SAN JOSE, CA, February 20, 1996 -- Cisco Systems, Inc., the leading globalsupplier of internetworking solutions, and Verity, Inc., a leading providerof search-and-retrieval applications for the enterprise and the Internet,today announced a collaborative effort resulting in the integration ofVerity's topic(tm) Internet and CD-ROM publishing software with Cisco'sfamily of interactive electronic services for its customers, partners, andemployees.
Using Verity's topic technology, Cisco has implemented a consistent, WorldWide Web-style interface for most of its interactive electronic services,including Web sites and CD-ROMs used for documentation, training andmarketing.
Cisco uses its Web site extensively for customer support, resolving as manyas 130,000 inquiries per month without human intervention. The same Website is used to distribute company news and product information tocustomers, partners, employees and prospects.
Cisco's Web sites and most of its CD-ROMs share a common look and feel,including the search-and-retrieval capabilities provided by Verity. Byusing Verity's topicINTERNET SERVER, Cisco has been able to put all productdocumentation on CD-ROMs, making it easier for customers to quickly findinformation and also saving millions of dollars in printing, storage, anddistribution costs.
"Cisco is a front-runner in harnessing the power of electronic media andsearch-and-retrieval technology for mass distribution of vitalinformation," said Verity chairman and CEO Philippe Courtot. "Cisco'scustomer-centric priorities are reflected in how it applies these tools."
"We chose Verity for the quality and functionality of itsInternet/publishing solutions, its high-quality search engine technology,and its responsiveness to us as a customer and joint developer," said ChrisSinton, senior manager of interactive marketing at Cisco Systems.
Verity and Cisco have co-developed the Verity topicCD-WEB PUBLISHER productto bring topicINTERNET SERVER capabilities to the desktop. Cisco's CD-ROMproducts use an embedded topic CD-WEB PUBLISHER to provide advancedsearch-and-retrieval capabilities across Microsoft Windows, Macintosh andUNIX systems. Because topicCD-WEB PUBLISHER is integrated withtopicINTERNET SERVER, customers can easily browse Cisco's Cisco Connection Documentation or theWeb Server for either historical or real-time information, and downloadspecific information relevant to their needs.
With Verity's topicSEARCH engine as a key element of Cisco's electronicinformation dissemination, customers gain the ease of Web-style searchesand search results as well as freedom of choice among platforms.Information searches can span multiple formats, including Hypertext MarkupLanguage (HTML), Portable Document Format (PDF) files for Adobe Acrobat,and 50 word-processing and other formats.