ABN AMRO Mortgage Group Adds NetByTel's Hosted Voice Application to Speed Mortgage Approval Process

Business Wire, Jan 31, 2002

Business Editors/Technology Writers

BOCA RATON & SUNRISE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 2002

ABN AMRO Mortgage Group Uses NetByTel's Packaged Voice Recognition

Application to Increase Revenue and Reduce Customer Support Costs

ABN AMRO Mortgage Group, Inc. (AAMG), the nation's fifth largest mortgage lender and eighth largest servicer, has deployed the phone services of NetByTel at its National Lending Center (NLC). The NetByTel hosted self-service voice application helps the NLC efficiently handle the influx of calls from customers wanting to refinance existing mortgages and take advantage of record low interest rates. Through partnering with NetByTel, the NLC is providing a fast and effective way to help customers determine if refinancing would save them money. NetByTel's packaged voice application has more than doubled the productivity of AAMG's telephone agents. The integration of NetByTel into the NLC operation was efficient taking only sixty days to implement.

"We needed a way to better manage the tremendous spike in our call volume without compromising the quality of service that our customers expect from us. If we can't handle their calls instantly and give them an answer right away, we risk losing their business," said Garth Graham, first vice president, customer acquisition and relationship management at AAMG's NLC. "NetByTel's hosted voice application was a logical choice both from a business standpoint, because of its rapid deployment capability and pay-per-call taken pricing, and from a customer perspective, because they will never spend time on hold and will get immediate feedback to their questions."

Through the NetByTel Loan Capture Application, AAMG customers call a toll free number, say either their current loan number or social security number and are quickly recognized. Customers receive an instant mortgage savings calculation from the NetByTel Virtual Agent(TM) in as little as 30 seconds. Qualifying customers are then given the opportunity to use the self-service voice response system to begin the refinance process. By sorting out customers who can benefit from a mortgage refinance, AAMG has more than doubled the productivity of its mortgage consultants.

"Voice self service is a natural fit for AAMG's business objectives," said Stephen Avalone, vice president of marketing for NetByTel. "Our packaged voice application helps consumers predetermine if they will benefit from refinancing. Loan agents can now spend their valuable time concentrating on converting leads instead of performing routine calculations and handling repetitive questions."

"The return on investment for introducing NetByTel's hosted Loan Capture Application has been phenomenal," added Graham. "It's paid for itself within the first month, especially given the recent high call volumes we've been experiencing."

About ABN AMRO Mortgage Group, Inc.

The National Lending Center, located in Sunrise, Florida, serving customers in 49 states, is the customer retention and retail e - commerce division of ABN AMRO Mortgage Group, Inc. AAMG is the fifth largest loan originator and eighth largest loan servicer in the United States. ABN AMRO Mortgage Group produces mortgage loans and provides related services through its various divisions including InterFirst Wholesale Mortgage Lending, LaSalle Home Mortgage, ABN AMRO Mortgage, ABN AMRO National Lending Center, ABN AMRO Apartment Lending and ABN AMRO Mortgage Capital Markets. ABN AMRO Mortgage Group has more than 2,600 employees located throughout the United States.

About ABN AMRO

ABN AMRO Mortgage Group, Inc. is an indirect subsidiary of Netherlands-based ABN AMRO Bank N.V., one of the world's largest banks with total assets of (EUR) 614.6 billion and a presence in more than 3,500 locations in over 70 countries and territories. ABN AMRO is organized into three autonomous strategic business units responsible for managing wholesale clients, consumer and commercial clients, and private clients and asset management.

In North America, ABN AMRO is headquartered in Chicago and has nearly $90 billion in assets. Subsidiaries include LaSalle Bank in Chicago, and Standard Federal Bank in Michigan.

About NetByTel

NetByTel(R)'s award-winning voice self-service applications transform traditional customer service and support so consumers can easily use their voice to purchase products, make general inquiries and get customer support by phone without having to speak with a live agent. The result is consistent, high quality customer service, reduction in operational costs by as much as 87 percent and more revenue-generating calls handled by live agents. Delivered as a hosted service to contact centers and developed on NetByTel's open application technology platform, the suite of packaged voice applications have completed millions of calls for its customers, which include Office Depot, Walmart, MicroWarehouse, ABN-AMRO and many more. Acknowledged as the industry leader, NetByTel has won several awards including the Call Center and CRM Solutions Best Speech Product, PC Magazine's Innovation in Infrastructure as well as Frost and Sullivan's Business Development Strategy Award. NetByTel partners with world-class organizations including SpeechWorks (Nasdaq:SPWX), Intel, Commercialware, Ecometry (Nasdaq:ECOM) and Witness Systems (Nasdaq:WITS). For more information about NetByTel, visit the company's web site at http://www.netbytel.com.