Brightware Unveils Revolutionary eCustomer Assistance Solution.

Business Editors/High-tech Writers

NOVATO, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2000

Brightware 2000 Helps Companies Manage Explosive Growth of Online

Communications Through More Intelligent Interactions at the Web Site

Brightware, Inc., the leading supplier of eCustomer Assistance software for the Internet, today announced Brightware 2000, a new and more intelligent approach to helping both Web site visitors and online businesses establish and maintain strong relationships on the Web.

Brightware 2000 unifies the Web site, email and live chat to benefit eCustomers by responding immediately to their issues and questions, expressed in their own words, and helping them achieve maximum results from their Web site visits. Brightware 2000 benefits eBusinesses by promptly satisfying their customers needs and requests and answering their questions in real-time, turning visitors into loyal customers.

"Traditional eCRM vendors are focused on offering contact center products for facilitating online communication via email, live chat and voice channels," said Chris Erickson, President and CEO of Brightware. "This traditional approach is expensive to implement and has proven ineffective based on what we see on the Internet today. Brightware is changing the rules of the game. Our approach satisfies the most demanding eCustomers by ensuring they get an immediate response, but balances the needs of the eCustomer against the very real business issues around the cost of offering high-quality, high-touch customer interactions. With Brightware 2000, eCustomers receive better service and the eBusiness is able to control and manage the use of more expensive communication channels."

The Brightware 2000 product suite is the first of its kind, unifying Brightware's Web Assistance, Email Assistance and new Live Assistance product lines. It incorporates an intelligent self-service hub with a fully integrated, multi-channel contact center, enabling companies to support eCustomer interactions across all online touchpoints - Web self-service, email, live chat and voice. On the Web site, Brightware 2000 provides one place for customers to ask any question in their own words, relieving customers from the burden of having to find the information they need on the site or figure out how best to interact with the company. Within the Brightware(R) Contact Center(tm), Brightware 2000 provides a single, integrated desktop for managing all online communications, leveraging the power of automation for maximum productivity and return on investment.

"Using the Internet to build customer relationships is critical in today's market," said Vince Gordon, Vice President of Operations at SkyDesk. "SkyDesk is committed to delivering unparalleled service to our entire customer base, and the Brightware 2000 solution gives us the ability to execute on that commitment. Now we respond to our customers' online inquiries and provide them with useful, real-time answers to what they are looking for, ultimately enhancing their Internet experience. This kind of service allows us to enhance customer satisfaction and grow our subscriber base."

The foundation for the Brightware 2000 solution is Brightware's proven automation technology that allows companies to respond faster, more accurately and with greater consistency to eCustomer inquiries through any interaction channel. By leveraging intelligence gathered from customer profile information, the nature of the inquiry and customizable business rules to deliver cost-effective interactions, Brightware delivers a value-based approach to eCustomer Assistance. For example, eBusinesses can automatically route their most pressing Web site inquiries to their customer service representatives via live chat. This approach to online interactions not only increases eCustomer satisfaction, but also improve eBusiness ROI by balancing the needs of customers against the costs of serving them through each online channel.

Along with Brightware 2000, Brightware is unveiling two new eCustomer Assistance products, Brightware(R) Concierge(tm) and Brightware(R) Converse(tm). Brightware Concierge is an intelligent Web-based eCustomer Assistance hub that automatically guides customers to the right information or right resource on the Web site -- or escalates their inquiries through the most appropriate and cost-effective interaction channels. Brightware Concierge responds in real-time by:

-- Displaying existing Web site content that is relevant to the

customer's inquiry;

-- Dynamically composing Web pages to answer common questions,

including the ability to integrate information from

third-party applications;

-- Engaging in an automated question-and-answer dialog to further

determine needs, ultimately recommending a product or solution

that is appropriate to each customer's unique needs; or

-- Escalating the inquiry to the contact center, automatically

selecting email, live chat, voice or other online service

channel based on the company's business rules.

Brightware Converse is a fully integrated live chat product that builds better relationships with eCustomers through real-time Web-based interactions between the customer and a company's customer service representatives. It is the first product of its kind that works in concert with Brightware's Web Assistance products to deliver a seamless, integrated eCustomer experience, and at the same time, works in conjunction with Brighware's Email Assistance to provide a single, unified desktop for the customer service representative. Built on Brightware's proven automation technology foundation, the Converse product line also provides:

-- Robust routing and blended queuing functions allowing

companies to manage both email and live chat interactions,

leveraging the same resources;

-- Pre-composed responses routed to an agent for single-click

review;

-- Automated responses for routine questions that are

automatically dispatched to the eCustomer; and

-- A shared knowledge base and customer interaction database, as

well as common business rules, supervisor desktop and reports.

"Brightware 2000 allows eBusinesses to have a single solution to manage the entire online eCustomer experience," said Hugh Bishop, Senior Vice President of Enterprise Business Applications at Aberdeen Group. "Building relationships is key in today's online market, and having the ability to leverage a customer's interactions on a particular site as a way to enhance the online experience and deliver a value-based experience that balances relationship, profitability and cost is exactly what many businesses need to succeed."

About Brightware

Brightware, the leading supplier of eCustomer Assistance software for the Internet, helps companies build better customer relationships, one interaction at a time. Using Brightware's complete and integrated Web, Email and Live Assistance applications, eBusinesses can dramatically increase eService levels and eSales revenues while reducing costs. Brightware's products, which can often be deployed within a week, leverage proven automation technology to deliver unparalleled scalability, performance, ROI and an exceptional eCustomer experience at every online touchpoint. For more information, please visit Brightware's Web site at http://www.brightware.com or call 800/532-2890.

Note to Editors: Brightware is a registered trademark of Brightware, Inc.