Attenza Launches $99 Service & Support Software.

Business Editors

DALLAS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Nov. 18 2002

Attenza Answer Suite 6 Enables Companies to Manage Key Service and Support Operations in a Single, Integrated System for as Little as $99

Per Month

Attenza, a leading provider of online customer service and support ("eService") software, today announced a new pricing and delivery model intended to facilitate rapid ROI and lower total cost of ownership ("TCO").

Delivered via the Internet as a Web service, Attenza Answer Suite 6 eliminates the need to buy, install, or maintain costly hardware or software and can be implemented in minutes as opposed to months. Attenza Answer Suite 6 enables companies to manage key service and support operations in a single, integrated system for only $99 per agent per month.

Industry analysts have recognized the need to reduce the high cost and risk of CRM initiatives. "Enterprise CRM buyers are absolutely intensifying their emphasis on ROI and TCO," says Denis Pombriant, Vice-President and Managing Director of the CRM practice at market researcher Aberdeen Group. "The economic downturn has, in Darwinian terms, put selective pressure on people to look at hosted CRM solutions for the first time. People can't afford to bring everything -- hardware, software, integration, training -- inside their four walls."

Attenza's approach maximizes a customer's flexibility while minimizing the risk. "Attenza gave us the Web self-service solution we needed, at a reasonable price, and delivered on its promise of a fast implementation," said Ken Skinner, Vice-President of World Wide Customer Support for BMC Software.

"Service organizations have been shackled by the high cost of deploying traditional CRM applications. These are high-risk projects that take months to implement and typically create long-term issues relating to system maintenance, adoption, integration, and overall TCO," says Lawrence Schwartz, CEO of Attenza. "We decided to take a different approach to the market by leveraging a pure Web services architecture to ensure rapid deployment and ease of implementation and adoption, all of which dramatically reduces the risk for our customers," Schwartz says.

Delivered as an online pay-as-you-go subscription service, Attenza Answer Suite 6 can be deployed in minutes with no risk or investment in hardware or software.

-- Self-Learning Knowledge Base. Searchable, self-learning knowledge base grows more effective with time by continually adapting to user behavior and capturing new case resolutions.

-- IT Support Knowledge Packs. Over 28,000 ready-to-use knowledge base articles from over 300 categories of IT related issues for use by customers and agents.

-- Knowledge Management. Highly intuitive interface that allows the creation, approval, and publication of knowledge in any language and in a variety of formats including HTML, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Excel, Microsoft PowerPoint, and Adobe PDF.

-- Case Management. Intelligent system to create, manage, and analyze cases for support requests and track activity across multiple channels. Decrease case handling times with auto-suggest technology and detailed account profiles.

-- Intelligent Case Routing. Automatically route cases to the appropriate queue or agent based on custom-defined assignment and escalation rules.

-- Customer Management. View customer or employee account details including self-service click stream, case history, and PC configuration.

-- Message Center. Communicate with customers with the ability to post messages and alerts.

-- Analytics. Real time metrics on Web self-service utilization, helpdesk case processing, knowledge management activity, and PC assets.

-- Desktop Discovery. Capture hardware and software details from PCs using system profiling technology.

-- Integration. Expose knowledge management and case management business processes to existing systems and Web sites via Web services.

-- Customizable Look and Feel. Online support channel that can be customized to match any corporate look and feel.

Pricing and Availability

Attenza Answer Suite is generally available, with an entry-level price of $99 per agent per month.

ABOUT ATTENZA

Attenza is a leading provider of customer service and support ("eService") software. Attenza's integrated Web-based solutions enable leading companies such as AON Corporation, Dell, and McKesson to automate service-related business processes, resulting in lower operational costs and enhanced service delivery. For more information, visit www.attenza.com or call 1-866-attenza (toll-free).