ProActive Software Introduces CIR Customer Information Resource System Client/Server, Enterprise-wide Applications Improve Customer Satisfaction Company Ships Support Advantage for Windows 3.1 MOUNTAIN VIEW, CA, July 27, 1992--ProActive Software, Inc. today unveiled its Customer Information Resource (CIR) system, a comprehensive family of enterprise-wide, client/server applications and tools designed to help companies improve customer satisfaction for competitive advantage. ProActive also announced immediate availability of Support Advantage for Microsoft Windows 3.1, the first of six CIR applications, as well as the ProActive Toolset, an object-oriented customization environment. CIR was developed by database experts and company co-founders Steven Goldsworthy and Roger Sippl, in collaboration with Dr. William H. Davidow, co-author of Total Customer Service: The Ultimate Weapon. CIR leverages a foundation of computing standards to manage the Customer Information Resource: collectively, all the data from multiple departments about a company's customers, products, and how customers use those products. ProActive's system will support multiple SQL relational databases (SYBASE, INFORMIX and ORACLE), UNIX platforms, and user interfaces (including Windows 3.1, X-Windows, and Macintosh). It also features its own workflow engine and Query-by-Example facility. Developed in C++ with a client/server architecture, CIR is built around a Dynamic Application Dictionary and the ProActive Toolset, which enables users to customize their applications without changing source code. In addition to Support Advantage, other CIR applications to be delivered throughout 1992 and early 1993 are: Quality Advantage, SLT Advantage (for sales management), Product Advantage (for product marketing management), Customer Advantage, and Field Engineering Advantage. "Customer satisfaction and service are the new competitive battlegrounds of the 1990s," stated Steve Goldsworthy, ProActive co-founder, president and CEO. "Companies today are becoming more customer-oriented in order to compete on a global scale. CIR addresses the evolution from 'service' as a departmental function to 'customer satisfaction' as an enterprise-wide concern. Beginning with Support Advantage, ProActive is the first vendor to deliver a technically and functionally rich system that facilitates customer satisfaction, customer retention, and increased revenue." Support Advantage: First in a Series Support Advantage is designed to replace simple call tracking applications, as well as home grown, and paper-based systems that have limited functionality, flexibility, and ease of use. Available now, the application is targeted at Technical Support, Customer Service and Help Desk professionals within the high technology, telecommunications, financial, and medical equipment industries. Through its use of modern technologies and integration with other CIR applications, Support Advantage links customer support to the rest of the organization. It helps the support department become more efficient, improve satisfaction, and transforms support from a cost center into a revenue center. According to Dr. William F. Davidow, a best-selling author and general partner at Mohr, Davidow Ventures, which recently invested $1.5 million in the start-up, "The customer service and support organizations of today need much more functionality and system flexibility than is available in current point solutions. Support Advantage goes hr beyond current service software offerings with its enterprise-wide orientation, functionality, and innovative use of Windows and workflow technologies. Overall, CIR has the power to make 'Total Customer Service' become the ultimate weapon." Support Advantage uses its technology infrastructure to provide comprehensive functionality in the four key areas required to deliver superior support: Comprehensive Customer/Product Database, Problem Solving Help, Active Workflow Management, and Satisfaction Measurement and Reporting. Comprehensive Customer/Product Database Currently available on SYBASE, Support Advantage will run on INFORMIX and ORACLE database servers on a wide range of UNIX platforms. Support Advantage uses the RDBMS to access, capture and track complete, up-to-date profiles about customers, the products they have installed, and how they use them. This data includes service histories, installed product configurations, quality data, and the status of open or unresolved issues. Support Advantage also utilizes Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) technology to link and attach multiple data types such as facsimiles, documentation, graphics, manuals, and technical bulletins to a customer case. In this way, all relevant information is stored in one places, travels together and cannot be misplaced. ProActive Software couples its use of the RDBMS with support for graphical user interfaces to offer a suite of applications that are intuitive and easy to use. Support Advantage operates in client/server environments supporting Microsoft Windows 3.1 PCs and workstation clients. Support Advantage and other CIR applications will also be available on X-Windows interfaces such as Motif, and on the Macintosh. The application's client/server architecture delivers platform scalability and cost-effective computing performance. Problem Solving Help According to ProActive sources, 80-90% of inquiries in a typical support center are closely related to those already received. Support Advantage builds a library of catalogued solutions to previous cases. Using the system's Query-By-Example searching methods, users can search this library to efficiently retrieve a solution, provide it to the customer, and move on the next customer problem. Support Advantage streamlines the problem/resolution process, eliminates redundant work, and keeps customers happy. Active Workflow Management Support Advantage was designed with its own workflow engine that facilitates workgroup collaboration, and intelligent information routing across a company. This workflow engine works with already existing electronic mail systems and comes with its own gateways to Lotus/cc:mail and UNIX mail. Users can create rules that are triggered by a date, user, action or other attribute. The workflow engine uses these rules to automatically route customer cases and problems from one group or person to the next. Each user or group has an "In Box" that holds prioritized action requests. The system notifies users when special issues arise and must be addressed, and when problems have been solved. Audit trails track and provide complete accountability for all the steps taken to solve a customer's problem. "Intelligent Dispatching" automatically assigns responsibility for action on a case to the individual or group most likely to resolve it. For example, technical problems can be routed to product experts, pricing and industry issues can be routed to sales and marketing, and product defects can be sent to quality assurance and engineering. In this way, Support Advantage links the entire organization to the support group. Satisfaction Measurement and Reporting Support Advantage leverages third party tools and applications that are already linked to relational databases. It captures, reports and distributes information on customer satisfaction levels, defect trends, quality of service, and other customer-reported data throughout the company. This enables managers to accurately assess customer satisfaction levels and the productivity of their organization. Industry standard SQL report writers, as well as popular desktop applications like Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Word can be used to create new reports. Integrated security features ensure that only authorized users see the reports. ProActive Toolset and Customization Written in the C++ object-oriented programming language, customers can use the ProActive Toolset, a customization environment built around a Dynamic Application Dictionary (DAD), to modify their application without changing source code. Customers use the Toolset to make changes directly to DAD (the repository of all application descriptions), and subsequently the application, in seconds without recompiling or changing source code. Customers purchase the ProActive Toolset separately, based on their needs and the level of customization required. The ProActive Toolset offer users three levels of customization tools: System Administration (such as adding, moving, and deleting users to the system, user permissions and mail box changes); Workflow Rules Definition and Modification; and Forms Management Tools. Other CIR Applications Additional CIR Applications to be announced throughout 1992 and early 1993 are: Quality Advantage, designed for engineering and quality assurance departments; SLT Advantage for sales organizations; Customer Advantage, which provides a manufacturer's suppliers as well as end-customers with a direct link to the manufacturer; Field Engineering Advantage, which supports remote field offices and engineering personnel; and Product Advantage, which is targeted at product marketing professionals; Availability and Pricing Support Advantage is available now on SYBASE SQL Server with support for a wide range of popular UNIX platforms and Microsoft Windows 3.1 clients. Support Advantage will be available on INFORMIX and ORACLE, as well as X-Windows interfaces in 1992. ProActive also plans to support Macintosh clients. Pricing for Support Advantage starts at $25,000 depending on number of users and hardware platform. Pricing for the ProActive Toolset starts at $15,000, depending on the tools purchased and platform. Other CIR applications will ship throughout 1992 and early 1993. ProActive Software Incorporated ProActive Software was founded in 1990 and is headquartered in Mountain View, CA. Funded by co-founder Roger Sippl and Mohr, Davidow Ventures, Menlo Park, CA, the company's mission is to be the leading provider of enterprise-wide Customer Information Resource software solutions. Products are sold through the company's own direct sales force, as well as through resellers and systems integrators worldwide. The company is a member of both Sun and Hewlett-Packard marketing programs, and is a value-added reseller for Sybase, Informix and Oracle. ProActive Software Inc 1043 North Shoreline Blvd, Mountain View, CA 94043 415-691-1500, fax: 415-691-1515 +---------------------------------------------------------------+ | From the America Online - New Product Information Services | +===============================================================+ | This information was processed from data provided by the | | above mentioned company. For additional details, contact the | | company at the address or telephone number indicated above. | | All submissions for this service should be addressed to | | BAKER ENTERPRISES, 20 Ferro Drive, Sewell, NJ 08080 U.S.A. | +---------------------------------------------------------------+