LOTUS INTRODUCES LOTUS FASTCALL FOR LOTUS NOTES AND LOTUS SMARTSUITE

CALL MANAGEMENT SOLUTION FOR IMPROVED CUSTOMER SERVICE AVAILABLE IN DESKTOP
AND ENTERPRISE VERSIONS

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 20, 1996 -- Lotus Development Corp. today announced
Lotus FastCall, a call management solution that improves the efficiency of
heavy traffic phone environments by integrating desktop telephone
functionality with Lotus Notes and Lotus SmartSuite PC software. Based on
technology licensed from Aurora Systems, Inc., Lotus FastCall will provide
customers with a desktop call control and call management solution for
applications including Help Desks, sales force automation and customer
service. Also announced was Lotus FastCall Professional, a version of
Lotus FastCall optimized for enterprise-wide use.

Designed for call-intensive environments, Lotus FastCall identifies
incoming phone calls and automatically opens corresponding database
records on the recipient's PC. Incoming calls can open Notes databases and
any Lotus SmartSuite application such as WordPro, Organizer, 1-2-3, and
Approach, providing instant access to information for more efficient
handling of critical calls. In addition, Lotus FastCall enables users to
place outgoing calls directly through their desktop PC utilizing any Notes
or SmartSuite application in which telephone numbers are stored. Lotus
FastCall can be configured in networked environments to support hundreds
of users and supports the TAPI or TSAPI telephony standards. Future
releases of Lotus FastCall will support IBM's CallPath API.

Lotus FastCall Professional can be configured in mainframe or client/server
environments to support large numbers of users, and supports the Dynamic
Data Exchange (DDE) interface, streamlining interoperability with Notes,
and allowing it to be used in heterogeneous computing environments. A
built-in library of application interfaces contains pre-loaded macros that
enable Lotus FastCall Professional to work with most popular Windows
compatible software programs.

"Combining Lotus Notes applications with advanced computer telephony will
bring even greater productivity gains to our 4.5 million Notes customers
as well as our SmartSuite users," said Joe Forgione, Lotus' vice president
of business multimedia products. "FastCall's functionality improves the
efficiency of fast-paced sales, technical support or other call center
environments, providing a flexible and easy means for our customers to
manipulate and manage telephone communications across the Notes
enterprise."

With more than 15,000 installed seats, FastCall has become the computer
telephony product of choice for many leading telecommunications,
networking and software companies. Workgroup solutions from Lotus provide
a complete platform for developing and deploying messaging and groupware
applications, enabling users to communicate with colleagues, collaborate
in teams and coordinate strategic business processes.

"Working with Lotus will expand the market for computer telephony by
providing viable solutions to the thousands of existing service
applications that depend on Notes or SmartSuite for communication and
productivity," said Paul Gasparro, CEO, Aurora Systems, Inc. "FastCall is
easily integrated into products such as Lotus Notes without development
downtime; Lotus FastCall is a robust, practical and very affordable way
for businesses to integrate the power of computer and telephone systems."

Lotus FastCall can access and open any information that can be stored in a
Notes or Lotus SmartSuite application. For example, when a service
representative for an auto parts company receives a call from a customer
looking to replace a lost hubcap, a predefined set of Notes database
records for that customer appears on the representative's PC. Even though
the customer can't provide a specific part number, the representative can
quickly match the new hubcap to ones previously purchased by that customer
using the information on the screen. Because no extra time is spent
searching for information, service and order inquiries can be resolved
more efficiently.

Help Desks, Call Centers and other customer support organizations will see
more efficient call handling and improved customer service through Lotus
FastCall's tightly integrated computer telephony features, including:

* INBOUND CALL AND SCREEN SYNCHRONIZATION: Screen 'pops' triggered by
inbound calls, outgoing calls or the caller's touch tone input enable
users to view the caller's database records at the desktop the instant a
call is received.

* OUTBOUND PREVIEW DIALING: Customized 'hot keys' can be created that allow
the user to make outgoing calls simply by clicking on a Lotus icon in the
toolbar. Lotus FastCall also collects incoming caller phone numbers
automatically for easy updating of online phone lists.

* RULES-BASED CALL MANAGEMENT: Based on any combination of time of day,
outbound call number or incoming call information, users can designate
rules to divert or accept calls. Rules can define screen activity, as in
activating a user's online phone list for calls coming in to a personal
line, and displaying database records along with a word processor when
activated by calls to a service hotline. Audible tones can also be defined
to alert the user to critical callers.

AVAILABILITY, PRICING AND SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS

Lotus FastCall and Lotus FastCall Professional will be available in June
through Lotus Business Partners and Lotus Authorized Corporate Resellers
in the US and Canada. The estimated street price for Lotus FastCall is $89
per user. Lotus FastCall Professional is available for an estimated street
price of $359 per user. Lotus FastCall and Lotus FastCall Professional run
on Windows 3.1 with Notes version 3.x or 4.x. For more information, call
1-800-346-1305. In Canada, call 1-800-GO-LOTUS.

Lotus Notes provides an ideal communications infrastructure by combining
enterprise-ready, client/server messaging and the global access and
distribution of the World Wide Web, together with a platform for rapidly
developing and deploying strategic groupware applications. Notes enables
individuals and organizations to communicate with colleagues, collaborate
in teams, and coordinate business processes within and beyond their
organizational boundaries to achieve improved business results.

More than 8,000 companies and 4.5 million people use Notes to improve key
business processes such as customer service, sales and account management,
and product development. Lotus Notes supports all major operating systems:
IBM OS/2 Warp, Apple Mac OS, UNIX platforms including IBM AIX, Sun
Solaris, HP-UX, and SCO OpenServer, and Microsoft Windows and Windows NT.
Notes is also available as a NetWare loadable module for the Novell
environment.

Lotus' best-of-breed desktop applications feature enhanced team computing
features, tight integration with the Internet and Notes and extensive
programmability capabilities. Lotus SmartSuite 96 is comprised of Lotus
1-2-3 spreadsheet, Lotus Word Pro word processor, Lotus Freelance Graphics
presentation graphics, Lotus Approach database, Lotus Organizer personal
information manager and group scheduler, Lotus ScreenCam multimedia tool
for creating audio/visual presentations and SmartCenter 96 suite command
center.

Lotus Development Corporation, founded in 1982, is a subsidiary of IBM
Corporation. Lotus offers high quality software products and support
services that reflect the company's unique understanding of the new ways
in which individuals and businesses must work together to achieve success.
Lotus' innovative approach is evident in a new class of applications which
allow users to access and communicate information in ways never before
possible, both within and beyond organizational boundaries. Lotus now
markets its products in more than 80 countries worldwide and provides
numerous professional consulting, support and education services through
the Lotus Services Group.

EDITOR'S NOTE: All Lotus news releases are available on the Internet, via
the Lotus Development Corp. Home Page at http://www.Lotus.com. The Lotus
Home Page is an easy way to find information about Lotus and its Business
Partners' products and services.

A copy of this release and other company information is also available via
fax by dialing 1-800-57-LOTUS within the U.S. and Canada or 201-946-2336
outside the U.S. and Canada. Questions concerning the service should be
directed to Lotus' corporate communications department at 617-693-5625.
 
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