Comcast Improves Real-Time Customer Service With New SupportSoft LiveAssist Solution (email this article)

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., Oct. 28 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- SupportSoft (Company Profile, Past Stories, Case Studies), Inc. (Nasdaq: SPRT - News), a leading provider of real-time service management software, and Comcast announced today that Comcast High- Speed Internet has deployed SupportSoft's new LiveAssist(TM) solution to provide faster, high quality broadband customer service through enhanced online chat and Web push functionality.

SupportSoft LiveAssist boosts call center productivity by making online support and communications more effortless for customers and customer service representatives. Using LiveAssist, Comcast averages more than 3,000 chat sessions per day and is able to reach millions of high-speed Internet customers with real-time problem resolution, while at the same time maximizing the productivity of its service representatives. Since deployment of LiveAssist, Comcast's service representatives have significantly increased the number of sessions handled due to the ability of LiveAssist to handle several chats simultaneously.

Research points to the increasing popularity among customers for software solutions like LiveAssist. In a recently published independent report by Zanthus Research, more than 48 percent of 550 broadband customers surveyed would prefer to use online chat, other web-based tools for customer assistance or the provider's online support portal for customer assistance.

"Our customers expect quick answers to their broadband service questions and issues. Many prefer to communicate with a customer service rep via live online chat versus the telephone or other forms of service delivery," said Mitch Bowling, vice president of Operations and Technical Support at Comcast. "With LiveAssist, we are able to enhance service to our customers by extending interaction beyond the typical chat session. LiveAssist creates an environment that allows our service representatives to work directly with more of our customers in real-time."

Comcast's purchase of LiveAssist software integrates new chat functionality with Comcast's other SupportSoft solutions that improve the customer service experience and reduce support costs. SupportSoft's Service Automation Suite(TM) already provides ongoing service and support to Comcast customers, once they are automatically installed with a broadband connection via SupportSoft's SmartAccess(TM). And SupportSoft's HomeNet(TM) software offers an easy solution for pre-qualifying, installing, configuring and receiving ongoing support for a home network.

"A goal of the real-time enterprise is to meet or exceed customer demand through proactive service delivery. Comcast has established itself as a clear leader providing real-time service to its large and rapidly expanding base of broadband subscribers," said Radha Basu, chairman and CEO of SupportSoft. "We are excited that Comcast has chosen SupportSoft's LiveAssist, HomeNet and Support Automation Suite to provide complete, end-to-end solutions for real-time service management."

SupportSoft's LiveAssist

SupportSoft LiveAssist provides highly scaleable, real-time, online chat and web push solutions for call centers and IT help desk organizations. Easy to use, LiveAssist does not require the customer to download software plug-ins or wait in a phone queue. Customers can simply click a button on a company's web site to engage a support representative. Maximizing customer service productivity, LiveAssist is a 100% web-based multi-chat application that allows for real-time chat routing and re-routing based on representative availability.

About Comcast

Headquartered in Philadelphia, Comcast Cable is a division of Comcast Corporation, a developer, manager and operator of broadband cable networks and provider of programming content. Operating in 17 of the United States' 20 largest metropolitan areas, Comcast is one of the leading communications, media and entertainment companies in the world. Providing basic cable, Digital Cable, high-speed Internet and telephone services, Comcast is the company to look to first for the communications products and services that connect people to what's important in their lives. The company's 55,000 employees, in six divisions, serve more than 21 million customers.

About SupportSoft

SupportSoft is a leading provider of real-time service management software designed to accelerate and automate enterprise technical support, customer service and IT infrastructure management. Enterprises that have purchased our products and services include: ADP, Bank of America, Cisco Systems, IBM, Procter & Gamble, Siebel Systems, Sony and Thomson Financial. Managed service providers that have purchased our products to provide outsourced services to enterprises include: Accenture, ACS, CompuCom, CSC, IBM Global Services and Perot Systems. Digital service providers incorporating our software into their service offerings include: Adelphia Communications, BellSouth, Charter Communications, Comcast Communications, Cox Communications, SBC Communications and TeliaSonera. For more information, please visit www.supportsoft.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements are statements that relate to future events and include, but are not limited to, the expected benefits and usage of our products. Forward-looking statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those discussed in these forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: the inability of our software to operate with hardware and software platforms that are used by our customers now or in the future, system failures that may cause an interruption in our customers' ability to use our products or services as well as other risks detailed from time to time in our SEC filings, including those described in the section "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations -- Other Factors Affecting our Business and Operating Results" in our Annual Report on Form 10-K, and Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q. Statements included in this release are based upon information known to SupportSoft as of the date of this release, and SupportSoft assumes no obligation to update information contained in this press release.