Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Selects KANA To Provide Web-based Customer Service.

Business/Technology Editors

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 10, 2001

Minnesota's Largest Health Plan Relies on KANA's External-Facing

eCRM Solutions to Strengthen Customer Relationships and Reduce Costs

KANA(R) (NASDAQ: KANA), the leading provider of external-facing eCRM solutions, today announced that Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is implementing KANA Contact Center(TM) software, KANA Response(TM) software, and KANA Connect(TM) software to efficiently provide personal and interactive customer support through its contact center while reducing costs for Blue Cross members, agents and service providers.

In an effort to continue and expand its focus on customer service, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota selected KANA's Web-based customer service solutions to empower its stakeholders with immediate, timely and accurate online information about benefits, claim status and eligibility or general health coverage questions.

"After evaluating several vendors, we chose to work with KANA because of the company's visionary products, which include a highly scalable Web architecture and compatibility with existing applications," said John Ounjian, senior vice president and CIO of Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota. "KANA's external-facing eCRM solutions will enable us to provide even better customer service to our stakeholders -- a key means of differentiation in the healthcare industry. By integrating KANA Contact Center, KANA Response and KANA Connect with our contact center operations, we have the technology to empower stakeholders to contact us when and how they want, so we can provide accurate, rapid responses when needed."

KANA Contact Center improves customer service efficiency by providing contact histories to service representatives. Tightly integrated with KANA Contact Center, KANA Response provides world-class agent-assisted service with fast, high volume, intelligent, automated e-mail, Web, and instant messaging request management. The most effective and widely used e-mail management system in the world, KANA Response enables Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota to respond faster and more accurately to stakeholder requests, therefore increasing stakeholder satisfaction and agent productivity. KANA Connect provides e-mail notifications in response to sensitive stakeholder queries that redirect customers to secure areas of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Web site where KANA is providing stakeholder portal capabilities in compliance with privacy laws.

"Blue Cross needed a highly-scalable external-facing solution suite for its contact center that would control costs while at the same time increase customer satisfaction," said Bud Michael, executive vice president of products and marketing for KANA. "KANA has equipped them with a suite of Web-based solutions that enable the company to easily manage large numbers of customer inquiries and create more satisfying customer experiences."

Nearly 1,200 companies worldwide are using KANA next generation eCRM solutions to drive better relationships through effective, efficient interactions with customers at all points of contact (Web collaboration, phone, e-mail, live chat) and throughout the enterprise. The KANA approach to customer relationship management technology solutions combines sophisticated analytics with thin-client Web architecture to deliver extraordinary customer interactions that decrease costs and drive revenue.

About Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota, with headquarters in Eagan, Minn., was chartered in 1933 as Minnesota's first health plan and continues to carry out its charter mission today: to promote a wider, more economical and timely availability of health services for the people of Minnesota. A not-for-profit, taxable organization, it is the largest health plan based in Minnesota, covering more than 2.1 million members in Minnesota and nationally through its health plans or plans administered by its affiliated companies. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, headquartered in Chicago, Ill.

About KANA

KANA (NASDAQ: KANA) provides the industry's leading external-facing eCRM solutions to the largest businesses in the world, helping them to better service, market to, and understand their customers and partners, while improving results and decreasing costs in contact centers and marketing departments. Through comprehensive multi-channel customer relationship management that combines the best-in-class KANA iCARE Architecture with enterprise applications, KANA has become one of the fastest-growing providers of next generation eCRM technology. The company's customer-focused service, marketing and commerce software applications enable organizations to improve customer and partner relationships by enabling them to productively interact when, where and how they want - across all touch points, including web contact, web collaboration, e-mail, and telephone. KANA's global customer base includes Global 2000 organizations in the financial services, manufacturing, high technology, communications, retail and services markets. ADP, Chase, E*Trade, GAP, GM, Hewlett-Packard, Kodak, Sony, United Airlines, Verizon, and Williams Sonoma are among the industry leaders that have implemented KANA's eCRM solutions. KANA has locations in 22 countries worldwide, in addition to an extensive global network of channel partners. For more information, please visit www.kana.com.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

Information in this release that involves KANA's financial forecasts, projections, expectations, beliefs, hopes, plans, intentions or strategies regarding the future are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. These statements include statements about KANA's expected profitability, cash flow, revenue, margins, expenses, growth and new business, its market position and its relationship with customers. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to KANA as of the date of the release, which may likely change, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to, risks associated with the merger with Broadbase and integration of the companies; risks associated with lack of market acceptance of KANA's products or services; inability to enhance and develop our products and services within budget and on schedule; competition in our marketplace, including introduction of new products or services, or reductions in prices, by competitors; inability to attract and retain qualified employees, to manage cash and expenditures or to expand sales; inability to manage business in light of recent management changes and personnel reductions; KANA's history of losses; and trends and uncertainties slowing and uncertain economic conditions, particularly as they affect spending by our prospective customers on eCRM and similar enterprise software products. These and other factors are risks associated with our business that may affect our operating results are discussed in KANA's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and quarterly report on Form 10-Q, and registration statement on Form S-4.

NOTE: KANA is a registered trademark, and KANA Software, KANA iCARE, KANA Contact Center, KANA IQ, KANA ResponseIQ, KANA Response, KANA Marketing, KANA iCARE Analytics and the KANA logo are trademarks of KANA Software, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.