For Immediate Release

Contact Information:
Jill Lindenbaum
KnowledgeBase Solutions Inc.
800-831-7881

Kristen Johnson
Weber Shandwick
425-452-5496
kjohnson@webershandwick.com
 

TALISMA ACQUIRES KNOWLEDGEBASE.NET

Bellevue, WA - March 30th, 2005 : TalismaTM, a leading provider of Multi-channel CRM solutions, today announced the acquisition of KnowledgeBase.net, a market-leading provider of hosted and on-site Knowledge Management (KM) software for Customer Support and Self-service. Talisma will incorporate KnowledgeBase.net's technology, intellectual property, and customer base into its operations, fueling its strategy of organic and acquisition-based growth. The acquisition is the culmination of over eighteen months of technology, product, and business collaboration between the two companies and has already resulted in several product and service offerings. The acquisition of KnowledgeBase.net will further enhance Talisma's award-winning suite of CRM solutions and strengthen Talisma's position in the fast growing Customer Interaction Management (CIM) segment of the CRM market.

Talisma's acquisition of KnowledgeBase.net advances its strategic growth path by leveraging Knowledge Management tools market opportunities, estimated to reach over $5 billion by 2008*, as well as the expected growth in multi-channel call centers in North America, which are projected to climb from 6,600 in 2003 to approximately 13,800 by 2008**. Both growth figures highlight the opportunity for the combined offerings of Talisma and KnowledgeBase.net.

"Since last year, Talisma's powerful Multi-channel CRM business expertise and KnowledgeBase.net's leadership in Knowledge Management have already produced a strong combined solution for customers around the world. We believe, as a result of this acquisition, Talisma will expand its market presence to become a significant solution provider for both Enterprise and SMB Customer Interaction Management solutions," said Robin Goad, Senior CRM Analyst at Datamonitor. "As the number of customer interactions continue to rise, companies worldwide are recognizing the value of optimized Multi-channel CRM solutions. As a result, they are turning to providers like Talisma for robust solutions that are easy to implement and result in a rapid return on their investment."

"The KnowledgeBase.net team is extremely pleased to join Talisma and contribute our expertise and proprietary technology to develop a comprehensive and compelling Multi-channel CRM offering," said Alex Kazerani, CEO of KnowledgeBase.net, who will join the Talisma management team. "The consolidation of our companies extends our commitment to offer relevant and functional customer support tools based on Knowledge Management. Our customers will now have the opportunity to broaden their scope by taking advantage of powerful Multi-channel CRM solutions."

About Talisma

Talisma is a leading provider of Multi-channel CRM solutions. Talisma Multi-channel CRM integrates the power of chat, email, phone, and real-time collaboration with a mature, robust multi-channel interaction management platform, comprehensive analytics, and a fully integrated knowledgebase and customer database. Talisma's global customers include Aviva, Citibank, Coast Capital Savings, Dell, HGTV, Microsoft, MWB, and Sony. Talisma is based in Bellevue, Washington, with offices across the United States, Europe, and Asia. For more information, please visit www.talisma.com.

About KnowledgeBase Solutions, Inc.

KnowledgeBase Solutions Inc. is a leading provider of hosted and on-site knowledge management software that helps unlock the power of a company's knowledge as a means to improve efficiency, competency and profitability. KnowledgeBase.net, the company's flagship product, is a feature-rich application that provides the ideal environment for companies to quickly and cost-effectively create a company-wide knowledge base to store and index documents and accurately search answers to end-user questions. Deployed by companies around the world including AT&T Wireless, Canon, ChevronTexaco, DoubleClick, Honda, National Health Services (UK), Sharp, United Healthcare, and the U.S. Veterans Department among hundreds of others, KnowledgeBase.net is easy to use, costs a fraction of traditional knowledge management applications and easily integrates with CRM software. KnowledgeBase.net has received many awards including Call Center Magazine's Product of the Year (2004); TMC.net Lab's Innovation Award (2003); KM World's Trend setting Award (2003); and Customer Interaction Solution's CRM Excellence Award (2003). KnowledgeBase Solutions is a privately held company headquartered in Los Angeles, CA. For more information, please call 1 800 831 7881 or visit www.knowledgebase.net.

*This figure is based on a combined estimation of the Knowledge Management and Collaborative Software market projections found in "Gartner's Market Trends, Collaborative Software and KM Tools, Worldwide, 2003-08," (September 2004).
** "Vertical Guides to Contact Centers in North America," Datamonitor (July 2004)