CHICAGO, Ill., August 1, 2000 - Cisco Systems, Inc., the worldwide leader in networking for the Internet, today announced at the ICCM Call Center Management Conference and Exposition (Booth 643), that its customer contact software platform from the Cisco Internet Communications Software Group (ICSG) has been chosen by leading companies to provide enterprise-wide intelligent contact management by distributing voice and data from multiple channels. With a strong presence in healthcare and financial services, some of these new Cisco customers include BankZip, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, EDS, GE Financial Assurance, Greenland Corporation, Juniper Financial, and Metropolitan Life Insurance Company.

"Clearly the next big thing happening in call centers is the transition to multimedia contact centers. Some companies want it all now, while others are choosing to make the transition in incremental steps," stated Drew Kraus, senior industry analyst with Dataquest/Gartner Group. "In either case, companies recognize that there is a near-term opportunity to differentiate themselves from their competition by making it easier to do business by providing multiple channels of communication."

"The Cisco customer contact software platform delivers a rich set of features that allow companies to interact with their customers through a wide variety of channels including Web, phone, chat, and e-mail," said Eugene Lee, vice president of marketing for the Internet Communications Software Group, Cisco Systems. "Versatility in the way companies communicate with their customers helps build stronger relationships and ensures overall customer satisfaction."

These new customers announced today plan to deploy the Cisco Intelligent Contact Management (ICM) component of Cisco's customer contact software platform. Cisco ICM provides unparalleled intelligent contact management to companies all over the world, representing a vast array of industries from telecom and banking to retail and travel. Other Cisco ICM customers include: Aetna, American Airlines, Citicorp, Compaq, Delta Airlines, First Union National Bank, France Telecom, JC Penney, Lands' End, Sprint, and Telecom New Zealand.

Cisco Customer Contact Software Platform

The Cisco customer contact software platform from ICSG combines intelligent contact management, Web collaboration, and e-mail response management with the strength of Cisco's IP telephony networking solutions. The customer contact software platform integrates a variety of multiple contact channels including Web, phone, chat, VoIP, IVR, fax, and e-mail to support a unified customer experience.

Cisco ICM software, a key component of the customer contact platform, provides enterprise-wide intelligent contact management by distributing voice and data from multiple channels - including IP networks and/or TDM networks, to enterprise resources such as IVR systems, specialized skill agents, and business applications such as CRM and ERP packages. Cisco ICM software combines Pre-Routing and Post-Routing capabilities with an extensive management-reporting system and supports distributed fault tolerance to ensure the mission-critical reliability needed for customer interaction. Solutions are provided for single-site, multi-site, and network-integrated deployments. Additional functionality includes:

• Rich CTI capabilities - by unifying contact center resources from the network to the desktop, the CTI component of Cisco ICM delivers an integrated set of voice and data for presentation to the targeted agent's desktop.

• Distributed and remote agent support - Cisco's ICM software can provide CTI, contact-distribution, and reporting capabilities to branch-office, SOHO agents and knowledge workers throughout the enterprise.

• Customer Profile Routing - Cisco's ICM software can distribute the sources of data available for making contact-based routing decisions and for populating agent desktop applications to more effectively segment customers and determine the optimal destination for each contact which ultimately improves customer interaction and satisfaction.