Right Now Technologies Signs Over 200 Customers in First Year; First to Deliver Easy-to-Use Web-Based Customer Self-Help Solutions

Business Wire, March 15, 1999

BOZEMAN, Mont.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 15, 1999--

Numerous Marquee Companies Endorse Innovative New Approach

to Web-based Customer Service

Right Now Technologies, a leading provider of web-based customer self-help solutions, today announced the company has signed over 200 clients in its first year of operation, making Right Now Technologies the industry's number one best-selling web-based customer self-help vendor. The early adopters of Right Now's product include such marquee names as AAA, Air Canada, Ben and Jerry's Homemade Ice Cream and Turner Broadcasting (see additional list at end of release).

According to industry experts, much of Right Now's rapid growth can be attributed the fact that clients receive an immediate and easily measurable return on investment, as demonstrated by reduced customer support expenses and increased customer satisfaction.

"Right Now Web software is an innovative, easy-to-use web-based self-help tool," said Christopher Hoffman, analyst at International Data Corporation, a leading industry analyst firm based in Framingham, MA. "The software's ability to enable clients to deploy robust web-based customer support sites in under 60 minutes is a compelling differentiator in the customer care industry."

"A web site should be an interactive resource for customers, allowing them to quickly find answers to questions," said Greg Gianforte, president of Right Now Technologies. "Properly implemented Web-based customer service can dramatically reduce support costs. We have found that within 30 days, most of our clients reduce their support costs by 25% to 70%, while significantly increasing customer satisfaction."

Right Now Web Creates Web-Accessible FAQ Knowledgebases

Right Now Web allows companies to create easily accessible knowledgebases of frequently asked questions(FAQs). In addition to providing a great support tool for internal call center professionals, Right Now Web also supports self-service customer support over a Web site.

Once the FAQs are posted, the knowledgebase grows organically whenever a customer or customer support representative interacts with the system. Each time a knowledgebase entry is accessed, the Web site visitor is given the opportunity to rate the effectiveness of the proposed solution. This feedback mechanism allows the knowledgebase to intelligently rank its own entries by effectiveness, so that subsequent visitors will be presented with the most likely answers first. The longer a company uses Right Now Web, the more effective it becomes.

Right Now Web offers comprehensive back-end administration tools that automate the management of the FAQ knowledgebase. Recently enhanced FAQ publishing tools minimize data entry time and provide workflow coordination to manage FAQ edits and approvals.

Right Now Web provides numerous reporting options to help administrators better quantify the effectiveness of their Right Now Web system. An optional Right Now Web Customer Console(TM) module helps companies track customer support histories, service levels, and trouble-ticket escalation.

Right Now Technologies is beginning to attract the attention of some of the industry's leading information technology media. Computerworld, a leading IT weekly newspaper, favorably profiled Ben & Jerry's successful deployment of Right Now Web in last week's March 8, 1999 issue. In addition to the Computerworld story, Ben & Jerry's innovative web-based customer support system will be prominently profiled in Intel's big Pentium III press conference this week in New York and San Francisco.

"Some companies have customers -- Ben & Jerry's has fans," said Lucas Jenson, Marketing Strategy and Research Manager for the Vermont-based ice cream manufacturer (Nasdaq: BJICA). "Communicating with our fans in a proactive manner is integral to everything we do here. Right Now Technologies is one way we can increase our interaction with customers, whether it's to hear consumer reactions to new products or flavors, or to answer a question from a shareholder."

Right Now Web Can Publish Legacy Customer Support Information on the Web

Right Now Web ships with a data translation utility that allows companies to import and publish customer support information locked away in legacy knowledgebases, help desks, and customer support systems. Some of the many leading systems whose data can be imported into Right Now Web include KnowledgeBroker, Inference (Nasdaq: INFR), ServiceWare, Remedy (Nasdaq: RMDY), Network Associates (Nasdaq: NETA), Bendata, Platinum Software (Nasdaq: PSQL), Clarify (Nasdaq: CLFY) Siebel (Nasdaq: SEBL) and Vantive (Nasdaq: VNTV).

Pricing, Availability and Specifications

The complete Right Now Web product family is now shipping. The product line is composed of three modules. The base Right Now Web supports an unlimited-size FAQ knowledgebase. The second module, Email Response(TM), automates the tracking of emailed support requests. The third module, Customer Console(TM), tracks customer support transactions for specific individuals and forces registration sign-on.