Coral Systems introduces Churn Alert, designed to help wireless carriers retain subscribers; Industry-first product allows carriers better to identify "at risk" customers who may "churn" from one carrier to another.

ORLANDO, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 21, 1995--Coral Systems Inc., a leading provider of wireless telecommunications solutions, will introduce ChurnAlert, an industry-first software product allowing wireless carriers to accurately track customer calling habits and reduce "churn." Churn is the condition in which a wireless subscriber discontinues service with one carrier and immediately signs on with another. ChurnAlert will be first demonstrated to the public Sept. 21-23 at the Personal Communications Showcase (PCS) in Orlando, Fla., at booth No. 2026.

In any competitive industry where customers have choices of service providers, churn becomes a major financial concern. In the case of the wireless industry, domestic wireless carriers are currently losing between $2 and $4 billion annually due to churn. In foreign markets, such as the United Kingdom and Germany where phone subsidies are present, annual churn rates can be as high as 32 percent.

As several industry analysts estimate, it is five-to-six times more expensive to acquire a new customer than it is to retain an existing one, carriers are looking for ways to maintain their customer base in addition to finding new subscribers. ChurnAlert gives cellular operators up-to-the-minute control and access to subscriber information that is a necessity in today's wireless marketplace. By using ChurnAlert, carriers can identify "at-risk" customers and take proactive steps through their customer retention departments. This personal interaction gives the carrier an opportunity to address the problem, build customer loyalty and retain the customer before the potential churn takes place. Reasons for churning are varied, ranging from more competitive price plans to quality of customer service from the subscribers' current carrier.

"With more wireless carriers entering the market during the next few years, the importance of carriers having immediate access to the calling behavior of their subscribers has never been greater," said Eric A. Johnson, president and chief executive officer of Coral Systems. "By employing ChurnAlert, carriers will now have the real-time ability to have control over their own data systems to immediately identify those subscribers who might be prime candidates to churn to another carrier. This will give carriers an opportunity to act rather than react before it is too late."

After analyzing the information, ChurnAlert identifies "at-risk" customers by gathering customer data from a variety of information sources, such as their switch, customer service department and billing data bases, in addition to other sources. Whereas many other customer care systems and marketing databases are updated every 30 to 90 days, which is often too late to impact customer turnover, ChurnAlert automatically updates the carrier's database daily so operators have the most current information at their fingertips.

Founded in 1991, Coral Systems, Longmont, Colo., is a leading provider of innovative products for the wireless industry. Coral Systems offers several software products that assist wireless carriers in all phases of their development and day-to-day interactions with customers, with each product designed to correlate with a distinct phase of the marketplace. Coral Systems' proven ingenuity has lead to the signings of agreements with several top domestic and international wireless carriers. Coral markets its products worldwide through a national accounts program and strategic partnerships with Ericcson Radio Systems, Northern Telecom, Sun Microsystems and Stratus Computer. Coral Systems can be reached at 1-303/772-5800.

CONTACT: Coral Systems Inc.

Nancy Laundy, 303/772-5800

or

McGrath/Power Public Relations 

Sheldon Segal, 408/727-0351