ININ Interactive Intelligence Grp., Inc.

Interactive Intelligence Announces Desktop Client and e-Service Enhancements to its Contact Center Suite New Features Ease Deployment and Management, and Offer Greater Flexibility INDIANAPOLIS, May 2 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Interactive Intelligence Inc. (NASDAQ:ININ), a global developer of business communications software, announced enhancements to its award-winning contact center suite -- Customer Interaction Center(R) (CIC). The software upgrade provides broader desktop client support through several new client interfaces, as well as the introduction of enhanced Web self-service and e-mail response management capabilities. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990914/IILOGO ) "Our latest client enhancements were designed for faster deployment, simplified management, and more flexible and efficient communications," said Interactive Intelligence president and chief executive officer, Dr. Donald E. Brown. Long-recognized for its innovative design, the Interactive Intelligence software includes multimedia routing and queuing, speech-enabled interactive voice response, call recording, Web chat, and more, all offered as part of a bundled communications application suite based on open standards and capable of running on both traditional and voice over IP (VoIP) networks. With this latest release, new options to CIC provide client integrations for Microsoft Outlook(R), Microsoft CRM(R), and Microsoft Great Plains(R), along with a new "thin" client version called Interaction Client .NET Edition for zero-effort deployment. The new version of CIC also includes enhancements to its easy-to-use knowledge management system, called e-FAQ(R), which offers automated responses to e-mail and Web inquires. This functionality enables customers to reduce costs by speeding self-service resolution in response to contact center inquiries, thus freeing up agents' time to deal with more complex interactions. "The latest Interactive Intelligence feature enhancements help address today's contact center needs by empowering customers to more rapidly respond to industry trends such as the growing uptake of voice over IP, a rapidly growing remote workforce, and the pressing need for cost-effective mid-market contact center solutions," said Blair Pleasant, president and principal analyst with COMMfusion, a consulting and market research firm specializing in voice/data convergence markets and technologies. Desktop Client Enhancements The latest edition of CIC is pre-integrated with a number of Microsoft's most popular business applications, including Microsoft Outlook, Microsoft Great Plains, and Microsoft CRM. Out-of-the-box screen-pops and IVR integration for Microsoft Great Plains and Microsoft CRM are also available. With these client integrations, users can perform all standard call- handling functions directly from the Microsoft(R) application of their choice, as well as receive screen-pops containing critical caller information. This out-of-the-box functionality is ideal for medium-sized contact centers that require ease of integration with existing applications, thus eliminating the time and cost associated with CTI projects. The enhanced version of CIC also provides integration with Microsoft Live Communications Server(R), which provides its own instant messaging and presence awareness capabilities. This integration enables the two systems to interoperate, which includes the ability for CIC users to view LCS user status, send session initiation protocol (SIP) calls and IM sessions to LCS users, and more. CIC's new Interaction Client .NET Edition includes rich functionality designed for more flexible and efficient communications, such as the ability to configure information views for faster look-ups; enhanced alerts to more easily identify incoming calls; the ability to configure personal rules for customized call-handling; and a personal rules wizard that simplifies customization. Additionally, Interactive Intelligence's "thin" client strategy enables organizations to more quickly and easily deploy its software for large numbers of distributed users by reducing bandwidth requirements and eliminating the need to install software at each desktop. e-Service Enhancements Interactive Intelligence has also enhanced its Web self-service and e-mail response management system, e-FAQ(R). e-FAQ's Web-based authoring interface and linguistic analysis and artificial intelligence techniques were designed to reduce e-mail and Web-based response time; improve response accuracy; improve operational efficiencies; enhance customer service; and reduce costs associated with multi-channel interactions. The latest enhancements to e-FAQ include an auto-detect search option that further increases response accuracy rates; enhancements to Boolean searches for more flexible search options; a Rich Text Editor for simplified knowledge base content authoring; and extended multi-lingual capabilities ideal for multinational companies. The latest versions of CIC and e-FAQ will be made generally available this month, and are offered through Interactive Intelligence's global network of approximately 160 value-added resellers. For more information about CIC, visit http://www.inin.com/Products/cic/cic.asp . For more information about e-FAQ, visit http://www.inin.com/Products/E-faq/e-faq.asp . About Interactive Intelligence Interactive Intelligence Inc. (NASDAQ:ININ) is a global developer of business communications software for IP telephony, contact center automation, unified communications, and customer self-service. The company was founded in 1994 and has approximately 1,500 customers worldwide. Recent awards include Software Magazine's 2004 Top 500 Global Software and Services Companies, and Frost & Sullivan's 2004 Product Innovation Award. Interactive Intelligence employs approximately 350 people and is headquartered in Indianapolis. The company has 12 offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia. Interactive Intelligence can be reached at +1 317.872.3000 or ; on the Web: http://www.inin.com/ . This release contains certain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially are described in the company's SEC filings. Interactive Intelligence Inc. is the owner of the marks INTERACTIVE INTELLIGENCE, its associated LOGO and numerous other marks. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners. Contacts: Christine Holley Director, Market Communications Interactive Intelligence Inc. +1 317.715.8220 Grace Paik The Horn Group +1 415.905.4041 http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/19990914/IILOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Interactive Intelligence Inc. CONTACT: Christine Holley, Director, Market Communications of Interactive Intelligence Inc., +1-317-715-8220, ; or Grace Paik of The Horn Group, +1-415-905-4041, Web site: http://www.inin.com/

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