Customers Achieve Significant ROI Using Echopass Hosted Call And Contact Center Services

Infinite Mind, Provident and Outrigger Achieve Rapid Growth and Substantial Savings with Echopass; Nucleus Research Validates Echopass' Value Proposition

PLEASANTON, CA - October 16, 2006- Echopass customers are reporting significant ROI on their call center investment, often less than 90 days, after deploying Echopass Call and Contact Center On Demand solutions. Echopass, the experts in always-on, on-demand, hosted contact center and CRM solutions, announced three customers — Infinite Mind, The Provident Bank and Outrigger Hotels and Resorts — have either doubled revenues, lowered operating expenses, or saved hundreds of thousands of dollars in costs after implementing an Echopass solution. Equally notable, all three customers have reported significant increases in their customer satisfaction rates.

Echopass’ on-demand contact center solutions enable companies to maximize ROI by managing contact center activities with greater speed and flexibility, and lower cost, than premise-based contact center alternatives. As a result, Echopass is enabling companies to reduce costs, support growth and improve both bottom and top line results, according to a recent report by Nucleus Research *, a global provider of research and advisory services.

“In today’s competitive business environment, leveraging hosted services, as opposed to investing in hardware and software, is a ‘must have’ for staying competitive and maximizing the bottom line,” explained Rebecca Wettemann, vice president, research, at Nucleus Research. “Companies with existing contact center technology, as well as those looking to improve or grow their contact center operations, should investigate the potential ROI from moving to an on-demand contact center provider, such as Echopass.”

Echopass has enabled customers like Infinite Mind, The Provident Bank and Outrigger Hotels and Resorts with the ability to leverage their substantial financial and technology investments while eliminating concerns about their call center infrastructure so they can focus on the core initiatives of their business. Echopass understands the critical role that complete customer-care solutions play in driving today’s successful companies. By integrating a variety of these applications such as CRM software in the EchoSystem™ Service Integration Platform, Echopass is making it easier for call center agents to satisfy customer requirements more rapidly and effectively, resulting in substantially improved customer satisfaction rates.

“Our research demonstrates how hosted call and contact centers enable companies to streamline and improve customer and vendor communications while reducing call center costs. For example, Outrigger increased call center staff productivity, reduced telecommunications and technology costs, increased flexibility and improved hotel management,” said Wettemann.

Infinite Mind Doubles its Sales Revenues

Infinite Mind, maker of educational software that increases reading speed and retention, selected Echopass to help better manage its sales team and telesales processes. Per agent revenues now average $2,400 per week for Infinite Mind’s 60 agents using Echopass technology. Largely because of the agents’ ability to generate more revenue through their use of Echopass, Infinite Mind’s agent turnover has virtually vanished. Echopass has enabled Infinite Mind to:

Increase revenues from $1,200 to $2,000 per agent per week within three months
Continue to grow per agent revenues, which now average $2,400 per week
Telemarketing efforts now account for nearly 15 percent of the company’s annual revenues

The Provident Bank Cuts Customer Wait Time in Half

The Provident Bank, a New Jersey-based community- and customer-oriented bank, selected Echopass to significantly upgrade its call center technology. With its call center agents handling over 350,000 customer interactions per month, Provident was in need of a cost-effective, flexible solution that would offer its customers fast, accurate and professional service. After implementing Echopass, Provident significantly increased customer satisfaction rates and decreased abandoned calls without adding staff, all while lowering its operating expenses. Echopass Advanced Call Center On-Demand enabled the bank to:

Reduce customer call duration by 40 percent
Answer 80 percent of all inbound calls within 20 seconds
Cut customer wait time in half

Outrigger Achieves 300% ROI in Just 2 Months

Outrigger Hotels and Resorts, the largest locally-owned hospitality chain in Hawaii, selected Echopass to upgrade its contact center technology, improve both customer service and agent utilization, and provide the additional customer touch points of chat and email in addition to phone — all while reducing costs. Through better staff utilization, lower maintenance costs and the elimination of major infrastructure expenditures, Echopass Contact Center On Demand enabled Outrigger to:

Increase the percentage of calls converted to bookings to nearly 60 percent, unusually strong for the hospitality industry
Grow its business by 20 percent without increasing personnel
Achieve 300% ROI in 2 months, while saving several hundred thousand dollars per year in ongoing operating costs

For more information on the Outrigger case study, please see the following Nucleus Research report: http://www.nucleusresearch.com/research/g31.pdf

For more information on ROI from On-Demand Contact Centers, please see the following Nucleus Research report: http://www.nucleusresearch.com/research/g43.pdf

About Echopass Corporation

Echopass Corporation provides advanced IP-based call and contact center solutions as a service for mid-to-large enterprises and government agencies through its unique EchoSystem™ service integration platform. Only Echopass delivers the promise of on-demand, always on, guaranteed, and end-to-end solutions that are both affordable and fully integrated with clients’ existing customer contact applications and voice or data technologies. Echopass managed solutions are quick to deploy, easy to use, flexible, and require no capital investment or ongoing maintenance. Privately-held Echopass, backed by venture capital firms Canaan Partners and New Enterprise Associates, is a recipient of the Red Herring Top 100 Companies award. The company is headquartered in Pleasanton CA. For additional information, please visit www.echopass.com or call 1-888-622-5345.

About Nucleus Research

Nucleus Research is a global provider of IT advisory and research services that provides CFOs, CIOs and their staffs with the real-world information they need to maximize the business returns from their technology investments. For more information, visit www.NucleusResearch.com.

PRESS CONTACTS:
Chris McManus
Boldbrook for Nucleus Research
(718) 832-9154
chris@boldbrook.com

Scott Malinowski
Citigate Cunningham
(617) 374-4223
SMalinowski@citigatecunningham.com

Echopass and Echopass products are registered trademarks of Echopass Corporation. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners..

* Nucleus Research, Echopass: ROI from the On-Demand Contact Center, July 2006