Indiana University Selects Unified Communications Software by Interactive Intelligence

Business Wire, Sept 25, 2001

Business, High-Tech & Education Editors

INDIANAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2001

IU will deploy the beta version of Interactive Intelligence's

large-scale unified communications product to provide faculty and

staff with unified messaging and other productivity applications

Indiana University signed a two-year license agreement effective August 1, 2001 to deploy the beta version of Interactive Intelligence Inc.'s (Nasdaq:ININ) large-scale unified communications product called Communite(TM).

Communite will provide faculty and staff at the IU Bloomington and Indiana University - Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) campuses with unified messaging, a one-number "follow-me" feature, call screening, presence management and other productivity applications. The Communite deployment is part of a university-wide initiative to provide students, patients, vendors and government agencies faster and more convenient access to IU faculty and staff. The deployment will also enable the university to standardize on a voice mail platform that is fully integrated with its existing Microsoft Exchange e-mail systems.

Indiana University will install Communite this fall as part of a pilot program initially composed of approximately 200 users. The university will then decide on the feasibility of replacing its existing Centigram voice mail systems with Communite, which could result in an installation of approximately 30,000 voice mailboxes.

"We selected Communite because Interactive Intelligence allowed us to perform extensive testing of its interaction management software over the last couple of years and, as a result of that testing, we developed a high degree of confidence in the technology," Brian D. Voss, associate vice president of Telecommunications for Indiana University, said. "This confidence was confirmed when we reviewed a handful of competitive products from other vendors and found that the unified, software-based architecture of Communite would afford us much more flexibility while protecting our current technology investment."

This fall, Indiana University will also replace an existing interactive voice response system used to give students access to long distance billing information, with a software-based IVR application from Interactive Intelligence. Next spring, the university plans to install a pilot of Interactive Intelligence's automatic call distribution application. A successful pilot could lead to the replacement of existing legacy ACD systems campus-wide.

Said Voss: "We want to use Interactive Intelligence's ACD to improve the way that calls are currently distributed among our multiple contact centers. For instance, we can configure the new ACD so that calls are routed to a particular work group regardless of where that workgroup is located. We can use virtually any type of criteria we want, like routing calls, or even faxes, e-mails and Web chats, based on agent skill, availability or location. The best thing is that we can do all of this customization in-house, which will save us money, as well as enable us to respond faster to changing business requirements."

Interactive Intelligence's Interaction Center Platform(TM) is the basis for its unique suite of open, software-based products designed to replace proprietary communication devices such as PBXs, ACDs, IVRs, voice mail systems, fax servers, Web gateways and CTI middleware systems. The Interaction Center Platform was designed to virtually eliminate the need for integration, thus reducing start-up and maintenance costs, simplifying administration and increasing ease-of-customization.

"Improving communications can significantly impact the bottom-line of a large, distributed university like IU," Dr. Donald E. Brown, president and chief executive officer for Interactive Intelligence, said. "Few universities, however, are aware of cost-effective alternatives to the `kluged' approach of traditional communication systems. We applaud IU for its willingness to look beyond traditional systems and are proud to have been selected for providing an interaction management solution designed to more effectively support the distributed campus environment."

About Indiana University

Indiana University is one of the oldest state universities in the Midwest and also one of the largest universities in the United States, with more than 110,000 students, faculty, and staff on eight campuses. IU has a growing national and international reputation in the areas of information technology and advanced networking. IU was named by Time Magazine as 2001 College of the Year among research institutions. Its telephone number is 1 812.855.4848; on the Web: http://www.indiana.edu.

About Interactive Intelligence Inc.

Interactive Intelligence Inc. (Nasdaq:ININ) is a global developer of interaction management software designed to automate communications for contact centers, enterprises, e-businesses and service providers. The company was founded in 1994 and, today, has a worldwide customer base of more than 750 companies. Based on an open, unified platform, the Interactive Intelligence product line was designed as a flexible and affordable alternative to traditional telecom solutions. The Interactive Intelligence product line is subject to multiple United States and international patents pending. Interactive Intelligence has won numerous awards, including Software Magazine's Top 500 Global Software and Services companies in 2000. Interactive Intelligence's global headquarters are located in Indianapolis, IN, with European headquarters in Aix-en-Provence, France and Asia Pacific headquarters in Tokyo, Japan. Its telephone number is 1 317.872.3000; on the Web: http://www.ININ.com.