Company Press Release
Answers.com Signs Agreement to Provide Online Customer Support to GE Plastics
PASADENA, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May 30, 2000--
Answers.com Inc. and GE Plastics today announced the signing of an agreement under which Answers.com will provide online customer support for GE Plastics.
The agreement was finalized following the successful completion of a beta test started earlier this year. Under a separate master service agreement that was also signed, Answers.com will have an opportunity to work with other GE divisions. Terms of the agreements were not disclosed.
As part of the beta test, Answers.com developed the functionality that allows visitors to GE Plastics Web sites (www.geplastics.com/resins and www.askEdison.com) to ask questions about GE Plastics in ``plain English.'' To ask a question, site visitors simply use the new ``askEdison'' feature, distinguishable by an icon placed throughout the Web site. Immediate responses provide links to relevant information. If no satisfactory response is delivered, site visitors can escalate their question to an e-Technical representative using live chat, send an e-mail to askEdison or search the Web.
``GE Plastics selected Answers.com because of its technology, scalability and ability to customize to our requirements,'' said Gerry Podesta, General Manager of e-Business for GE Plastics. ``AskEdison vastly improves the speed at which our customers get answers and information from our Web site. Giving them a good experience each time they visit us online is critical -- and askEdison really helps make that happen.''
Bill Fogg, Answers.com CEO, said, ``This agreement acknowledges the growth and importance of Web-based customer support and the uniqueness of Answers.com's approach. We share GE Plastics' commitment to innovation in the field of online customer support. We believe our solution is a major improvement for companies of all sizes that need to cost-efficiently respond to customer inquiries. Based on our conversations with both GE and other companies with online customer service priorities, we're certain the market demand for our product is strong.''
Answers.com's technology is one of the most cost-effective and efficient ways for businesses to answer customer questions through its proprietary Answer Retrieval Technology(TM) and AnswerBase(TM). Questions can also be escalated to a company's customer support experts for a personal response, which is then added to the AnswerBase for future inquiries.
GE has made it a priority to migrate its traditional ``brick and mortar'' businesses to new e-business models. In 1999, e-Business became an official GE initiative, joining Six Sigma, Globalization and Services as the key growth strategies for the company. In its first year, GE's e-business initiative yielded more than $1 billion in online sales.
For 2000, the company's e-Business strategic direction is three-fold: ensure that every GE business has a Customer Web Center offering the highest quality service, sales and support online; migrate internal procurement and supplier resources to the Web to take advantage of increased productivity and cost savings; and ongoing development of new technologies and services that will contribute to online sales growth.
Answers.com
Answers.com (www.answers.com) is a provider of online customer service tools that help businesses of all sizes manage inquiry volume, minimize costs and maximize customer satisfaction. Established in 1996 by idealab!, Answers.com was recently acquired and relaunched by Net Shepherd, Inc. (www.netshepherd.com) to target the business-to-business market. NSI is traded on the Canadian Venture Exchange under the symbol WEB.
GE Plastics
GE is a diversified services, technology and manufacturing company with a commitment to achieving customer success and worldwide leadership in each of its businesses. GE operates in more than 100 countries and employs nearly 340,000 people worldwide. 1999 revenues were $112 billion. GE Plastics is a world leader in versatile, high-performance engineered plastics used in the computer, electronics, data storage, office equipment, automotive, building and construction, and other industries. GE Plastics components include GE Silicones, GE Superabrasives, GE Electromaterials, GE Specialty Chemicals and GE Polymerland.
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Contact:
Answers.com
Jennifer Sanchez, 626/817-5652
or
GE Plastics
Jay Pomeroy, 413/448-7481
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