MEDIA RELEASE PR38113
Release of Astea Alliance 10.0, the Most Comprehensive Release Enabling the Virtual and Connected
Enterprise
HORSHAM, Pa., Feb. 2 /PRNewswire-AsiaNet/ --
Third Party and Vendor Management, Next Generation User Interface and
support for ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure Library) are just a
few of the new features that are revolutionizing and redefining the delivery
of world class service
Astea International Inc. (Nasdaq: ATEA), a global provider of service
lifecycle management and mobility solutions, has introduced a new version of
the industry's most robust solution for service organizations. With this
latest release, Astea is introducing many new features and modules,
including: an innovative user interface; a suite of workforce collaboration
tools; a redesigned Studio development tool; Third Party and Vendor
Management module; and support for ITIL (Information Technology
Infrastructure Library).
From the initial customer call to the closing of work orders, customer
invoicing and product replacement, every step in the service lifecycle
process represents an opportunity for improving customer satisfaction,
reducing costs and increasing revenues. In order to deliver world class
service, organizations need seamless continuity and visibility of every
interaction with the customer. Critical customer information must be shared
and instantly available to everyone in the organization that touches that
customer. With Astea Alliance 10.0, companies can manage the entire service
lifecycle with a single provider -- Astea.
Below are just a fraction of the benefits that organizations can realize
from leveraging the latest functionality in Astea Alliance 10.0:
-- Improved Productivity & Collaboration -- Leveraging Web 2.0
functionality, Astea Alliance helps companies connect and work
collaboratively with partners, vendors, suppliers, customers and
employees. With the new enterprise collaboration tools, vendor and
third party management, dashboards, and embedded analytics, this
release promotes the easy exchange of ideas and information throughout
the service lifecycle ecosystem.
-- Ease of Use and Personalized User Experience -- Redesigned and fresh
user interface provides for sleek, simplistic and personalized
navigation. Combining the user experience of the internet and office
tools, this new user interface becomes the end user's personal landing
page. This rich and innovative user interface leverages Microsoft(R)'s
Windows Presentation Foundation (WPF). The interface supports tab
management functionality, smart menus and a home page that can be
personalized to meet an individual's unique needs to view the most
relevant and up to date information in a single location.
-- Easily Manage and Support a Company's Entire Service Ecosystem -- This
new release also introduces the new Astea Alliance Third Party and
Vendor Management module. This secure facility provides the ability for
third party vendors and subcontractors to access the system and enables
them to participate in the process of service delivery. By having the
ability to manage and view both internal and external service
technicians, with a single platform and dispatch console, companies can
easily choose the best technician for every job while ensuring a
consistent level of service. This new module seamlessly connects the
service provider with partners and third party technicians eliminating
duplicate data entry, easily communicating work order information and
status updates, parts ordering and tracking, as well as accelerating
invoice and payment once work is completed.
-- Lower Total Cost of Ownership -- Astea Alliance 10.0 introduces a new
and flexible development environment, leveraging Microsoft(R) Visual
Studio 2008. This new development environment makes it easy to build
customizations and carry forward those customizations when upgrading to
future releases of Astea Alliance. Astea has developed extensions,
often referred to as "plug-ins", to the Visual Studio 2008 environment
that speed development. Organizations can use Alliance Studio's
powerful tools to define and update business rules, screens, menus,
defaults, alerts and more. Users can add new functionality with
user-defined fields or build entirely new screens.
-- Enable and Support Continuous Process Improvement -- Astea Alliance
introduces support for the ITIL (Information Technology Infrastructure
Library) framework. ITIL provides a framework of best practice
approaches which are intended to facilitate the delivery of high
quality IT services. The enhancements in Astea Alliance 10.0 focus on
what are seen as the core processes of ITIL: Incident Management,
Problem Management, Change Management, and Service Level Management,
which form the basis of the day-to-day operations of a Call Center.
With ITIL best practices built into the Astea Alliance application,
organizations can further improve response time, minimize disruption,
and ensure that standardized methods and procedures are used in order
to minimize impact and to improve day-to-day operations.
"Building on our extensive history and expertise in the service
management industry, this release is by far the most comprehensive release
Astea has ever introduced. This release focuses on enabling and easily
facilitating service organizations to confidently and effectively create,
support and manage a truly virtual service delivery network for both
financial and operational efficiencies. With workforce collaboration,
analytics, third party and vendor management, ITIL support and much more,
organizations can feel confident that they are implementing best practices
and delivering a consistent level of service around the globe, greatly
improving customer satisfaction," said Zack Bergreen, CEO of Astea
International.
Astea is the only solution provider that offers all cornerstones of
service lifecycle management: customer management; service management; asset
management; forward and reverse logistics management; and mobile workforce
management with enhanced scheduling optimization. Astea's solutions are
seamlessly orchestrated to share and leverage information throughout the
service lifecycle -- removing the traditional barriers between the field and
back office. With Astea Alliance's modularity, companies can introduce one
module at a time or deploy a seamless information backbone across the entire
service lifecycle continuum, thereby eliminating the patchwork of disparate
systems that can hamper a company's ability to provide best-in-class service
due to the "siloing" of customer information.
Astea works with hundreds of companies worldwide, maximizing the value of
an organization's service operation by optimizing critical business processes
across the globe. The company can be reached at 215-682-2500.
About Astea International
Astea International (Nasdaq: ATEA) is a global provider of software
solutions that offer all the cornerstones of service lifecycle management,
including customer management, service management, asset management, forward
and reverse logistics management and mobile workforce management. Astea's
solutions link processes, people, parts, and data to empower companies and
provide the agility they need to achieve sustainable value in less time, and
successfully compete in a global economy. Since 1979, Astea has been helping
more than 400 companies drive even higher levels of customer satisfaction
with faster response times and proactive communication, creating a seamless,
consistent and highly personalized experience at every customer relationship
touch point.
(c) 2010 Astea International Inc. Astea and Astea Alliance are trademarks
of Astea International Inc. All other company and product names contained
herein are trademarks of the respective holders.
SOURCE: Astea International Inc.
CONTACT: Debbie Geiger,
Vice President of Marketing,
Astea International Inc.,
+1-215-682-2500,
dgeiger@astea.com
NEWS 
