Media contacts:
Mark Hatfield, Jr.
Public Relations Counsel
for Xchange, Inc.
(917) 449-9339
hato@mindspring.com
Chet Dalzell
Harte-Hanks, Inc.
212) 520-3232
chet_dalzell@harte-hanks.com
-Relationship will enable select Harte-Hanks customers greater analytics,
real-time decision making and increased customer data management
capabilities-
SAN ANTONIO, TX, and BOSTON, MA - July 30, 2002 - Harte-Hanks, Inc.,
(NYSE:HHS) and Xchange, Inc., (Nasdaq:EXAP) today announced an agreement to
extend their global strategic alliance and bundle the latest generation
Xchange 8 software solution with the Harte-Hanks AllinkTM Xpert CRM
offering. Under the terms of a four-year contract, Xchange will provide
technology and service for its most current, best-of-breed platform of data
management, analytics and reporting, to Harte-Hanks which will continue to
package and resell it - combining Xchange 8 with its own array of CRM
software and services called Allink Xpert.
AllinkTM Xpert is a fully integrated database software solution that is
designed to refine customer data and precise campaign results to enable and
deliver highly targeted cross-channel marketing campaigns, analytic
decision support and advanced modeling and reporting. This
open-architecture solution now will incorporate the Xchange 8 CRM solution
by Xchange, Inc. as well as the customer data management (CDM) capabilities
of Harte-Hanks. In effect, Allink Xpert leverages the combined
professional services, CRM expertise and ongoing support resources of both
companies.
"We are very pleased to announce this deal with Harte-Hanks," said J. Chris
Wagner, president and CEO of Xchange, innovators in helping businesses
capture more profit in each customer interaction. "Our technologies are
exceedingly complementary and the new package will provide users with
unmatched capabilities, accountabilities and provable ROI [return on
investment]. It is especially gratifying to have an existing client
express their confidence in us with an order to upgrade and we are thrilled
to be asked to grow with them," he added.
"Xchange has been a solid technology partner for us and the expansion to
include Xchange 8 was a natural evolution for us both," said Richard
Hochhauser, president & chief executive officer, Harte-Hanks. "When we
announced our alliance early last year, we sought a partner with both
long-term commitment and a vision for CRM service and delivery. This
Harte-Hanks-Xchange relationship will give global marketers in various
vertical markets the best tools to reach their customers more personally,
more informed, and more effectively through every channel they use."
In addition to bundling their software and other Harte-Hanks services,
Xchange and Harte-Hanks will cooperate in a joint training and education
program designed to enhance customer service before and after the sale.
Service support options include an extended-hour help desk and a vertical
market application team to support the engagement.
Allink Xpert, powered by Xchange 8, provides comprehensive real-time
decision-making for online and offline campaigns. In addition, use of the
Harte-Hanks Trillium Software SystemŽ for data quality provides the
mechanism to construct a 360-degree view of a customer`s relationship
across the enterprise. Using this 360-degree view, the analytics
consulting practice of Harte-Hanks delivers world-class data mining and
predictive analytics services as part of the Allink Xpert solution. This
enables a company to construct the right offer, through the right channel
at the right time.
According to Wagner, Xchange 8 provides a platform to automate these
campaigns and most importantly, Xchange 8 completes the process by enabling
Allink Xpert to provide detailed ROI reporting that allows an organization
to refine campaign tactics based on live results.
"The CRM marketplace is alive and growing. This deal is evidence that both
Xchange and Harte-Hanks are focused on growth, serving our customer bases,
and building strong businesses," Wagner said.
About Xchange
Xchange solutions enable large global companies to lower costs and maximize
profits by Capturing Value in Play through continuous customer conversation
across all channels. Xchange 8 features the depth and open architecture
large companies require to extract more value from their existing CRM
investments by synchronizing online and offline multi-channel customer
campaigns that are integrated with call centers and all other customer
touch-points in real-time. This smarter, analytic approach to each
customer interaction delivers strategic customer insights and profits. For
more information on Xchange or to learn about our customer-focused software
and services solutions, visit our Web site at www.xchange.com.
About Harte-Hanks
Harte-Hanks, Inc. (NYSE:HHS), San Antonio, TX, is a worldwide, direct and
interactive services company that provides end-to-end customer relationship
management (CRM) and related marketing services solutions to a host of
consumer and business-to-business marketers. Harte-Hanks and its CRM
integrated solutions use technology as the enabler to capture, to analyze
and to disseminate customer and prospect data at all points of contact. Its
customer-centric models allow the company to be the overall solutions
provider for driving traffic to a Web site, call/contact center, or
brick-and-mortar location. With premier specialized offerings - Web page
design to e-care, desktop database capabilities to systems integration,
personalized mail to e-mail, proprietary and open-solution software
products to application service provider (ASP) solutions - Harte-Hanks
provides practical implementation of technology and understands the needs
of clients and their customers to deliver best-of-breed solutions. Visit
the Harte-Hanks CRM solutions Web site at www.harte-hankscrm.com or call
(800) 456-9748.
Note to Editor: Harte-Hanks, Trillium Software System and the Harte-Hanks
logo are registered trademarks of Harte-Hanks, Inc. Xchange, the Xchange
logo, Relationships are good. Profits are better. and Capturing Value in
Play are trademarks or registered trademarks of Xchange, Inc. All other
product or company names mentioned are used for identification purposes
only, and may be trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.
Copyright Xchange, Inc., 2002 All rights reserved.
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