WS, this is the April 29 release that suggested to me that a BCE/Bell-Mpact future was not in the cards.
Montr‚al, April 29, 1998) - Bell Emergis, the division of Bell Canada created to develop software-based
networking and interactive multimedia applications, announced today that it has licensed Open Market's
award-winning TransactT and LiveCommerceT software to provide electronic commerce services.
Bell Emergis, provider of the recently released @CommerceT Solutions, a suite of flexible electronic
commerce services marketed to businesses of all sizes, will use Transact to extend its service offering to
include online cataloguing, order management, and transactions.
Bell Emergis plans to host its business customers' online catalogues, and link them to Transact's powerful
order management, transaction processing, and customer service capabilities. The new service is expected
to go live in summer 1998.
"Transact is exactly the type of network-centric application that Bell Emergis is working very hard to bring
to Canadian businesses," explained Christian Trudeau, Vice-President Electronic Business Solutions, Bell
Emergis. "We needed an industry-proven solution that would allow us to act quickly, help us respond to
market demands, and bring new value-added services online."
"Bell Emergis is a premier example of the new breed of Commerce Service Providers who are extending
their service portfolios to include robust Internet commerce applications for business," commented Gary
Eichorrn, President and CEO of Open Market. "Emergis has done a terrific job of meeting the needs of its
business customers. Providing them with enhanced electronic services is just one more way it is staying
ahead of the competition."
Bell Emergis' @Commerce Solutions provide businesses with a comprehensive and powerful electronic
commerce tool which includes:
A network equipped with the latest security features;
User-friendly, browser-based electronic commerce software including EDI, electronic catalogue,
order processing, payment services, procurement solutions, Web-based EDI;
Integration of existing applications;
Professional services (including project management, training, and rollout to trading partners).
Together, these four components provide an integrated, end-to-end electronic commerce solution that
enables businesses to:
Save time and money by streamlining the buy/sell process;
Process orders faster and more accurately;
Improve customer service and vendor relationships;
Reach new markets and increase revenues;
Stay one step ahead of the competition.
About Transact 4
Open Market's Transact 4 is the latest release of the acclaimed software which is setting the standard for
Internet commerce applications in more than 18 countries. Transact, introduced in 1995, is the pre-eminent
transaction processing, order management, and customer service software for Internet commerce. Transact
provides the commercial backbone for some of the highest profile sites on the Web today such as
SegaSoft's Heat.net, CNET's BuyDirect.com, and Time Inc.'s Pathfinder. The software has also been
adopted by some of the largest telecommunications companies and leading financial services firms which
use it to provide their customers with a low-cost, outsourced Internet commerce solution. These companies,
known as Commerce Service Providers (CSPs) include NTT, BT, First Union National Bank, ICOMs,
France Telecom, Barclays Bank, Bell Emergis and over 20 other organizations.
About LiveCommerce
LiveCommerce enables rapid and easy development, deployment and maintenance of commerce-ready
catalogues on the Web. Features include personalization for customer-specific catalogues, adaptive
navigation including parametric searching, and a flexible authoring environment.
About Bell Emergis
Launched in 1997, Bell Emergis is a new independent business unit of Bell Canada geared at developing
powerful technology solutions. Electronic Business Solutions and Electronic Commerce is an important
component of Bell Emergis. Numbering approximately 500 professionals, this dynamic organization brings
together the most talented software application developers and analysts, network engineers, and public
infrastructure consultants with the sole purpose of creating flexible leading-edge network applications that
respond to and anticipate the needs of business. For more information, please visit the Internet site
www.bell.ca/netcommerce.
About Bell Canada
Bell Canada, the largest Canadian telecommunications operating company, markets a full range of
state-of-the-art products and services to more than seven million business and residential customers in
Ontario and Quebec. Bell is a member of Stentor - the alliance of Canada's major telecommunications
companies. Bell Canada's Web site is located at www.bell.ca.
About Open Market
Founded in 1994, Open Market Inc. (NASDAQ: OMKT) provides high-performance application software
products and professional services that allow its customers to engage in business-to-consumer and
business-to-business Internet commerce, information commerce, and commercial publishing. Among Open
Market's distinguished roster of customers are five of the world's ten largest telecommunications firms and
more than 700 publishers. The company, headquarters in Burlington, Massachusetts, can be reached by
calling 1.888.OPEN.MKT or by visiting www.openmarket.com.
For further information, please contact:
Anne Belliveau
Electronic Commerce Solutions
Bell Emergis
(514) 391-1420
Beth Winkowski
Open Market
Media Contact
(781) 359-7411
Julie Lorigan
Open Market
Investor Contact
(781) 359-7589 |
