Carthage integrates new Verity software to deliver personalized views of real-time news.

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 23, 1995--Carthage International Monday announced that Verity's new Topic Agents for Lotus Notes will be integrated into the next release of its customized news service, Carthage Today.

By integrating Verity's Topic Agents application, Carthage Today users will be able to create personalized views of pre-filtered industry news and analysis.

"Verity's Topic Agents integrated with Carthage Today allows us to offer Notes users unprecedented customization of real-time news and information," said Peter White, president of Carthage, who expects the new release to be available in the second quarter of 1995.

Carthage Today is the first customized news service to provide a turnkey, real-time information solution for the Notes and Notes Express market. By intelligently scanning more than 10,000 business articles each day, Carthage Today ensures that organizations are kept abreast of mission critical information. Carthage also offers access to historical information with Carthage Yesterday, as well as access to standalone electronic publications.

Verity's new Topic Agents for Lotus Notes helps users navigate multiple Notes databases for relevant information. Enabled through a SmartIcon on the Notes desktop, Topic Agents for Notes lets users create, run, or save for quick access and re-use, queries that look for ideas or concepts rather than keywords.

With Verity Topic Agents for Notes, Carthage Today will feature an easy drag and drop interface for specifying particular areas of interest and ensuring that users only see the information of interest to them.

"The Carthage product was invaluable as it was, but now with Verity Topic Agents built-in we'll be able to provide each user with what is essentially a constantly updated personalized newspaper in which every single article is relevant to their work," said Mike Pattison, chief information officer for Sterling Chemicals in Texas City, Texas. "This is exactly what we've been asking for."

The forthcoming joint solution of Carthage Today will also marry powerful access and searching of real-time news with high-speed retrospective searching across news and other crucial information that is needed for making daily business decisions.

"Traditionally, news systems have been separated from other corporate databases, forcing users to search in different places, with different interfaces to find all pertinent information. That time-sink is eliminated in the new release," said Carthage's White. "Topic Agents for Lotus Notes gives our users just one interface to quickly search across both Carthage and Notes databases, bringing together the many perspectives our customers need to do their jobs."

Verity Partners Program

The integration of Topic Agents for Lotus Notes and Carthage Today was conducted under Verity's Partner Program for application developers and Value Added Resellers (VARs). The Verity Partner Program offers the opportunity to integrate and resell powerful search agent capabilities that dramatically increase the value of partners' existing applications or product lines.

There are nearly two dozen products featuring integrated Verity technology now available from leading companies worldwide including Lotus Development Corp., Frame Technology Corp., Adobe Systems Inc., Collabra Software Inc., and Documentum Inc. (a Xerox Co.)

"The information explosion is upon us and the task of finding what we need in the avalanche of paper and electronic documents is rapidly becoming difficult," said Philippe Courtot, Verity chairman, president and chief executive officer. "Increasingly, companies are turning to Verity for the tools and applications to address two key issues: finding relevant information no matter where it resides in the enterprise, and now, extending beyond the enterprise, to news feeds or even the Internet."

About the Companies

Carthage International is a value-added information services company located in Dallas. By offering the ultimate in customer service, Carthage offers a unique blend of customized information solutions at an affordable price. A Lotus Business Partner since 1993, Carthage develops and markets information products for the Lotus Notes and Notes Express markets.

In addition to its relationship with Lotus Development Corp., the company maintains important relationships with leading publishing and technology companies including Knight-Ridder/Tribune, Comtex and Verity Inc. Carthage information services are currently in operation at many of the largest companies in the United States and abroad.

Verity Inc., headquartered in Mountain View, Calif., develops and markets information agent products and technologies that make it easier for individuals, workgroups, departments and enterprises to filter, search, retrieve, analyze, and navigate any information source to get the personalized, relevant information they need. The company's products and services are used by more than 650 corporations and organizations worldwide for a broad range of applications, including electronic news dissemination, litigation, support, resume tracking, competitive analysis, support automation, text management, and many others.

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Note to Editors: Verity and Topic are registered trademarks of Verity Inc. in the United States and other countries. Verity Inc. is not related to the International Stock Exchange of the United Kingdom and the Republic of Ireland Limited, which provide computerized information services under the mark Topic. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are the property of their respective holders.

CONTACT: Verity Inc.

Sandra Bernardi, 415/960-7619

Carthage International

Patrick Terry, 214/526-7990

GCI Jennings

Greg Peverill-Conti, 415/974-6200