HVB Direkt Taps KANA's External-Facing eCRM Solution To Reduce Costs in the Contact Center; KANA Response Enables Automated and More Efficient Customer Service

Business Wire, Sept 30, 2002

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 30, 2002

KANA(R) (NASDAQ: KANA), the leading provider of external-facing eCRM solutions, today announced that HVB Direkt, an outsourced contact center service focused on the financial services industry, automatically responds to more than 8,000 e-mails per month with KANA Response(TM) software, the industry's leading e-mail management solution. As a result, HVB Direkt has improved customer service without increasing costs in the contact center.

HVB Direkt needed an e-mail management solution that could not only respond automatically to customer inquiries, but could also route more difficult questions to other parts of the organization, enabling faster and more efficient response to all customer inquiries. HVB Direkt and TietoEnator, a consultant and solutions integrator, chose KANA because the ease-of-use of KANA Response enables customer service representatives to quickly pull answers to standard customer inquiries from a robust catalog of responses customized by HVB Direkt and TietoEnator. With KANA Response, HVB Direkt has eliminated time spent searching for and re-writing answers to repeat questions, saving significant costs in the contact center.

"As a leading provider of outsourced customer care, we understand the importance of providing the highest level of customer service," said Christoph Berger, IT/OS project manager at HVB Direkt. "KANA's eCRM solution supports our approach to customer service, enabling us to provide faster and more efficient responses to customer inquiries at reduced costs. KANA solutions are modular and built to easily integrate with other applications helping to meet our plans for the growth and expansion of HVB Direkt's customer service initiative."

An integral component of the KANA iCARE(TM) suite, KANA Response is the most effective and widely used e-mail management system in the world. It provides world-class agent-assisted service with fast, high volume, intelligent, automated e-mail, Web, and instant messaging request management. With KANA Response, the HVB Direkt customer service team responds quickly and accurately to complex customer requests while increasing customer satisfaction and agent productivity.

"Companies that deal in customer care, like HVB Direkt, have realized the need for customer service applications that give users flexibility and choice for optimal service experiences," said Bud Michael, executive vice president of products and marketing for KANA. "KANA's modular eCRM solution enables HVB Direkt to provide superior customer service at low costs, resulting in a dramatic return on investment today and support for the continued growth of its customer service initiative."

HVB Direkt is one of nearly 1,300 companies worldwide using KANA next generation eCRM solutions to drive better relationships through effective, efficient interactions with customers at all points of contact (Web collaboration, phone, e-mail, live chat) and throughout the enterprise. The KANA approach to customer relationship management technology solutions combines sophisticated analytics with thin-client Web architecture to deliver extraordinary customer interactions that decrease costs and drive revenue.

About HVB Direkt

HVB Direkt GmbH has slotted into the market niche as an innovative customer care center with an eye on the European market. In addition to running its own customer care centers at home and abroad, the company supports and advises its contracting customers on setting up and managing their own centers. To this end, HVB Direkt trains employees to use the telephone, Internet and e-mail media and provides its customers with support for change management processes, which are necessary to introduce and employ the new media. In addition, HVB Direkt is responsible for all outsourcing and places its comprehensive know-how at customers' disposal in all matters relating to CCC processes. HVB Direkt has continued to grow and develop since its launch in 1993. In the interim, the number of employees has risen to over 1,000. Each year, the company establishes contacts with over five million customers. HVB Direkt's customers include HypoVereinsbank AG, Vereins- und Westbank AG, Vereinsbank Victoria Bauspar AG, Wurttembergische Hypothekenbank AG, DCI - Database for Commerce and Industry AG and Radio Bayern 3. For further information, please visit www.hvbdirekt.de

About TietoEnator

With almost 12,000 employees and annual net sales of EUR 1.1 billion, TietoEnator is a leading supplier of high value-added IT services in Europe. TietoEnator specializes in consulting, building and hosting its customers' business operations in the digital economy. The Group's services are based on a combination of deep industry-specific expertise and latest information technology. With almost 12,000 employees in 19 countries and an annual turnover of more than EUR 1.1 billion, TietoEnator Corporation, Helsinki is one of Europe's leading providers of IT services. The company is listed on the stock markets in Finland and Sweden and provides consultancy, system development and integration, marketing and support from one source. In addition to IT know-how, TietoEnator's employees are widely experienced in the sectors for telecommunications and media, banking and insurance, industry, forestry, logistics, travel and tourism as well as public administration. The company TietoEnator also concentrates on related sectors such as those for Internet applications, mobile communication, e-business, customer relationship management and contact centers. In Germany alone, TietoEnator has equipped over 1,200 outbound workplaces and integrated into related organization units since 1994. For further information, please contact www.TietoEnator.de and www.TietoEnator.com