Mustang Software Wins Playboy Contract
Playboy Implements Internet Message Center to Increase Customer
Satisfaction for E-Mail Sales and Service Transactions
BAKERSFIELD, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 24, 1999--Mustang Software, Inc.
(NASDAQ:MSTG - news), the leading provider of e-mail management solutions, today announces that Playboy (NYSE:PLA - news) has
selected Mustang's award-winning Internet Message Center (IMC) to manage customer sales and support e-mail transactions for its
Playboy.com, Playboy's CyberClub, Collector's Choice Music and Critics' Choice Video properties. The world's leading international
multimedia entertainment company, Playboy will leverage IMC to provide consistent, concise, and thorough sales, customer service and
support via e-mail for its diverse group of online properties. These properties provide Playboy products, services, music, and videos to
customers worldwide over the Internet.
Lately, an increasing number of reports detailing how poorly most companies respond to their customers' inquiries via e-mail have been
published. For example, Jupiter Communications, a media research firm in Greenwich, Connecticut recently stated that customer
satisfaction among Internet shoppers had fallen to 74% at the end of 1998, a drop of 14% since July. With a growing number of consumers
relying on the web to research products and make purchases, new methods of supporting these consumers must be adopted in order to
realize continued success of e-commerce initiatives. Playboy shows how it's done right.
Playboy Managing E-Mail Customer Service and Support with IMC
Playboy has integrated IMC with its call center operations, which provides sales, service, and support for Playboy Magazine, the Playboy
Catalog, the Playboy Online Store, Collectors' Choice Music, and Critics' Choice Video operations of Playboy's Catalog Division.
Playboy's service representatives utilize IMC's Agent Add-in for Outlook to manage e-mail transactions natively within their existing
Microsoft Outlook collaboration and messaging clients.
Mustang Services, Mustang Software's professional services team, managed the turnkey implementation of Playboy's IMC solution. Over a
5-day project timeline, the Services team developed custom applications for Playboy.com, CyberClub, Collectors' Choice Music and
Critics' Choice Video properties while integrating IMC within Playboy's Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT - news) Exchange and Outlook
architecture. Additionally, the implementation provided complete investment protection for Playboy's existing e-mail, sales and customer
service infrastructure.
''With the tremendous amount of traffic Playboy's online properties receive, we are honored they selected IMC to manage the e-mail sales,
customer service and support aspects of their business,'' said Chris Rechtsteiner, executive vice president of Mustang Software. ''Our
Services Team provided a completely custom, rapid implementation enabling Playboy to maintain a focus on its core business -- sales,
service and support -- while providing superior Internet-based customer satisfaction.''
About Playboy
Playboy Enterprises, Inc. is an international multimedia entertainment company that publishes editions of Playboy magazine around the
globe; creates programming for Playboy TV networks and home video distribution around the world; operates a direct marketing business,
including Critics' Choice Video, Collectors' Choice Music, Playboy and Spice catalogs and Web sites; markets Playboy-branded consumer
products sold worldwide; operates Playboy Online, which includes the Playboy.com and Playboy CyberClub Web sites; and is reentering
the gaming business with the opening of the Playboy Casino and Beach Hotel on the Greek island of Rhodes.
About Internet Message Center
Mustang's Internet Message Center (IMC) is an intelligent e-mail management system that provides sophisticated management capabilities
for e-mail workflow in mission-critical, high-volume call center operations. IMC enables companies to manage incoming corporate and
customer e-mail as it manages its inbound phone calls -- with logic, responsibility, structure, real-time management, and detailed reporting.
IMC is designed with a modular architecture to support seamless integration with back-office and front-office applications and databases,
enterprise knowledgebases, workforce management solutions, and Computer Telephony Integration (CTI) Middleware applications for
''screen pops'' and multimedia blended queuing to customer service representatives.
Internet Message Center was named ''Best of Show'' by both Call Center Service News and CTI magazine at ICCM in September 1998,
''Best of Show'' by Call Center magazine at CT Demo in November 1997, ''Best of Show'' by Computer Telephony magazine at CT Expo
in March 1998 and has been named ''Product of the Year'' by Computer Telephony, C@LL Center Solutions, Call Center, CTI, and ISP
Today magazines.
About Mustang Software, Inc.
Founded in 1986, Mustang Software, Inc. delivers creative e-mail management solutions through a combination of the company's unique
products and services, its unparalleled e-mail management experience and expertise and world-class alliance partnerships. Mustang
presently counts more than 150 IMC customers worldwide including 3Com (NASDAQ:COMS - news), GTE (NYSE:GTE - news), Lucent
Technologies (NYSE:LU - news), Playboy (NYSE:PLA - news), The U.S. Mint, Time Warner New Media (NYSE:TWX - news) and
Victoria's Secret (NYSE:IBI - news).
Mustang Software's corporate headquarters is located at 6200 Lake Ming Road, Bakersfield, CA 93306 with offices in Chicago, IL and
Washington, D.C. Inquiries can be addressed via voice, 661/873-2500; fax, 661/873-2599; and e-mail, info@mustang.com; or by visiting
Mustang Software on the Web at mustang.com.
Contact:
Mustang Software Inc., Bakersfield
Jim Harrer, 805/873-2561
jim.harrer@mustang.com
or
S&S Public Relations Inc.
Michelle Strykowski, 415/956-1180
michelle@sspr.com
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