General FAQs
Who is Astea?
Astea International (NASDAQ: ATEA) is a global provider of service lifecycle
management solutions that addresses the unique needs of companies who manage capital equipment, mission critical assets and human capital. The Astea Alliance suite supports the complete service lifecycle, from lead generation and project quotation to service and billing through asset retirement. It integrates and optimizes critical business processes for Contact Center, Field Service, Depot Repair, Logistics, Professional Services, and Sales & Marketing. Astea extends its application suite with portal, business intelligence, dynamic scheduling and mobile solutions. Since its inception in 1979, Astea has licensed applications to companies in a wide range of sectors including information technology, telecommunications, instruments and controls, business
systems, and medical devices.
What products does Astea offer and support?
Astea provides a comprehensive solution to support the service management lifecycle:
* Alliance Contact Center
* Alliance Sales Force Automation & Management
* Alliance Marketing Automation
* Alliance Field Service
* Alliance Depot Repair
* Alliance Logistics/Reverse Logistics/Supply Chain
* Alliance Professional Service Automation (PSA)
* Alliance Dynamic Scheduling Engine
* Alliance Business Intelligence
* Alliance Customer Self-Service Portal
* Alliance Technician Portal
* Alliance Reporting
* Alliance Mobility
* Alliance Studio (development toolkit)
* Alliance APIs
* Alliance Links (integration)
FieldCentrix Inc. has established deep domain expertise in real-time mobile and wireless technology, and offers the most advanced field service solutions in the industry. Its FieldCentrix Enterprise software suite strategically supports global organizations that want to automate key service processes and optimize mobile workforce resources to better control operational overhead and proactively increase customer service visibility, value, and revenue. FieldCentrix specializes in delivering solutions for several market sectors including manufacturing, industrial equipment, automation controls, medical devices, high technology, communications, real estate services, and building trade services. Its growing client base of enterprise-class organizations includes Honeywell, Praxair, Ingersoll-Rand, and SourceOne Healthcare.
What products does FieldCentrix offer and support?
* FX Service Center
* FX Mobile
* FX Mobility Express
* FX e-Service
* FX Resource Utilization
* FX Fleet Manager
* FX Interchange (integration)
* FX Express for JD Edwards
* FX Express for Epicor
What is the vision driving this acquisition?
FieldCentrix has a very strong mobility solution in the market today and mobility is one area where Astea is looking to further enhance and build out our current mobility offering. The acquisition of FieldCentrix gives us immediate domain expertise to further strengthen our Service Lifecycle Management Solution Suite. Additionally we now have a larger base of customers that may be interested in purchasing a robust service lifecycle management solution to complement their existing FieldCentrix installation. FieldCentrix has also been a competitor in many opportunities and by acquiring them we combine our 26+ years of service management expertise with their 10+ years of mobility
expertise to become a serious contender in this market space.
What are the biggest benefits for you and your customers?
Together, we'll shape and drive the future of Service Lifecycle Management
Solutions. Astea and FieldCentrix are uniting to extend horizons in the area of Service Lifecycle Management. Astea and FieldCentrix will combine the expertise of our two organizations to break new ground in creating added value for service-centric organizations. An even more comprehensive product portfolio means you can deliver unparalled customer service to achieve financial and operational improvements. Together, Astea and FieldCentrix are taking a major step forward in revolutionizing Service Lifecycle Management – and continuing our mission to make you and your customers successful.
How do your solutions complement each other?
FieldCentrix has very strong mobile capabilities and technology whereas Astea has very strong back-end service lifecycle management expertise and technology. Both solutions also leverage the same leading edge technology – Microsoft .NET and therefore will integrate easily to deliver the most powerful and comprehensive service management solution. Both solutions are built on
an open architecture and adhere to industry standards.
Does this make Astea unique? How?
This combined solution definitely catapults Astea to the #1 Service Lifecycle
Management solution provider in the industry today. Before the acquisition Astea had the most breadth and depth compared to both traditional ERP vendors and niche vendors targeting the service management sector. Now by complementing this solution with FieldCentrix’s product capabilities we are further cementing our position in the market and proving that we have the longevity and staying power to survive and be by our customers’ side for a long time. As many of our competitors either dissipate or are acquired Astea is one of the few companies left that maintains a strong foothold in the service management space. With a strong global presence in conjunction with a proven
enterprise solution, and now the additional expertise and product functionality with FieldCentrix, you can be confident that Astea is the only vendor of choice.
How does this solution better help me meet my immediate and evolving business needs?
We can provide the optimum solution for you to meet your needs today but with our modularity we can grow with you. We can offer the deep enterprise functionality and leading edge mobility solutions to support your service lifecycle management strategy. Additionally, you are getting an end-to-end solution that is integrated and ultimately lowers your total cost of ownership.
What’s your timetable for rolling out new products?
We continue to stay focused on rolling out our next major release (v8) for Astea Alliance due to be available first half of 2006. Also we are committed to continuing product development on the FieldCentrix platform with the next release being v4.1 due at the end of 2005.