February 10, 2003 — Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA — Information Services Extended (ISx) and iTouchPoint, an international operator of voice-based call centers, announced iTouchPoint’s successful implementation of the ISx directory assistance (DA) platform, enabling iTouchPoint to provide advanced services to customers anywhere in the world.

iTouchPoint, a firm based in India with management headquarters in Piscataway, NJ, USA, is using the ISx platform at its operational centers in India and the Philippines to serve customers in the U.S. and other countries. From these call centers, iTouchPoint is providing rich, concierge-style services.

Prior to full implementation, the ISx platform was used in a series of successful laboratory and live tests at iTouchPoint.

iTouchPoint has been operating in India for about six years, using proprietary DA software. Raj Koneru, chairman and CEO of iTouchPoint, said his company decided early last year to enter the US marketplace. To meet the demanding needs of directory services providers in the US and other countries, iTouchPoint turned to ISx.

“As we planned for growth we did an enormous amount of research, looking for the best way to provide new services and at the same time reduce operator work time,” said Koneru. “ISx offered the speed we were looking for, the simplicity of operation that helped us minimize training time, and the flexibility that allowed its software to be integrated easily into our existing architecture.”

“The ISx strategy is guided by a simple goal – help our customers strengthen their business by entering new markets or offering new services, or both,” explained Ed Downs, CEO of ISx. “Our implementation at iTouchPoint shows how ISx is working with visionary companies to allow them to profit from new opportunities.”

In addition to the DA workstation platform, iTouchPoint installed the ISx Enhanced Services Access Feature (ESAF) and the ISx Business Category Search solution in its call center architecture.

ESAF, an optional feature of ISx’s FlexiStation workstation platform, is a configurable web browser that enables an operator to display web pages on his or her screen. ESAF enables a directory services provider to offer subscribers information that is beyond the scope of traditional directory assistance information.

The ISx Business Category Search feature allows providers to add business categories to ISx’s listing database and search engine, the Listing Services Inquiry Program (LSIP). The category feature enables an operator to find business listings associated with a particular type of business.