Astute Announces Alliance With Avaya; Alliance Strengthens Astute's Multi-Channel Customer Interaction Ability within its eCRM Solutions.

Business Editors

COLUMBUS, Ohio--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 3, 2001

Astute, Inc., a full-service solution provider for the eCRM industry, and Avaya, recently spun off from Lucent Technologies, today announced an alliance that allows Astute to integrate its flagship product, PowerCenter(TM), with Avaya's customer relationship management (CRM) solution, CRM Central.

Under the alliance, Astute will add the multi-channel communications and workflow management capabilities of Avaya's CRM Central to its solutions for eCustomer Relationship Management. CRM Central provides the ability to support multi-channel customer interactions, value-based work distribution and case management, and integration of existing enterprise applications. The combined product solution will offer Astute's customers the ability to strengthen customer service efficiency, responsiveness and customer loyalty.

Astute's PowerCenter is a customer interaction management system used in numerous Global 1000 company contact centers. With the integration of Avaya's CRM Central, Astute's PowerCenter will enable its users to offer differentiated service based on individual customer's needs regardless of the method of contact.

"The Avaya alliance enables us to offer our customers the ability to integrate Web contacts, email, phone calls and IVR within their customer interaction process," said Joe Sanda, President and CEO of Astute, Inc. "Customers expect the ability to communicate with companies they do business with in many ways, and the Internet is becoming an increasingly popular form of customer communication."

CRM Central 2000 integrates multiple channels of communication with legacy information systems and Astute's flagship product, PowerCenter, through the use of an intelligent work management engine.

Astute, Inc., is an award-winning, leading provider of eCRM solutions (eCustomer Relationship Management) for Global 1000 companies such as McDonald's Corporation, Michelin North America, Inc., Levi Strauss & Co., The Kroger Co., Georgia Pacific Corp., and L'Oreal USA Products, Inc. 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.