Melita Introduces OpenClient Access Software Development Kit
Melita Sets New Standard For Interoperability of Agent Workstation Solutions
LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 4, 1998-- Building on its commitment to an open systems product
philosophy, Melita(R) International (NASDAQ: MELI - news) introduces Melita OpenClient Access SDK (software
development kit) to help build thin-client and other desktop applications.
OpenClient Access sets a new standard in agent workstation interoperability by opening the Melita product offering to
customers and other partners who require direct access to the system services. OpenClient Access SDK includes a
development environment and a set of Adoptive Interface Components, enabling call center developers to build customized
agent applications using their own development tools. Melita International, provider of integrated customer interaction and
intelligent call management solutions for call centers, made the announcement today at the Computer Telephony '98 trade show
here.
The Melita OpenClient Access components interface with and provide access to the telephony and other services within the
Melita system. Now call center managers have another choice: they can use their own development environment and the
OpenClient Access SDK, or they can use MAGELLAN(TM), Melita's award-winning software platform that enables call
centers to define customer interaction applications in a point-and-click environment. This set of alternatives is also attractive to
value-added resellers (VARs) and system integrators, who often link their applications with customers' existing applications.
Kurt Zimmermann, technical analyst at The Principal Financial Group, a Melita OpenClient user, said, ''OpenClient Access
allows us to use our internal development environment, IBM's VisualAge for Java, to customize our call center solution.
OpenClient Access gives us the power and control we need. And the Melita people have been great to work with.''
''Melita International is the first call center solution provider to open access to many of our internal system resources,'' says
Aleksander Szlam, chairman and CEO of Melita International. ''This continues to demonstrate our philosophy of being an
open company and our commitment to providing our customers and channel partners the capability to integrate their
applications and others with our enterprise solution. OpenClient Access is also the basic building block for Melita's own
thin-client development programs.''
How It Works
Many call centers, especially those with highly-skilled technical resources, prefer to use their own development tools, such as
Java, Visual Basic, C++, PowerBuilder or Delphi(TM) for deploying desktop applications in their call centers. To accomplish
this, they need direct access to enterprise services as well as to Melita's PhoneFrame(R) services. The OpenClient Access
Java Bean and ActiveX components provide such access. These OpenClient Access SDK components support Introspection,
a capability that facilitates the design of desktop client applications by allowing third-party development environments, such as
Visual Basic, to discover events, methods and properties. As services are added to Melita's product offering, these services
are ''discovered'' by the third-party development environment.
The Melita OpenClient Access SDK includes everything a third- party developer needs for interfacing customer applications
to the PhoneFrame environment, including:
-- Java Bean and ActiveX Adoptive Interface Components
providing access to the Melita system services.
-- a user's guide that shows developers how to incorporate the
Java Bean/ActiveX component into their agent applications.
-- a reference manual that provides in complete detail what
services are provided by the Java Bean/ActiveX component.
-- sample client applications in Java, Visual Basic, C++ and
PowerBuilder.
-- software to simulate the PhoneFrame environment to permit
client application development and testing without a connection
to the actual Melita system.
Melita is committed to support Microsoft Windows environments, including Windows(R) 95, NT 3.5 and NT 4.0.
Additionally, any operating environment that supports the Java Virtual Machine may use this application interface.
Melita OpenClient Access SDK general availability is scheduled for the second quarter of 1998.
About Melita
Melita International is a leading provider of integrated customer interaction and intelligent call management systems that enable
businesses to automate their call center activities, enhance telephony-based customer commerce and provide a superior level
of Customer Care(R). Melita International's worldwide customers include, among others, leading organizations in the financial
services, retail, media and communications and service bureau industries. The Company began operations in 1983 and issued
its initial public offering in June 1997. Melita International's web address is melita.com.
NOTE TO EDITORS: This press release contains forward-looking statements relating to product introduction and integration,
functionality and benefits, marketing strategies and product development processes. Such statements are made based on
management's belief as well as assumptions made by, and information currently available to, management, pursuant to the
'safe-harbor' provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. While these statements reflect our best current
judgment, they are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause a change in focus and direction. A discussion of certain
risk factors that may cause actual results to differ from these forward-looking statements can be found in Melita's Registration
Statement Form S-1 and its most recent Form 10-Q, on file with the SEC.
Contact:
Melita International
Maryjane Stout, 770-239-4402
Fax: 770-239-4489
Email: mstout@melita.com |
