Firepond Announces Enhanced Selling Solution for the Insurance Industry(email this article)

MINNEAPOLIS--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 23, 2003--Firepond (Company Profile, Past Stories, Case Studies) (Nasdaq:FIRE - News) a leading provider of configuration and interactive selling solutions announced today the general availability of its Interactive Selling Suite for Insurance, Version 11.0. Designed specifically for health insurance payer organizations, the Interactive Selling Suite for Insurance streamlines the process of selling, enrolling, and ultimately renewing members, whether plans are sold through a direct sales force, agent or broker networks, or via the web. The new release is built on new architecture and adds a new Direct-to-Consumer application.

The new Direct-to-Consumer application enables individual consumers and company representatives to shop for insurance over the internet. The self-service application provides an easy to use, intuitive interface for users to conduct need analysis, select and compare products, generate quotes, and apply for coverage. For carriers the application further streamlines the sales process, provides an effective, low cost sales channel, and can significantly improves customer service, which in-turn increases customer satisfaction and loyalty.

"Competitive pressures continually drive insurance carriers to find new ways to improve operational efficiencies and lower costs. The Direct-to-Consumer application provides insurance carriers with an alternative, low cost sales channel." said Helena Lisachuk, Director of Insurance Practice, "The Interactive Selling Suite for Insurance is flexible enough to support all sales channels utilized by an insurance carrier, extending their ability to sell their plans and policies and increase revenue."

The new architecture based on the J2EE platform dramatically simplifies implementations, upgrades, and allows companies to use industry standard technologies to integrate with and extend the business functionality. The new implementation flexibility enables companies to implement the applications that address their immediate needs and phase in the remaining components as desired. This flexibility reduces implementation time providing companies with a faster return on investment. The new architecture also provides significant improvements for integration and extending functionality. Using industry standard technologies, such as Java and XML, developers can easily integrate Firepond applications with other systems, add new or extend existing business logic, and/or modify user interface elements. Further, modifications are fully insulated from upgrades, significantly minimizing re-work during the upgrades, protecting the investment customers make in system modifications.

In addition to the Direct-to-Consumer application, Firepond's Interactive Selling Suite for Insurance has three other applications that can be implemented independently, or as a comprehensive solution for higher overall efficiency:

Broker Services: A selling interface designed for brokers and internal sales representatives that provides support throughout the sales process including prospect management, product configuration, pricing, rating and quoting, proposals, submissions for enrollment, and renewal notifications.
Enrollment: Allows brokers, agents and sales representatives to electronically submit groups or members for enrollment 24 hours a day - then tracks the progress and status of each prospect. Data is validated upon entry and business rules are immediately applied to eliminate errors.
Renewals: Automates the production of renewal letters with automatic calculation of new rates, checks that business rules have been met, applies product migration rules, and provides alternative product configurations or recommendations.
About Firepond, Inc.

Firepond provides interactive selling and eService software solutions that help companies more profitably acquire and retain customers. The complementary configuration, guided selling, on-line customer service, and response management applications incorporate proven intelligence engines and patented automation technology. Firepond's solutions help drive new revenue streams, increase profitability, and manage customer interactions across all channels throughout the sales and service cycle. Firepond is headquartered in Minneapolis, Minnesota with additional offices in Paris, France and Tokyo, Japan. For additional information about Firepond visit www.firepond.com.

Portions of this release contain forward-looking statements regarding future events and are subject to risks and uncertainties. We wish to caution you that there are some factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results indicated by such statements. These factors include, but are not limited to: economic and other factors affecting the demand for e-business sales and service solutions; market acceptance of Firepond's SalesPerformer and Brightware Product Suites and their components in chosen vertical industries; quarterly fluctuations in operating results attributable to the timing and amount of orders for our products and services; difficulties with the implementation and integration of Firepond products; uncertainty, costs, potential damages associated with material litigation; our ability to attract and retain qualified personnel; our ability to keep pace with changing product requirements; and other risks detailed in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 10-K filed in January and Forms 10-Q filed in March, June, and September, copies of which may be obtained through the SEC's website at www.sec.gov.

Firepond and Firepond product names are trademarks of Firepond, Inc. All other product or company names are the properties of their respective owners.