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SupportSoft Extends Multi-Channel Service Delivery With 4 New and Enhanced Solutions

May 26, 2004

-- Products Enhance Automated Delivery of Answers for Enterprise and Customer Technical Problem Resolution --

Redwood City, CA, May 25, 2004 -- SupportSoft, Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRT), a leading provider of Real-Time Service Management (RTSM™) software, today announced the release of 4 software products designed to span the spectrum of support automation solutions for the real-time enterprise, from problem avoidance associated with a company’s IT infrastructure, to knowledge-enabled self-service for employees and customers, and intelligent assisted service via the phone or enhanced chat -- all related to the resolution of desktop or mobile computing issues.

The SupportSoft Real-Time Service Management software platform serves as the technology foundation for all of SupportSoft’s products, helping enterprises operate in real time to pre-empt or resolve technology-related problems by automating IT infrastructure management, technical support and customer service. This comprehensive software approach to service delivery allows problems to be automatically put into context, their causes to be diagnosed and, once determined, resolved – or even avoided altogether -- in real time. The result can be a significant drop in support costs, while increasing customer satisfaction, employee productivity and overall business process performance.

New and enhanced products built upon SupportSoft’s Real-Time Service Management software platform include:

  • SupportSoft Auto Discovery and Metering - enables IT organizations to discover, inventory and monitor their hardware and software assets and block unwanted applications in real time. The software’s ability to reach across thousands of desktops at once enables organizations to discover potential problems associated with IT infrastructure changes and proactively resolve them to prevent future, costly problems after the change occurs. New features include the ability to conduct targeted application scans and the ability to provide offline client data synchronization.
  • SupportSoft Knowledge Center Suite - facilitates knowledge-enabled Web self-service and assisted service. Designed to automate service and support knowledge creation, publishing, management and ongoing access by support representatives, the software can also provide end-users with fast, personalized answers for “how to” queries, and uniquely enable automated “one-click-fixes” using SupportSoft’s patented SupportAction technology. New Knowledge Center Suite features include highlighting of search terms in content and the ability to save previous search queries.
  • SupportSoft LiveAssist - with ActiveTriggers is designed to provide call centers and IT support organizations with the ability to service customers and employees online with a highly scaleable, enhanced chat solution. End-users can simply click a button on a company’s Web site to engage a support representative in real time without the need to download software. The new ActiveTriggers feature uses configurable rules to enable service and support representatives to proactively approach customers or employees with assistance at the exact moment it is needed within a Web-based application. The result can be faster resolution of an employee or customer’s question or problem, as well as the ability to upsell additional products to customers.
  • SupportSoft VoiceAssist was introduced in a separate announcement today from SupportSoft. VoiceAssist extends SupportSoft’s patented SmartIssue® technology to provide a quick snapshot of a computer’s settings and problems when a user telephones for help, even when they are “offline.” With the benefit of the built-in intelligence provided by VoiceAssist, the representative then has the ability to more quickly diagnose and cost-efficiently help resolve the computing problem regardless of whether the caller has a network connection.

Broadband service providers tasked with the business imperative of lowering support costs while keeping subscribers happy are using SupportSoft’s Real-Time Service Management software solutions to provide their customers with multiple channels of service and support. This includes knowledge-enabled Web self-service and intelligent assisted service with enhanced chat functionality. Enterprises are also taking a more customer-driven service and support approach by using SupportSoft’s solutions to lower costs and keep employees productive – helping to fundamentally shift the IT support organization from a traditional cost center into a strategic corporate resource.

In a recent report, analyst research firm Gartner stated that “. . .faster responses in business are a vitally important aspect of IT-enabled productivity improvements.” However, the report added that “the pursuit of a Real-Time Enterprise inspired by faster business responses is profoundly incomplete without the inclusion of real-time early detection.”

“In a technology environment that is characterized by increased complexity and rapid change, companies can’t afford to have gaps in their support processes by cobbling together various parts of solutions from multiple vendors. That’s why SupportSoft’s comprehensive, multi-channel software approach to service and support delivery is becoming the choice for forward-looking companies,” said Chris Grejtak, senior vice president of products and marketing at SupportSoft. “We provide the ability for an enterprise to choose the best combination of pre-emptive support solutions and service delivery channels for their specific needs, all built upon one tightly integrated, highly scalable Real-Time Service Management software platform. As a result, companies can have the insight and tools they need to preempt potential problems or better respond to issues as they arise – all while decreasing operational costs, increasing customer satisfaction and improving employee productivity.”

About SupportSoft
SupportSoft (Nasdaq: SPRT) is a leading provider of Real-Time Service Management (RTSM) software designed to accelerate and automate enterprise technical support, customer service and IT infrastructure management. Enterprises that have purchased our products and services include: ADP, Bank of America, Cisco Systems, IBM, Procter & Gamble, Siebel Systems, Sony and Thomson Financial. Managed service providers that have purchased our products to provide outsourced services to enterprises include: Accenture, ACS, CompuCom, CSC and IBM Global Services. Digital service providers incorporating our software into their service offerings include: Adelphia Communications, BellSouth, Charter Communications, Comcast Communications, Cox Communications, SBC Communications and TeliaSonera. For more information, visit www.supportsoft.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements which are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. In particular, the statements relating to the benefits expected from the products are subject to a number of risks and uncertainties, including but not limited to, the technical challenges and time and effort involved in the integration, customer acceptance of the product, the rapid pace of technological change, the impact of continued economic downturns in either domestic or foreign markets, and other sales, marketing, and development challenges. A discussion of the risks and uncertainties that could affect SupportSoft are more fully set forth in the risks factors detailed from time to time in SupportSoft’s SEC reports. Statements included in this release are based upon information known to SupportSoft as of the date of this release, and SupportSoft assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release.