| [November 12, 2004] |
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Manulife Chooses Pyxis and BlackBerry to Connect Mobile Financial Professionals
WALTHAM, Mass. --(Business Wire)-- Nov. 12, 2004 --
Pyxis continues domination of wireless financial services software market with addition of Manulife USA as mWholesaler customer
Pyxis, a leading provider of innovative wireless software that promotes asset growth for the investment industry, announced today that Manulife USA has chosen Pyxis' mPlatform(R) wireless sales force solution, mWholesaler(R), for its variable annuity wholesalers.
With this solution, Manulife is able to easily connect its mobile sales force with vital customer and corporate information, making both internal and external sales forces more productive and improving ROI for the company's customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Currently, mWholesaler is used by more than 20% of all wholesalers in the United States, making it the leading wireless application within the financial industry.
"We are excited about the use of this technology," said John Egbert, Executive Vice President of Manulife Wood Logan and National Sales Manager of the annuity sales force. "It provides a tremendous amount of information to the field wholesalers allowing them to provide greater levels of service and support to brokers. We are looking to increase the functionality over time."
Manulife has initially rolled out mWholesaler via BlackBerry to support its variable annuity operations in the United States. To support this sales arm, Manulife had invested in powerful Siebel CRM software, but was still faced with the problem of getting CRM information, and up-to-date corporate and product information, to and from its field sales force. To solve this need, Manulife chose a combination of Pyxis' mPlatform solution and the BlackBerry wireless platform from Research In Motion (RIM) (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM).
"Pyxis has been a great solution for us and has given our sales force the ability to be more productive, especially between sales calls," said Mark Rizza, CIO of Manulife USA. "As with any new technology, it took some time for everyone to fully embrace the move to mWholesaler. However once they saw the amount of branch and rep data they could retrieve on the fly, they embraced it and now are looking for even more information to be available on their BlackBerry devices."
Through the rollout of Pyxis' mPlatform and BlackBerry, Manulife's mobile sales force has wireless and offline access to customer sales information, corporate product details and territory metrics, improving sales reps' productivity and freeing up valuable internal sales and management time. Manulife managers and sales reps can more easily add up-to-date information back into Manulife CRM systems, using their BlackBerry handhelds.
"Pyxis is providing a valuable solution that leverages the power of the BlackBerry platform to allow customers to extend their wireless data strategies beyond email," said Mark Guibert, Vice President of Corporate Marketing at Research In Motion. "We are pleased that Manulife has selected BlackBerry and mPlatform to help keep their sales professionals connected and productive while in the field."
"Manulife is another great win for Pyxis and once again shows not only our dominance of the market, but also the trust and confidence that investment leaders have in Pyxis to improve their sales process," said Shane Hughes, CEO, Pyxis. "Wireless solutions such as BlackBerry, together with software designed to specifically meet the unique needs of mobile financial professionals such as mPlatform are providing financial market leaders with a competitive advantage."
About Manulife Financial
Manulife Financial is a leading Canadian-based financial services group serving millions of customers in 19 countries and territories worldwide. Operating as Manulife Financial in Canada and most of Asia, and primarily through John Hancock in the United States, the Company offers clients a diverse range of financial protection products and wealth management services through its extensive network of employees, agents and distribution partners. Funds under management by Manulife Financial and its subsidiaries were Cdn$346 billion (US$274 billion) as at September 30, 2004.
Manulife Financial Corporation trades as 'MFC' on the TSX, NYSE and PSE, and under '0945' on the SEHK. Manulife Financial can be found on the Internet at www.manulife.com.
About Pyxis
Pyxis delivers innovative wireless software that promotes asset growth for the investment industry. Pyxis' mPlatform Solutions provides a suite of industry tailored wireless applications that extend critical business data from existing enterprise systems to the handheld devices demanded by mobile financial professionals. Pyxis' combination of industry focus, technical expertise, and innovative software allows us to deliver effective solutions that solve key business challenges. For more information, contact Pyxis at 781.997.0300 or visit www.pyxisit.com.
The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited.
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