Chordiants Dialog Interaction Server changes how web sites are designed and used

Chordiant Software Inc. today announced Dialog Interaction Server, a general-purpose web interaction solution that speeds the deployment of engaging and dynamic web interactions.

According to the Boston Consulting Group, more than 65 percent of online transactions are abandoned before purchase because it is too difficult to complete transactions on many web sites. Chordiant is focused on increasingly higher thresholds of customer satisfaction and loyalty in cyberspace by providing new technology that improves Web site useability. Better useability means fewer frustrating web experiences that remind users the competition is just one click away.

Ricky Kapur, general manager, Asia Pacific, Chordiant says, The ability to acquire new customers online, coupled with the reduction in operating costs by providing self-service web operations is significant to an organisations bottom line. Yet when a prospect has a bad web experience, he or she is very unlikely to return to the frustrating site and to do business with the organisation, resulting in the company losing the opportunity to sell its products and services to a potentially well-qualified prospect. Unfortunately, a lot of web sites score poorly when measured in terms of useability.

Chordiants Dialog Interaction Server changes this. Companies can now expect their web sites will serve as a comprehensive and result-oriented selling agent, a service agent and an information management agent for their customers. Technologies like Dialog Interaction Server can help companies attain high-quality end-user experiences on their web sites, resulting in a greater degree of success for the company. To this end, the addition of Dialog Interaction Server helps round out Chordiants charter to provide solutions that build intelligent relationships with individual customers across the enterprise, no matter the customer touch point.

JX Architecture speeds applications development time
Unlike other out-of-the-box web interaction development solutions, Dialog Interaction Server is based on Chordiants JX Architecture, which provides

native support for Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) and XML software standards incorporated in many enterprises today. The JX Architecture-based Dialog Interaction Server enables organisations to more rapidly and effectively create, deploy and maintain interactions for complex processes on the web using a standards-based framework that significantly speeds development time.

JX Architecture is Chordiants implementation of the Chordiant Intelligent Customer Interaction Management (ICIM) platform and Chordiant Intelligent Business Services on a J2EE platform, utilising XML as a fundamental internal plumbing element. The JX Architecture allows developers to code at a higher level of abstraction than just at J2EE, meaning developers can work with Chordiants solutions and XML format data in application pure Java, which augments application development and deployment.

Enterprise wide CRM solution
Chordiants enterprise-based CRM software is designed to help companies keep track of their customers and boost revenues by increasing customer loyalty. No matter how consumers choose to communicate with customers enterprises, the Chordiant Unified CRM Solution provides a real-time, single view of each customer, and a consistent, personalised process for every interaction, resulting in higher rates of customer satisfaction and loyalty.

Chordiants latest CRM offering, Dialog Interaction Server, is designed to consistently improve the effectiveness and efficiency of customers, prospects, partners and employees who are using the Web to interact with a business. These web interactions range from selecting, configuring and purchasing products and services, as well as the ongoing servicing of customers, partners collaborating on projects, parties bidding on Request for Proposals all the way to employees interacting with content management systems and business processes.

Marketed as both a stand-alone web interaction solution and as a complement to all of the Chordiant CRM products, Dialog Interaction Server enables the deployment of more dynamic, engaging web interactions to increase close rates, which, in turn, maximises revenue, maximises customer acquisition and reduces selling costs. Additionally, Dialog Interaction Server also makes it faster and easier to create, deploy and maintain high-level Web interactions to reduce system development cost, speed system deployment and reduce ongoing maintenance costs.

Poor useability negatively impacts customer acquisition by causing a prospect to abandon a transaction, but it also increases costs of the support and service centres within an organisation. If a prospect submits an incomplete or inaccurate form, customer relations staff within the company must now become involved in


correcting and re-submitting the transaction, provided they havent left for the competition, which, again, severely impacts the bottom line, says Ricky Kapur.

Good useability key to web design
Dialog Interaction Server helps facilitate the creation of good useability in web design, changing the way a web site can be designed to greatly enhance end-user experiences. Through dynamic behaviour, meaning the web site reacts in real-time to end-user selections, actions and entries, as well as real-time validation of data and streamlined business processes, Chordiants Dialog Interaction Server goes beyond what has been considered cutting-edge in Web design and process flow.

About Dialog Interaction Server
Chordiant recently acquired the foundation technology for Dialog Interaction Server in an asset purchase from ActionPoint Inc. for $7.2 million in cash and stock. Customers for the solution to date include: InsureZone.com, Go Save on Freight (GOSOF.com), 1EXECStreet, Michigan Gaming Control Board and Silas Technologies.

Dialog Interaction Server features a runtime engine that manages the merging and delivery of dialogs to the browser; manages mid-session connectivity for validation and population of content; and manages the export of an XML instance document to the enterprise. The customisation tool for Dialog Interaction Server, called Dialog Designer, provides a graphical development environment for the rapid creation of customised, dynamic web dialogs. Dialog Interaction Server fits into the Chordiant ICIM platform.

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About Chordiant Software, Inc.
Heavily represented by the financial services, telecommunications and travel industry sectors, Chordiants clients typically have more challenging environments for e-Selling and e-Servicing, due to the complexity of decisions involved in completing a purchase and the higher average monetary value of such transactions.

Chordiant Software, Inc. (www.chordiant.com) delivers a Unifying Customer Relationship Management (CRM) solution based on Chordiants branded platform strategy, the Intelligent Customer Interaction Management (ICIM) platform.

Chordiants ICIM platform provides highly scalable building blocks for developing and integrating flexible CRM solutions into customers existing enterprise-wide systems.
No matter how consumers choose to communicate with the enterprisethrough branch locations, Web, e-mail, telephone, or wireless access the Chordiant Unified CRM Solution
provides a real-time, single view of each customer and a consistent, personalized process for every interaction. It includes a comprehensive business process engine, which allows companies to implement best business practices across multiple touchpoints.

As a result of Chordiants sophisticated Marketing Automation Business Services, marketers can maximize their ROI through the creation, execution and refinement of sophisticated direct marketing initiatives that span both traditional and online channels. Chordiant empowers high-value contacts designed to retain customers, grow revenues and drive profits during every contact.

Headquartered in Cupertino, Calif., Chordiant maintains offices in Boston;
Chicago; Dallas; Manchester, New Hampshire; New York; London and Brentford,
U.K.; Amsterdam; Paris; Munich; Frankfurt, Sydney and Melbourne, Australia.

SAFE HARBOR
This news release includes forward-looking statements that are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause actual results or outcomes to differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements in this release are generally identified by words such as believes, anticipates, plans, expects, will, would, and similar expressions which are intended to identify forward-looking statements. There are a number of important factors that could cause the results of Chordiant to differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements, including, among others, potential difficulties in the assimilation of operations, strategies, technologies, personnel and products of acquired
companies and technologies, the impact of perceived or actual weakening of economic conditions on customers' and prospective customers' spending on Chordiant software and services; quarterly fluctuations in Chordiants revenues or other operating results; failure by Chordiant to meet financial expectations of analysts and investors, including failure resulting from significant reductions in demand from earlier anticipated levels; risks related to market acceptance of Chordiants products; customization and deployment delays or errors associated with Chordiant products; impact of long sales and implementation cycles for certain Chordiant products; reliance by Chordiant on a limited number of customers for a majority of its revenues; Chordiants need to retain and enhance business relationships with systems integrators and other parties; Chordiants use in its products of third-party software; activities by Chordiant and others regarding protection of intellectual property; and competitors' release of competitive products and other actions.. Further information on potential factors that could affect the financial results of Chordiant are included in risks detailed from time to time in Chordiants Securities and Exchange Commission filings, including without limitation Chordiants report on Form 10-Q for the quarterly period ended June 30, 2001, and the Annual Report on Form 10-K filed on March 27, 2001. These filings are available on a Web Site maintained by the Securities and Exchange Commission at http://www.sec.gov. Chordiant does not undertake an obligation to update forward-looking or other statements in this release.