eGain Adopted by British E-Government Initiative for Local Services; Goal is to Deliver Vision of ``Citizen as Customer''.Business Editors SLOUGH, United Kingdom--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 6, 2002 LEAP -- the Life Events Access Project -- Offers Millions of UK Citizens a Unified Single Point of Contact for Online Access to Public Services Public services is a term usually used to mean services provided by government to its citizens, either directly (through the public sector) or by financing private provision of services. eGain Communications Corporation (Nasdaq:EGAN EGAN ETSI Guide Access Network EGAN Ethernet Global Access Network ), a leading provider of eService software, today announced that it has been selected by a major British e-government initiative entitled LEAP (Life Events Access Project) to improve the quality and efficiency of the government-citizen relationship. The large-scale project will deliver seamless and consistent levels of customer service across a range of United Kingdom (UK) public services by using the combined power of the Internet and the call center. The entire project will be powered by the knowledge management solution, eGain Knowledge, and is sponsored by a public/private partnership that spans multiple agencies: the British Department for Transport, and local and regional British governments For pre-1721 elected parliaments see List of Parliaments of England. Party Prime Minister(s) Date Notes Whig Robert Walpole 1721-1742 generally regarded as being the first Prime Minister of Great Britain Whig The Earl of Wilmington 1742-1743 . Funded with a 2 million pound total program budget (USD USD In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the U.S. Dollar. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. equivalent of roughly $2.84 million), LEAP is a big step towards Tony Blair's vision of public-facing e-government. Initially, LEAP will involve five London councils London Councils is the local government association for London, bringing together representatives of the 32 London Boroughs and the Corporation of London. In October 2006 it changed its name from the Association of London Government (counterpart to a US county), but it is ultimately intended to extend to all local UK government. The London regions that are first using LEAP -- Lewisham, Lambeth, Ealing, Camden and Newcastle -- will enjoy new efficiencies as a result of the initiative. LEAP adopts a holistic approach holistic approach A term used in alternative health for a philosophical approach to health care, in which the entire Pt is evaluated and treated. See Alternative medicine, Holistic medicine. to providing services online, based on a series of key 'Life Events' such as having a baby; starting, changing or leaving school; changing employment status or starting a business; moving home; retiring; dealing with bereavement Bereavement Definition Bereavement refers to the period of mourning and grief following the death of a beloved person or animal. The English word bereavement ; becoming disabled; adopting children, or becoming a care giver or foster parent; or dealing with crime. Alan Davies
Alan Davies (born 6 March 1966) is an English comedian and actor best known for starring as Jonathan Creek on the popular TV mystery series of the same name. , the program manager for LEAP, said, "eGain is helping us to realize our vision of the citizen as our customer, enabling them to access a wealth of services at their convenience through a standard Web browser The program that serves as your front end to the Web on the Internet. In order to view a site, you type its address (URL) into the browser's Location field; for example, www.computerlanguage.com, and the home page of that site is downloaded to you. . We are able to simplify traditionally time-consuming and complicated processes that have required face-to-face contact between agencies and the citizen-customer, and translate that into a self-service and assisted solution that is intuitive and quick and easy to use." "For example, today people facing the trauma of a bereavement suffer the upheaval of contacting up to 26 different departments in some cases. LEAP aims to reduce this entire process to one simple interaction," said Davies. "And the interaction can take place at any time, day or night. Many other common interactions will experience the same benefit." Designed with the novice user in mind, each visitor to the site is taken step-by-step through simple targeted questions. Depending on their answers they will either be provided with further questioning or offered the most appropriate solution, including information, an application form or an appointment. The user is also provided with supporting information to guide them through each stage of the interaction. Should the user require assistance on another issue the system retains the information from the previous questioning and will not repeat the same questions. "By using eGain Knowledge we can standardize information and processes providing a single unified point of contact for the customer. The system maintains a record of every user session, the questions asked, and how the issue was resolved. So we can evolve the knowledge base to continually improve customer satisfaction. Working with eGain we are well on track to fulfill the Government's objective to supply customer services electronically by the year 2005," predicted Davies. Ease of administration for rapid implementation and maintenance was a principal factor in the decision to choose eGain. Each council has a project manager responsible for the development of specific 'Life Events.' Using eGain's case-based reasoning An AI problem solving technique that catalogs experience into "cases" and matches the current problem to the experience. Such systems are easier to maintain than rule-based expert systems, because changes require adding new cases without the complexity of adding new rules. approach to knowledge management each 'Life Event' is developed in a standardized manner and is externally validated. eGain Knowledge centralizes information from each of the 'Life Events' into a single point of access for the user. According to according to prep. 1. As stated or indicated by; on the authority of: according to historians. 2. In keeping with: according to instructions. 3. Ryan Rosenberg, eGain's vice president of international marketing, the LEAP project could be a great model for other e-government projects. "The government/citizen relationship has often been viewed as negative and one reason was the cost of delivering quality service. This project uses new technology to dramatically improve service without raising costs. Government can now 'afford' to treat citizens as customers. And since the technology enables the sharing of life-event best practices across multiple councils, improved service by one council benefits citizens of all councils." LEAP has a working relationship with UK online (a Government initiative to get everyone in the UK to make the most of the Internet), and the Office of the e-Envoy The Office of the e-Envoy was set up by Tony Blair in 1999 and was replaced by the E-Government Unit in September 2004. Many former members of the office joined gov3 an ICT consultancy firm for governments. . Its progress is being watched by councils throughout the UK with a view to establishing the project as the foundation for developing the government-citizen relationship online. About LEAP LEAP (Life Events Access Project) is a 2 million pound project of which 1.2m pounds is government money from the Invest to Save program. It is a partnership project involving five councils -- London boroughs of Lewisham, Lambeth, Ealing, Camden and Newcastle City Councils. LEAP aims to utilize knowledge management in order to improve service provision to customers. The LEAP consortium will use new information and communication technologies to develop services to best meet the needs of customers and clients. For more information, visit http://www.leap.gov.uk/. About eGain Communications Corporation eGain (Nasdaq:EGAN) is a leading provider of eService software. Selected by 24 of the 50 largest global companies to transform their traditional call centers into multi-channel contact centers, eGain solutions measurably improve operational efficiency and customer retention -- thus delivering a significant return on investment (ROI (Return On Investment) The monetary benefits derived from having spent money on developing or revising a system. In the IT world, there are more ways to compute ROI than Carter has liver pills (and for those of you who never heard of that expression, it means a lot). ). eGain eService Enterprise -- the company's integrated software Separate software components or applications that have been combined into one package. See integrated software package. suite -- includes applications for email management, Web collaboration and self-service, and enterprise-wide knowledge management. Headquartered in Sunnyvale, Calif., eGain has an operating presence in 18 countries and serves close to 800 enterprise customers on a worldwide basis -- including Vodafone, DaimlerChrysler, and ABN AMRO Bank. To find out how eGain can help you gain customers and sustain relationships, please visit http://www.eGain.com or call the company's offices London: +44 (0) 1753 464646; United States: 888/603-4246; or Sydney: +612 9492 5400. Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements: All statements in this release that involve eGain's plans, forecasts, beliefs, projections, expectations, strategies and intentions are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the safe harbor Safe Harbor 1. A legal provision to reduce or eliminate liability as long as good faith is demonstrated. 2. A form of shark repellent implemented by a target company acquiring a business that is so poorly regulated that the target itself is less attractive. provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 (PSLRA) implemented several significant substantive changes affecting certain cases brought under the federal securities laws, including changes related to pleading, discovery, liability, class representation and awards fees and of 1995. These forward-looking statements, which are based on information available to eGain at the time of this release, are not guarantees of future results; rather, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from those set forth in this release. These risks include, but are not limited to, the challenging economic environment; the uncertainty of demand for eGain products; the anticipated customer benefits from eGain products; increased competition and technological changes in the markets in which eGain competes; eGain's ability to manage its expenditures; and other risks detailed from time to time in the company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's annual report on Form 10-K Form 10-K A report required by the SEC from exchange-listed companies that provides for annual disclosure of certain financial information. Form 10-K See 10-K. filed on September 28, 2001, and the company's quarterly reports on Form 10-Q Form 10-Q See 10-Q. . eGain assumes no obligation to update these forward-looking statements. Note: eGain is a registered trademark, and the other eGain product and service names appearing in this release are trademarks or service marks, of eGain Communications Corp. All other company names and products may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. Editorial Contacts For further information on eGain and LEAP, including interviews and photography, please contact either Graham Thatcher Thatch·er , Margaret Hilda. Baroness. Born 1925. British Conservative politician who served as prime minister (1979-1990). Her administration was marked by anti-inflationary measures, a brief war in the Falkland Islands (1982), and the passage of a or Juliette Doel at MCC (The Microelectronics and Computer Technology Corporation, Austin, TX) The first high-tech research and development consortium in the U.S., created in 1982 by leading companies within the electronics industry. International. |
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