Artisoft Introduces Advanced Support for Microsoft CRM; TeleVantage integration dramatically improves employee productivity and customer service

Business Wire, Sept 7, 2004

SAN FRANCISCO & CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Artisoft(R), Inc. (OTC: ASFT), a leading provider of open systems IP-PBX and call center products, today announced support for the Microsoft(R) Business Solutions Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application within TeleVantage, Artisoft's open-systems IP-PBX. This built-in integration provides businesses with an advanced, affordable contact management and telephony solution that enables them to deliver premium customer service, streamline operations and increase productivity.

"Microsoft values Artisoft as a partner in delivering flexible, cost-effective IP telephony and call center solutions," said Holly Holt, group product manager, CRM, Microsoft. "The integration with Microsoft CRM is a natural progression for the thousands of TeleVantage customers who are looking for an affordable, easy to deploy CRM solution that can dramatically improve their business."

TeleVantage helps a variety of businesses maximize their Microsoft CRM investment, save valuable time and provide more professional service. The key capabilities of this integration include:

--Screen-pops of the appropriate Microsoft CRM form are automatically displayed based on custom business rules for incoming calls. For example, TeleVantage can display the appropriate Microsoft CRM Contact form based on Caller ID so that detailed customer information is available before the call is answered.

--Users can point and click to automatically dial any phone number displayed in a Microsoft CRM form, thereby eliminating manually misdialed numbers.

--Microsoft CRM Call Activity forms can be automatically completed for every inbound and outbound call. With this feature, employees can focus on entering unique call notes instead of manually filling out the Microsoft CRM fields for Call Initiator, Call Recipient, Regarding, Owner, Direction, and Phone Number.

"Combining the comprehensive IP-PBX capabilities of TeleVantage with the robustness of Microsoft CRM offers businesses a comprehensive, affordable contact center solution," said Lee Schlenger, Product Manager of Artisoft. "Giving employees quick access to Microsoft CRM data directly impacts the quality and efficiency of service they can deliver and ultimately drives additional sales and reduces costs."

"Artisoft continues to show their commitment to delivering solutions based on modular communications platforms and standards-based components with their recent Microsoft CRM integration," said Sandra Rivera, director of marketing, Modular Communications Platform Division, Intel. "With the dynamic environment of IP, TeleVantage allows businesses to quickly add additional features in a more streamlined and easy-to-use fashion. This is a testament to the flexibility that modular architectures provide."

TeleVantage is an open systems IP-PBX that delivers unprecedented communications capabilities to medium-size businesses, branch offices and call centers. The flexible software-based feature set, including intelligent call management, unified messaging, automatic call recording, graphical desktop call control and the comprehensive TeleVantage Call Center, is easy to customize and administer, allowing businesses to dramatically improve customer service and employee productivity. Built on industry standards, including Intel(R) Telecom boards and technologies, TeleVantage eliminates the need for proprietary hardware, enabling it to grow and evolve as business needs change while maintaining a low cost of ownership.

Artisoft is a member of the Microsoft Windows Telecommunications Alliance and an Associate Member with the Intel Communications Alliance, a community of communications and embedded developers and solution providers.

About Artisoft

Artisoft, Inc. is a leading provider of open systems IP-PBX and call center products that deliver advanced functionality, flexibility, and value to medium-size businesses, branch offices, and call centers. Artisoft's innovative software products have consistently garnered industry recognition, winning more than 35 awards for technical excellence. The company distributes its products and services worldwide through a dedicated and growing channel of authorized resellers. For more information, please call 800-914-9985 or visit our website at http://www.artisoft.com.

Artisoft and TeleVantage are registered trademarks of Artisoft Inc. Intel is a registered trademark of Intel Corporation. Other company or product names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders.