companies. "Companies are now realizing that managing their customer relationships from every aspect of the organization can increase revenue. PowerCenter provides a powerful, flexible tool for managing and reporting on customer interactions through all channels," Sanda said.

Three of the new modules -- PowerCenter Email, PowerCenter Chat and PowerCenter FAQ -- support the increased role of the Internet in customer relationship management.

PowerCenter Email integrates inbound emails or Web forms into the customer interaction system, allowing them to be managed using intelligent message analysis through a specially created knowledge base, called PowerCenter KnowledgeServer(TM). Message analysis supports suggested response, mass response and auto response capabilities. PowerCenter Email also automates email routing and queuing based on priority and agent availability.

Michelin North America, Inc. implemented form-based email processing in PowerCenter as part of an update to their contact center system. "We wanted to pull together consumer communications from e-mail, fax, and phone calls into one system," Chad Hake, director, consumer relations at Michelin said. "With PowerCenter we accomplished that and achieved a great gain in productivity. It allowed us to re-engineer our process and improve the quality of the information we gather and report on."

PowerCenter Chat delivers real-time communication between customers and Customer Service Representatives (CSRs) through the convenience of Web chat. Customers can ask questions about products or information on the Web site, or use Web chat as a more personal alternative to email. PowerCenter Chat also uses the PowerCenter KnowledgeServer to speed response to customer inquiries.

PowerCenter FAQ is a self-help, online solution that allows customers to find answers to their own questions, saving them time while lowering the cost of service. PowerCenter FAQ utilizes linguistic analysis to match customers' questions with appropriate pre-defined answers. Optionally, a FAQ search can be escalated to a live Web chat when more information is needed.

"Web sites are becoming an increasingly important tool in Customer Relationship Management," said Nancy Bohman, director of marketing at Astute. "Consumers love the ability to interact with companies through their Web site because they get their questions answered fast and they feel in control of the contact. Our customers love it because it increases the value of their Web sites, and allows them to collect more detailed information on their customers."

The two other new modules released by Astute today are PowerCenter Business Intelligence and PowerCenter Interaction.

PowerCenter Business Intelligence is a fast, accurate and easy-to-use contact center reporting system. It supplements and integrates with third-party reporting tools such as Cognos, Crystal Reports, Business Objects, Actuate, or OLAP tools. It quickly and easily allows users to create reports based on any category.

PowerCenter Interaction provides an integrated system for managing customer interactions from multiple sources by queuing customer phone calls, email, and Web interactions through a single ACD engine. This ensures quality service across multiple communication channels, improves contact center productivity, and provides real-time monitoring, recording and reporting.

"PowerCenter's flexibility and ease of maintenance has led to its rapid acceptance," said Sanda. "These new capabilities increase the value of PowerCenter to our customers, allowing them to expand their CRM programs to open new channels of customer interaction, improve service and reduce costs."

About Astute

Astute, Inc., is an award-winning, leading provider of eCRM solutions (electronic customer relationship management) for Global 1000 companies such as McDonald's Corporation, Michelin, Levi Strauss & Company, The Kroger Company, Georgia Pacific and L'Oreal. Astute specializes in customer interaction, Internet and telephony solutions.

Astute's eCRM solutions enable companies to manage the one-to-one communication process in the area of sales, marketing and service. PowerCenter(TM), the company's flagship product, is a state-of-the-art CRM system focusing on managing the customer interaction and relationship process. Astute, Inc. is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio and may be reached at 1-877-POWER50, or 614-508-6100; email, [e-mail]; or on the web at www.astutesolutions.com.