eStara Launches ''Click-to-Chat'' Application for Enhancing Online Customer Service and Increasing Sales; Leader in ''Click-to-Call'' communications adds text chat to suite of voice-enabled online sales conversion tools

Business Wire, Jan 30, 2006

RESTON, Va. -- eStara, the leading provider of multi-channel communications solutions that increase online revenue by linking buyers and sellers, today announced the launch of its real-time text chat solution. The new product enables eStara customers to offer Click-to-Chat service in addition to eStara's flagship Click-to-Call solution, or as a stand-alone product.

Click-to-Call and Click-to-Chat solutions enable online shoppers to directly communicate with a human customer service representative at the click of a button. Analyst research shows that enriching e-commerce with these solutions reduces shopping cart abandonment, increases transaction conversion rates and boosts revenue.

"Success in online sales is tied to unparalleled customer service. In today's environment, interacting with a human customer service representative is required for turning browsers into buyers," said John Federman, CEO of eStara. "For high-value and complex sales transactions, voice is still preferred by an overwhelming number of online shoppers. However, there's also tremendous value in providing customers with options, like text chat, in order to handle lower-value sales or service-oriented inquires. Combined, these solutions empower customer service representatives to engage customers at key points during the online transaction to assure sales conversion and improve the customer experience."

Patent-Pending Tech Ensures Continuity Across Communication Types

Using its patent-pending cross-channel data passing technology, both eStara's Click-to-Call and Click-to-Chat solutions ensure continuity of experience for online shoppers as they transition from the web to a voice or text chat conversation. Cross-channel data passing creates a seamless experience by transferring information about the customer and the context of their online session directly to the customer service representative (CSR) at the time of call or chat initiation. The CSR's software can be configured to display this information directly on the agent's desktop screen, or it can use the incoming data values to trigger lookups into the company's own databases to retrieve related details (customer records, purchase history, billing information, etc.)

According to Bob Chatham of analyst firm Forrester Research, "Great cross-channel customer experiences hinge on continuity. Customers deserve seamless transitions between channels that maintain the context of a single interaction without redundant quizzes for information. Click-to-call fits the bill."

About eStara:

eStara (www.estara.com) provides the world's most robust and widely deployed "Click-to-Call" service, with more than three million users in 113 countries. eStara's IP telephony infrastructure seamlessly transitions consumers, together with the context of their online session, into immediate telephone or PC-based voice contact with the business. The same patented base technology drives eStara's Track the Call(sm), a flexible, scalable call tracking and monitoring service that supports pay-per-call and subscription revenue models with the largest inventory of local phone numbers in the industry.

Founded in 1999, eStara now serves over 350 global enterprises across many industries including directory and on-line publishing, financial services, travel and hospitality, and online retail. Customers include Amazon.com's A9.com, Apple Computer, Continental Airlines, DaimlerChrysler, Dell Financial Services, Hilton Hotels, ThomasNet, Verizon's Superpages.com and Yahoo! UK & Ireland.