Astute Solutions Acquires LiveWire Logic

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 6, 2006 - The number one end-user endorsed inbound consumer interaction solution provider, Astute Solutions today announced that it has acquired, LiveWire Logic, a Research Park Triangle innovator and provider of computational linguistics software.

Founded in 2000, LiveWire Logic developed technology that utilizes computational linguistics to better understand intent and meaning in customer-generated questions. LiveWire Logic marketed the product under the RealDialog™ brand to a variety of market leading, consumer-based companies to enable intent driven search capabilities for frequently asked questions (FAQ), a traditional self-service channel.

"We strive to solve the unique problems that consumer-focused companies face on a daily basis. Consumer-focused companies have few opportunities to truly differentiate themselves other than through brand marketing and through service excellence, " said Astute Solutions President and CEO, Joe Sanda. "Acquiring LiveWire Logic and the RealDialog product will enable us to continue to expand our product offerings and to help our customers take the next step in providing unequaled service to their customers through service excellence."

RealDialog elevates self-service to a level that enables consumers to have a meaningful, two-way interaction with an automated agent. The RealDialog automated agent is capable of engaging in a purposeful Web-based interaction because it is able to ascertain the intent of the end-user through a question and answer automated dialog. This technology helps consumers get answers to their questions without having to speak to an agent, and the companies that utilize this technology save "agent time" and can utilize their live agents to work on other more complex interactions or to improve response time.

"Intent-driven search…is the most advanced method for searching, and it entails not only knowing the content and context of the input, but also the intent," according to a published research note "Selecting the Right Search Method for the Job" by Esteban Kolsky of Gartner, a leading IT research firm. "Selecting the proper search method or combination of methods, for a customer interaction can save an organization up to 40 percent in related maintenance costs," the report goes on to say.

"We plan on running the LiveWire Logic organization as a subsidiary of the Astute Solutions organization and have hired its entire staff to continue to develop and support the RealDialog technology," said Sanda. "We will be incorporating the technology into our ePowerCenter product line, as well as continuing to go to market with the technology as a stand-alone dynamic FAQ offering. We're very excited about what RealDialog means to Astute as well as the additional talent that comes to our team as a result of this acquisition."

The transaction was completed and closed on February 24, 2006. The terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

About Astute Solutions
Through its consumer interaction and case management solutions, Astute enables consumer-focused companies to differentiate through service excellence. Its award-winning PowerCenter™ product family is the number one user-endorsed solution for optimizing operations through immediate, actionable feedback to better address the consumer need for more personalized experiences. Engineered to solve day-to-day consumer interaction challenges, while meeting the complex technical requirements of the enterprise, PowerCenter™ integrates best-of-breed consumer contact center software with advanced telephony offerings. The choice of leading Global 1000 companies, Astute's customers include McDonald's, British Airways, Levi Strauss & Co., L'Oreal USA, Scott's, GlaxoSmithKline, Neutrogena, Abbott Labs, Dunkin' Brands, and Sara Lee Branded Apparel. For further details, visit www.astutesolutions.com or call (877) 769-3750.

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