Quantum to Deploy Web-based Customer Support System From RightNow Technologies - Company Business and Marketing

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Feb 14, 2000

RightNow Technologies, a leading provider of Internet customer care systems, Monday announced that Quantum Corporation's Hard Disk Drive Group (NYSE: HDD), the world's highest volume supplier of hard disk drives for desktop personal computers, will deploy RightNow Web as its online customer support system. Quantum's RightNow Web implementation, which will go live in March at http://www.quantum.com, will provide customers with fast and accurate responses to their support questions.

"We receive thousands of support calls each month from end users who are installing new drives on their systems," said Roger Shaw, technical support services manager at Quantum. "Since many of the support inquiries we receive are repetitive in nature, and since many of our customers would prefer to find their answers on our Web site, we decided to implement a Web-based customer support system. After an extensive search, we chose RightNow Web from RightNow Technologies."

"Looking forward, RightNow Web will play an integral role in making Quantum's Web site the focal point for customer assistance," continued Shaw. "Initially, we will utilize RightNow Web to support our disk drive customers. Following the launch of the system, we will consider expanding it to support other Quantum product lines as well."

RightNow Web Proactively Reduces Amount of Incoming Customer Support Inquiries

RightNow Web helps support professionals reduce the amount of incoming telephone calls and support emails by giving customers the ability to help themselves. RightNow Web operates under the principle that most customer questions are repetitive in nature and can be predicted with great accuracy. The system works by presenting users with a dynamic selection of frequently asked questions (FAQs). As site visitors interact with the system, they rate the effectiveness of published FAQs, helping to prioritize solutions for future customer questions.

For questions that are not addressed by the published knowledgebase, RightNow Web makes it easy for customers to submit new questions. When support personnel respond to the questions, they can publish the question and the answer into the FAQ knowledgebase, thereby making the solution easily accessible to future visitors. RightNow Web is the first Internet customer care solution to leverage real-world customer input to anticipate future customer questions.

"We're honored to have Quantum as a valued customer," said Greg Gianforte, founder and CEO of RightNow Technologies. "RightNow Web will benefit any company that views satisfied customers as essential to their business."

Later this month, RightNow Technologies will ship RightNow Metrics as part of the RightNow Web e-service suite. RightNow Metrics is a customer feedback tool that enables support professionals to quickly gauge their customers' level of support satisfaction by product or customer service representative. The feature works by presenting customers with a short set of questions tacked onto the end of support emails. Through customers interacting with the system, support departments can automatically learn the effectiveness of their support operations and make improvements where necessary.

"We're looking forward to the release of RightNow Metrics," added Shaw. "Our automated phone system offers similar functionality in that it gives our customers a short list of questions in which they can rate the effectiveness of the support they have just received. Just as our phone system tells us how our phone based support is doing, RightNow Metrics will help us gauge the effectiveness of our Web-based customer support. The two systems will be complementary and will enable us to continually improve the quality of our service."

Pricing, Availability and Specifications RightNow Web is now shipping. A complete implementation of RightNow Web ranges from $29,995 to $49,995 for a two-year license, and includes unlimited product updates and support. RightNow Web supports SQL databases such as Oracle8 (Nasdaq: ORCL) and Oracle8I, and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) SQL Server, and server operating systems such as Windows NT, Linux and Sun (Nasdaq: SUNW) Solaris.

Founded in 1980, Quantum Corporation (www.quantum.com) is the world's leading storage supplier in five of the seven markets it serves: desktop hard disk drives, tape drives, network attached storage (NAS) appliances, solid state systems and hard disk drives for the emerging personal video recorder (PVR) market. Quantum is also the second largest supplier of mid-range tape automation systems and a leading supplier of high-end hard disk drives. In 1999 Quantum became the first Silicon Valley company to issue tracking stock, replacing its existing common stock with the ticker symbols DSS and HDD, which track the separate performance of the company's DLT and Storage Systems and Hard Disk Drive businesses. Both stocks are traded on the New York Stock Exchange. Selling its products through OEM and distribution channels worldwide, sales for the fiscal year ending March 1999 were $1.3 billion for Quantum's DLT and Storage Systems Group and $3.6 billion for Quantum's Hard Disk Drive Group. Quantum Corp., 500 McCarthy Blvd., Milpitas, Calif., 95035, www.quantum.com, 408-894-4000.