UTOPIA TECHNOLOGY PARTNERS AND INFERENCE CORPORATION JOIN FORCES TO IMPROVE
END-USER SUPPORT

Provider of Case-Based Reasoning Teams with the IS Support Automation
Company to Create Solution for Help Desk Problem Management and
Resolution

LARKSPUR, Calif. (May 8, 1996) Utopia Technology Partners, Inc. (UTP) and
Inference Corporation have created a new alliance establishing a new
product offering for help desk, asset management, change management and
problem resolution that is modular, tightly integrated, and competitively
priced. Customers will get higher levels of functionality in the areas of
tracking, managing and reporting on support problems, as well as quick
problem resolution tools. This will help customers maintain higher
employee productivity gained from a combination of proactive support
programs and swift problem resolution.

The product, called Utopia Resolve/CBR2 will be jointly developed and
co-marketed by UTP and Inference.

A move toward modular, enterprise IS management

With this alliance, Inference's CBR tools join the Utopia product line
which includes HelpDesk, Audit, Change Manager, Inventory and Training
Administration to create one of the industry's most complete and
economical enterprise IS management suites.

The UTP/Inference alliance dramatically lowers the entry-level price for
automation of IS management functions. Favorable pricing is achieved
through a range of choices. Utopia is a modular product line, so customers
need only buy the automation they most require; later, they can add
products as they grow. Previously only the highest priced products could
offer an enterprise wide solution that handled the whole range of IS
functions, but now the UTP/Inference alliance offers a feature-rich,
tightly integrated, configurable solution for a buyer of enterprise
solutions.

Steve Hammersly, president/CEO of Utopia Technology Partners commented,
"with the value of end user productivity increasing all the time, IS
departments can't afford to pay sky high prices to solve the problems.
This integrated product is indicative of our strong dedication to
providing leading edge technologies for IS Management, without inflated
price tags. This alliance with Inference will 'right size' the balance of
automation costs vs. productivity costs and bring true value to the
customer -- where it belongs."

Utopia's Resolve CBR2 and Utopia/HelpDesk seamlessly integrate problem
resolution and call tracking tools, providing users the ability to link
resolutions with help desk tracking information. For example, the
information captured in logging a call in Utopia is used to initiate the
CBR session, which quickly solves the client's problem. Managers can also
use the integration to generate reports on use of the CBR tools. Because
integration of the two products is built-in, the time needed to implement
will be shortened, so the client can be up and running quickly, without
customization.

"We are delighted that Utopia is one of our charter OEM partners," said
Pete Tierney, chairman, president, chief executive officer of Inference.
"By embedding Inference's CBR2, Utopia can provide their customers with
the benefits of an effective problem-resolution system, such as greater
first-call resolution, reduction in training time and cost, and improved
accuracy and consistency of response -- all of which result in more
satisfied customers."

Customers who are currently using the CBR Help Desk Series products, which
is a UTP/Inference solution under the HDS label, will transition to Utopia
Technology, who will take over their maintenance and support late in the
summer, and will provide future upgrades of the Utopia and CBR products.

Phillip Cobbs at The Los Angeles Times commented that, "after using the CBR
Help Desk Series products for over a year now, we've noticed a sharp
reduction in our time to resolution, and have been able to use the Utopia
system to generate reports on support trends that has helped with
proactive support programs. We look forward further upgrades and working
with Utopia."

About Inference Corporation

Inference Corporation is a leading provider of strategic knowledge
publishing, knowledge distribution and content management software. The
company's line of CBR2 software products has been built to search and
retrieve unstructured information in a variety of front office
applications. It is commonly used to serve the problem resolution and
product recommendation needs of customer service call centers, help desks,
human resources departments and telesales and telemarketing organizations.
Inference's CBR2 products support a wide range of operating and deployment
platforms, including file server, client/server, speech-enabled server,
web server and embedded implementations. The company also offers a
complete line of consulting, support and educational services, as well as
pre-packaged knowledge. Based in Novato, Calif., Inference has licensed
its products to over 500 customers -- reaching more than 500,000 end users
in over 22 countries.

About Utopia Technology Partners

Headquartered in Larkspur, Calif., Utopia Technology Partners (UTP)
develops, markets and supports Utopia and Aurora -- software for help desk
and IS automation. Utopia offers a powerful, feature-rich suite of
applications that are configurable, low maintenance and high performance.
With its intuitive design, growth-supporting scalability and value
pricing, it is the intelligent software choice for help desks and IS
organizations of all sizes and configurations.

A Global Company

With over 700 customer sites throughout the United States, Canada, Europe,
the Middle East, and South Africa, UTP has more sites internationally than
any other internal help desk provider. Utopia Technology Partners has
offices in Larkspur, Boston, Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York,
London, Munich and Paris. For more information contact Utopia Technology
Partners at 800-956-1301 or visit our new Web site at:
http://www.utosoft.com
 
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