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NewBold to Manage Customer Service With Astea's ServiceAlliance(R)HORSHAM, Pa., Dec. 18 -- NewBold Corporation, the Virginia- based manufacturer of Addressograph imprinters and CompuRegister point-of-sale (POS) systems, has selected ServiceAlliance® Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software from Astea International Inc. (Nasdaq: ATEA - news) to improve productivity of the company's growing customer service operations. ServiceAlliance will be used to centralize management of service contracts, company- and customer-owned inventories, field service, depot repair, helpdesk and dealer support services, resulting in new operating efficiencies that will lead to higher levels of profitability and customer satisfaction from NewBold's increasing service business.``We evaluated the leading systems and selected ServiceAlliance because it offered the best solutions, features and return on investment throughout our service processes,'' said Charles Walters, NewBold's vice president of operations. ``We wanted a complete service management system that would allow us to operate more efficiently but, more importantly, carry us into the future.'' Among its services, NewBold offers a storage program for customers through which customer-owned equipment is warehoused when not in use and refurbished as necessary before redeployment. There are assets owned by the customer and by NewBold at customer sites as well as at the company's facilities. There are also spares pools and parts exchanges. ``Asset management -- here, on site and in transit -- is critical to our contract administration and inventory and repair tracking. ServiceAlliance was the only system we found that tracks assets to the serial number level, as well as location, operational status and ownership,'' said Walters. The superior asset management can be traced to ServiceAlliance's tight integration of service functions especially in the areas of repair, logistics, and service contracts, and the attention-to-detail given to the processing of Return Material Authorizations (RMAs). A centralized knowledge base and Internet capabilities were two other priorities on NewBold's long list of service management system requirements. ServiceAlliance will allow all of NewBold's service staff to work from a consolidated enterprise database, which will streamline information management, improve service response and reduce costs in all service processes. For example, easy-to-access customer profiles (with contract entitlements), site configurations, equipment histories, open service orders and `question trees' will dramatically reduce helpdesk call handling times and with more problems being resolved on the initial call. With the system's AllianceMobile® option, NewBold's field service staff will also be able to access the database from remote locations. Moreover, ServiceAlliance's field service functionality introduces a number of new productivity tools that will enable NewBold to conduct field activities more efficiently. Field actions can be assigned on the basis of field agents' skills, equipment knowledge and availability. If a NewBold customer prefers service from a particular agent, those wishes can be included in field service scheduling as well. ServiceAlliance's graphic Schedule Board feature will improve balancing workload demands on field staff, and help to coordinate routine periodic maintenance in the field with corrective maintenance actions in the same geographic area. About NewBold Corporation NewBold Corporation is the world leader in the manufacture and sales of Addressograph plastic card imprinters, metal plate embossers, and CompuRegister point-of-sale systems. The company's products are used for a variety of mission-critical information systems applications in healthcare, retail, finance, hospitality, petroleum, travel and equipment manufacturing industries. Further information on the company and its product lines is available on the company's web sites: www.addressograph.com and http://www.compuregister.com About ServiceAlliance ServiceAlliance eCRM software, the 1999 Users Choice Award winner for field service management and remote connectivity, is specially designed for organizations that rely on service for customer retention and revenue generation. ServiceAlliance centralizes all aspects of customer and product service management including helpdesk, field service scheduling and dispatching, repair, contract monitoring, sales and service orders, pricing and quotations, inventory and logistics, billing, process analysis and reporting. System options support web and mobile workforce management solutions, web-based customer self-service, sales and service integration, project management and integration with other enterprise applications. About Astea International Inc. Astea International specializes in service-centric Customer Relationship Management (eCRM) software solutions used by companies in multiple industries to improve productivity and revenue in all customer interaction and field service activities. Astea has over twenty years of service automation experience and supports a global client base. Astea markets its products through direct and indirect sales and services networks throughout North America, Europe and the Asia-Pacific. Astea can be reached by phone at 800-878-4657 and 215-682-2500 and the Web at http://www.astea.com Astea and ServiceAlliance are registered trademarks and AllianceLinks is a trademark of Astea International Inc. All other company and product names contained herein are trademarks of the respective holders. This press release contains forward-looking statements that are made under the ``safe harbor'' provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could materially affect future results. Among these risk factors are possibilities that the companies mentioned in this press release may not purchase licenses for ServiceAlliance, the continuing acceptance of Astea's products, general competitive pressures in the marketplace, and continued overall growth in the customer relationship management solutions industry. Further information regarding these as well as other key risk factors and meaningful cautionary statements that could affect the Company's financial results are included at length in the Company's Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 1999, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Editorial Contact: Gail Ferrari Tattar Cutler-DBC 215-957-0300 gferrari@dbcommunications.net top of page |
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