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H&R Block Selects ServiceWare to Provide Online Self-Service for Customers and EmployeesOAKMONT, PA – October 10, 2000 – ServiceWare Technologies Inc., (Nasdaq: SVCW), a leading provider of Web-based solutions for enterprise service and support, today announced that H&R Block (NYSE: HRB) has purchased ServiceWare’s eService Suite 3.0 to increase service center productivity and improve customer satisfaction. H&R Block plans to make self-service an option for customers wanting to access tax and financial services online, as well as employees with technical questions on the company’s proprietary software applications.ServiceWare’s eService Suite will help H&R Block provide high quality customer service to its online clients and provide its own associates with a valuable online resource tool. Based on ServiceWare’s patented Cognitive Processor, a self-learning and self-organizing technology, eService Suite will enable H&R Block to build a knowledge base for its proprietary software application and share that information with service center agents and field associates over the company Intranet. Additionally, a knowledge base of tax and financial information will be made available to customers on the Web. “ServiceWare’s eService solution ensures that the knowledge we gather from each interaction can be stored and replicated for the benefit of our employees and Web-based clients who prefer self-service,” said Bryan Digiorgio, vice president of service at H&R Block. “Our agents and customers will now be able to resolve their service questions faster because the Cognitive Processor will deliver the most relevant solution based on previous inquires.” Seasonal Support Web-based self-service will increase employee efficiency and improve customer satisfaction during H&R Block’s surge of business in tax season. Previously, various last minute state and federal tax code updates to H&R Block software led to additional service inquiries, which the “Frequently Asked Questions” section on the Web site could not answer. eService Suite’s self-learning capability will now give customers access to dynamic FAQs and their answers that change in real-time based on issues that customers are currently facing. Moreover, H&R Block hires approximately 700 additional call center agents to deal with the increased volume of service requests during the tax season. eService Suite’s ability to intelligently manage and disseminate knowledge empowers both new and returning service center agents to resolve incoming service calls faster. H&R Block will also be able to retain valuable intellectual capital even when agents leave, and apply this knowledge to regular service inquires throughout the year. Integration and Implementation “With H&R Block’s evolution into a year-round financial services company, an intelligent service solution is vital to maintaining an efficient, high-quality support environment,” said Mark Tapling, CEO and president of ServiceWare. “Offering self-service to customers via the Web enables our customers to leverage their investments in existing call center and CRM applications, with the ability to incorporate additional communication channels—be it live voice, email or chat—as customer needs dictate.” ServiceWare’s professional services organization will implement eService Suite over the next few months to integrate seamlessly with H&R Block’s current CRM application from Clarify. About H&R Block H&R Block Inc. is a diversified company with subsidiaries providing a wide range of financial products and services. This year, H&R Block served 19.2 million taxpayers – more than any other company – through its more than 10,000 offices located primarily in the United States, Canada, Australia and the United Kingdom. H&R Block served another 1.8 million tax clients through its award-winning software program, Kiplinger TaxCut®, and through its new online tax preparation services. H&R Block Financial Advisors member NYSE, SIPC, offers investment services and securities products. H&R Block Mortgage Corporation and Option One Mortgage Corporation offer a full range of home mortgage products. RSM McGladrey Inc. is a national accounting, tax and consulting firm with 100 offices nationwide, as well as an affiliation with 550 offices in 75 countries as the U.S. member of RSM International. Quarterly results and other information are available on the company’s web site at http://www.hrblock.com. About ServiceWare ServiceWare is a leading provider of Web-based solutions for enterprise service and support, which enable organizations to win on service in the incredibly competitive world of eBusiness. ServiceWare delivers a comprehensive, integrated family of eService solutions that enable organizations to easily provide customers with fast, accurate answers to inquiries across all touch points – Web, email, phone, fax or in-person. Based on ServiceWare’s robust knowledge base and patented Cognitive Processor™, ServiceWare’s eService Suite enables customers to build service destinations for eBusiness. RightAnswers.com, a Web-based knowledge portal, gives the end user direct access to ServiceWare’s Knowledge Channels, which provide technical support knowledge from leading technology companies including Microsoft, Novell and 3Com, and serves as a leading single source for fast, accurate IT solutions. ServiceWare customers represent a cross-section of industry leaders in the financial services, technology, manufacturing, healthcare, entertainment, education and government sectors. More than 4000 organizations have implemented ServiceWare eService solutions including Pfizer, Lucent Technologies, Marriott International, Fleet Services, Stream International, Texas Instruments, Ingram-Micro, John Deere and Bear Stearns. ServiceWare is the recipient of the prestigious CRM Excellence Award 2000, and was also named one of the “Top 100 Companies to Watch” by KM Magazine. Learn more today by visiting ServiceWare’s Web site at http://www.serviceware.com or call 800-572-5748. eService Suite, Cognitive Processor and RightAnswers.com are trademarks of ServiceWare Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks are properties of their respective owners. Statements in this press release that are not historical facts, including those statements that refer to ServiceWare’s plans, prospects, expectations, strategies, intentions, hopes and beliefs, are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based on information available to ServiceWare today, and ServiceWare assumes no obligation to update these statements as circumstances change. There are risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the forward-looking statements, including, without limitation, failure in customers’ widespread adoption and use of the ServiceWare products, fluctuations in customer demand, use of the Web as a delivery vehicle for customer support solutions, risks resulting from new product introductions and customer acceptance of new products, rapid technological change, risks associated with competition, continued growth in the use of the Internet, ServiceWare’s ability to retain and increase revenue from existing customers and to execute agreements with new customers, and ServiceWare’s ability to attract and retain qualified personnel. Risk factors are described in more detail in ServiceWare’s prospectus dated August 24, 2000, which is included as part of its Registration Statement on Form S-1, filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Editorial Contact: Alison Fischer The Horn Group 415-905-4033 afischer@horngroup.com top of page |
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