Multinational Customers Now Have Access to Street Level Australian Maps;
Enhanced Analysis and Management Applications Increase the Power of Web,
Wireless and Speech Locator
SUNNYVALE, Calif., July 15 --
Vicinity Corporation (Nasdaq: VCNT), the leading provider of enterprise
location-based services, today launched the latest version of its Vicinity
Location Server(SM) (VLS), Version 3.1. VLS 3.1 delivers significant value to
global, multi-location retailers, distributors, manufacturers and service
providers, making it even easier for their customers to find the closest
outlet, resulting in increased revenues at a dramatically lower cost than call
center services.
Major new features include Vicinity Location Customizer(SM), a service
that allows customers to easily manage and deliver location specific
information. Street level maps with address level accuracy have been added for
Australia, furthering the company`s commitment to coverage in Asia Pacific.
Vicinity Location Analyzer, which allows customers to easily overlay the
geographic location of their outlets with other data sets such as the location
of prospects, was significantly enhanced as well.
"Vicinity continues to improve and broaden services designed to enhance
the ability of businesses, governments and agencies to market the local
availability of their products and services," said Chuck Berger, president and
CEO of Vicinity Corporation. "VLS 3.1 allows our global customers to maximize
their revenue by delivering location specific information, easily compare the
location of their outlets with the locations of prospects and customers, and
broadens our quality coverage to include Australia."
Commented Mike McGuire, research director with Gartner G2, "What will
speed the uptake of location-based services is integrating location
information with context, extending the value of location information beyond
maps and driving directions. Enterprises need tools that let them turn
location information into a strategic asset -- an asset that can be used to
augment existing marketing and sales programs while creating entirely new
competitive tools for the future."
Powerful Applications: Location Customizer and Location Analyzer
Vicinity customers can now take advantage of two new enhanced services to
further tailor and analyze their location data. Location Customizer enables
local site managers to modify their own store locator information, such as
contact details, product listings and promotions. Their modifications are
reflected instantly on the corporate store locator, and the application
produces dynamically generated Web pages for each store using a
corporate-branded template. This allows global retail and service
organizations to manage and protect a global brand image while providing the
ability to deliver marketing messages tailored to individual locations.
Likewise, Location Customizer enables the corporate office to easily upload
and update store contact information. It also provides corporate with a
greater view into what is being sold through the channel, including the
ability to search and retrieve more accurate site data for better
decision-making and insight into local operations.
For example, a consumer electronics manufacturer with thousands of dealers
can use Location Customizer to allow each dealer to specify hours of
operation, local events and promotions, and products carried. In turn, the
corporate office can see the product mix at each location. Finally, the
consumer can use the store locator to find the outlet that carries the exact
product they`re seeking or take advantage of localized promotions or events.
VLS 3.1 significantly enhances Location Analyzer, a service that allows
Vicinity customers to compare the location of their outlets with the locations
of their prospects, customers or competitors. For instance, a large hotel
chain can compare its locations with those of a potential national corporate
account, or a rental car company can personalize mail campaigns with special
discount coupons from each recipient`s closest branch. The new Overlay Map is
particularly powerful because it plots store/branch locations on the same map
as the comparison data set. An inventory feature has also been added, with
complex query and filtering logic, to allow organizations to report the number
of records for a given attribute, such as the number of ATMs in California.
Location Analyzer also improves business processes -- such as RFP`s and store
distribution analysis -- and streamlines customer service calls by determining
the closest location.
Asia Pacific Expansion: Australia Street Level Coverage
VLS 3.1 expands Vicinity coverage to include street level maps covering
100% of the population of Australia. Recognized as having the best quality
coverage worldwide, Vicinity`s Australian maps continue that tradition,
delivering high-quality maps with address level accuracy. The Australia
coverage supplements the city level coverage available in the rest of Asia
Pacific for cities with populations of more than 5,000. Now, multi-national
corporations with locations in Australia can add these maps to their locators,
improving customer satisfaction and driving more business to their Australian
location.
Additional 3.1 Enhancements
Additional improvements to VLS in this product release include:
* VLS Console -- The VLS Console is the centralized user interface for
customer access to Vicinity services. Improvements have been made to
the user management and access control functions, enhancing the range
of customer self-administration tools.
* VLS Reports -- Customers have access to more robust usage and location
reports, including reports based on individual IP, address entry, and
zip code searches by day.
* VLS API -- In addition to significant enhancements to the Web and
speech APIs, customers can now reference the wireless API for deploying
Vicinity`s services on PDAs, pagers, phones and other mobile devices.
Vicinity`s Location Server 3.1 is available now from Vicinity. Current
customers will be automatically upgraded to the VLS 3.1 platform.
About Vicinity Corporation
Vicinity Corporation is a leading provider of Enterprise Location-Based
Services to Global 2000 companies across Web, wireless and speech platforms.
Backed by patented technology, Vicinity`s suite of services includes the
Vicinity Location Server(SM) along with a comprehensive portfolio of
application services and application programming interfaces (APIs) that embed
location intelligence deep within existing enterprise applications.
Vicinity`s customers include Bank of America, Best Western International,
Gap, Hilton Hotels Corporation, Lexus, McDonald`s, Pizza Hut, Starwood Hotels
& Resorts Worldwide, Taco Bell, and The Home Depot. Vicinity was established
in 1995 and is headquartered in Sunnyvale, California.
Vicinity(R) is a registered mark and Vicinity Location Server(SM) is a
service mark of Vicinity Corporation. All other names or product names
are trademarks or service marks of their respective companies.
This news release contains statements of a forward-looking nature relating
to the future events or the future financial results of Vicinity Corporation.
Investors are cautioned that such statements are only predictions and that
actual events or results may differ materially. In evaluating such statements,
investors should specifically consider the various factors that could cause
actual events or results to differ materially from those indicated from
forward-looking statements. Including the matters set forth in Vicinity
Corporation`s reports and documents filed from time to time with the
Securities and Exchange Commission.
CONTACT:
Katie Greene, Senior Public Relations Manager
Vicinity Corporation
+1-408-543-3088
kgreene@vicinity.com
Dani Kenison of Fleishman-Hillard
+1-619-237-7726
kenisond@Fleishman.com
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