SOFTBANK Services Group Announces New Automated Sales and Processing Solutions That Lower Customer Service Costs by 50% to 75%

Business Wire, Oct 8, 1996

BUFFALO, NY--(BUSINESS WIRE)--October 8, 1996--SOFTBANK Services Group (formerly UCA&L), the computer industry's leading provider of outsourced sales and support services, today announced Tel-Address(SM), a new suite of automated voice solutions that significantly lowers the cost of direct sales and customer service programs. Designed to capture and process any kind of customer order directly over the telephone, Tel-Address is especially suited to high-volume consumer purchases such as desktop and entertainment software, product upgrades and updates, maintenance services and contracts, product registrations, and magazine and publication subscriptions.

Key and unique features of Tel-Address are the speed and accuracy with which orders can be processed, achieved by integrating powerful databases and automated data capture with SOFTBANK Services Group's back-end order processing and fulfillment infrastructure.

When customers call into the 800 number, Tel-Address searches either a proprietary prospect database, or a continuously updated, national address database. In a sub-second, it then confirms the caller's name and address via text-to-speech capability. For customer purchases, the system then captures the order, requests and verifies credit card information, and creates an electronic sale right over the phone. The data is then instantly transferred into the order processing system and forwarded to a fulfillment center. At any time during the call, the customer can request to speak to a live agent, and the call and customer data is immediately transferred to a sales associate.

"Tel-Address provides our clients an important new way to service customers who order and purchase products over the phone -- for as little as 25% of the cost of agent-assisted calls," noted John O'Keefe, Director of Automated Voice Solutions. "For high-volume, low-priced consumer products where profit margins are narrow, Tel-Address can dramatically reduce the cost of sales and service programs."

"Phone-based transactions will continue to make up the lion's share of sales from direct marketing campaigns," O'Keefe added. "Our automated services will enable our clients to further broaden those campaigns with high-quality, cost-effective solutions."

Additional automated voice solutions available from SOFTBANK Services Group include:

Automated Order Inquiry - Enables customers to quickly and easily verify the status of their order, including shipment information, at any time of the day or night without the need for agent assistance.

Automated Technical Support - Assists customers with immediate answers to symptom-based questions about product installment or usage. Query solutions are delivered directly from the client's knowledge base to the customer as an audio or fax-back solution.

Automated Reseller Referral - Provides customers with instant referrals to nearby product resellers and/or service centers.

Fax on Demand - Sends information to customers as they request it, directly to their fax machines.

SOFTBANK Services Group, previously known as UCA&L, was formed by the 1995 merger of the industry's two leading direct marketing outsourcing companies, Upgrade Corporation of America and Alexander & Lord, Inc. The company is majority-owned by SOFTBANK Corporation, Japan's largest distributor of computer-related software and peripherals. Additional SOFTBANK companies include the Ziff-Davis Publishing Company, SOFTBANK Comdex and SOFTBANK Expos, and Kingston Technologies. SOFTBANK also holds significant investments in more than fifty Internet-related companies including CyberCash Inc.,

over-the-counter in Tokyo, had revenues of $1.5 billion in the fiscal
year ended March 31.
    SOFTBANK Services Group is headquartered in Buffalo, N.Y., with
additional facilities in Las Vegas, Nevada, Dublin, Ireland and
London, England, and sales and distribution centers throughout the
U.S., Canada, and Europe.  SOFTBANK Services Group has become the
leading provider of agent-based and electronic outsourcing services
to the North American and international high-technology industry.
SOFTBANK Services Group's pre-sales, sales, and support service set
includes inbound and outbound marketing support, lead management,
technical support, end-user registration, CD-ROM unlocking,
interactive voice response (IVR), online and Internet-based services,
fulfillment, and end-user database administration.