EDISON, N.J. --(Business Wire)-- Jan. 26, 2005 -- UniPress Software, Inc.:

-- Organizations of All Sizes Are Leveraging Footprints and Its Built-in Email Management Features to Channel Service Requests and Control All Aspects of the Problem Resolution Lifecycle

UniPress Software, Inc., a leading provider of web-based service desk automation software targeting the mid-market, today announced that the email management functionality built-in to its FootPrints(R) product line is playing a critical role in helping organizations deliver timely service and support to their internal and external customers. This powerful capability allows organizations to automate multi-channel service and support requests, accommodate larger volumes, and deliver more responsive service. Additionally, it helps agents control, route, and escalate email-based support requests more efficiently while providing users with important notifications and other capabilities to drive self-service.

With FootPrints' advanced email management capabilities, all incoming service and support requests received via email automatically become tickets and are managed through the centralized web-based service desk. In addition, through auto-generated and customizable email notifications, users and groups that submit requests receive personalized alerts and updates allowing them to monitor the status of requests, keeping them informed throughout the problem resolution lifecycle. Email templates can be created within FootPrints to streamline communication and personalize individual and mass emails without any programming.

"For our 2,000-plus customers, many of whom are in the mid-market, the influx of email-based service requests as the initial point of contact has emerged as a top operational challenge," said Mark Krieger, President of UniPress Software. "Our system allows organizations of all sizes to track and manage their incoming email as easily as phone calls or web-based inquiries, and provides a centralized system to deliver responsive service, independent of the channel."

According to industry research firms, email management technology will top the list of many service and support managers' wish lists in 2005 as it quickly emerges as the communication channel of choice for many consumers and business customers.

In a recent report by Gartner Inc. entitled "MarketScope: E-Mail Response Management Systems, 2H04 Update(1)" email is cited as the fastest-growing communication channel for customer service, especially within financial services, consumer packaged goods, insurance industries, and the government. As the volume of e-mail increase, more and more organizations turn to e-mail response management systems (ERMSs) to help them manage the inflow of customer service email.

John Ragsdale, Vice President and Research Director at Forrester Research notes, "By the time you are receiving 1,000 emails a day, it is too late to implement email response management effectively. Organizations should stay ahead of customer demand, and embrace new channels before the deluge hits."

In addition to the customer service and staff efficiency benefits delivered through email management technology, there are also cost savings. Interacting with customers via email costs $16 per incident as opposed to $20 through phone, according to the Help Desk Institute's 2004 Practices Survey. For organizations fielding tens of thousands of support requests per month, the annual savings offered by an effective email management solution can be measured in millions.

"Managing email in the modern service desk era is a two-dimensional problem," said Mr. Krieger. "Not only do organizations need to automate email channels in order to satisfy customers, they must also ensure their service and support agents are armed with the right tools to efficiently manage support emails internally."

With FootPrints, support agents can create tickets directly from email, dynamically process email attachments, and link them to corresponding requests. Also, agents and customers can conduct email conversations that are in turn, automatically tracked to the correct issue. Email notifications are automatically routed to appropriate agents and escalated based on the organization's specific agent, timing, and SLA support requirements through built-in business rule automation features within FootPrints.

"Even if organizations master the email support challenge, they must continue to support phone and other communications channels," said Mr. Ragsdale. "Support interactions will increase on average 20% year over year, so even if self-service or email handles a good portion of requests, these channels cannot handle all of them."

"To ensure a consistently positive customer experience, FootPrints helps companies optimize and automate all their support channels equally well," explained Mr. Krieger. "Whether they need to address email, phone or web-based support, or any combination, they can easily and quickly deploy FootPrints to meet their specific needs."

Pricing & Availability

FootPrints' email management is a built-in feature of the web-based service desk solution. UniPress Software offers its service desk product line in the following versions: FootPrints, FootPrints for eService, FootPrints for Exchange, and the FootPrints Hosting Service. A three-agent FootPrints starter pack is available for $3,995. Additional agent licenses are available starting at $995. Volume, concurrent, and site license pricing is also available. Contact UniPress Software for additional product and pricing information at 1-800-222-0550.

About UniPress Software, Inc.

Headquartered in Edison, New Jersey, UniPress Software, Inc. is a developer of web-based service desk automation software targeting mid-market companies, departments within large enterprise organizations, and small businesses. The company's FootPrints(R) product line, launched in 1996, provides a comprehensive range of capabilities to significantly improve help desk and customer support operations, and is widely used by nearly 2,000 corporate organizations, government offices, and educational institutions worldwide, including Prudential Financial, BHP Petroleum, IBM, Kampgrounds of America, UBS Capital Markets, Hunter Fan Company, the IRS, and the University of Pennsylvania. For more information, contact UniPress at 1-800-222-0550, or via the web at www.unipress.com.

(1)Gartner Report "MarketScope: E-Mail Response Management Systems, 2H04 Update" by Esteban Kolsky. January 6, 2005.

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