ALISA SYSTEM's ALISAMAIL SOLVES E-MAIL INCOMPATIBILITY

PASADENA, CA, October 9, 1995 -- Corporate America's growing dependence on
E-mail to facilitate high speed communication in the workplace, and the
use of different platforms to perform different tasks has given rise to a
new problem: Multiple, incompatible E-mail systems that cannot communicate
with each other. With fast, reliable and cost-effective communication
being essential to maintaining a competitive edge in today's global
marketplace, the inability to communicate with clients, vendors,
distributors, and other employees can hinder growth and stifle profits.

With increasing frequency, companies are finding that they have a mix of
E-mail programs that don't communicate with each other installed on PCs,
Macintoshes, UNIX workstations and legacy mainframes. When E-mail systems
can't communicate with each other, savings gained by effective
communications cannot be realized.

At some point, senior management wakes up to the fact that in the
"paperless office", corporate-wide E-mail is essential. The task of
integration is usually assigned to the corporate Information Systems (IS)
group who are faced with the challenge of integrating the various existing
departmental E-mail systems. This is a complicated task that involves
making systems interoperate, share directory information and documents
across different platforms

This does not mean, however, that a standardized, corporate-wide E-mail
system needs to be purchased. Mail integration technology is widely used
to connect disparate systems. The numerous benefits of integrating
existing systems make the concept a sensible alternative.

First, businesses preserve their initial investment. This investment is not
limited to the cost of the original E-mail system packages, but includes
the cost of servers needed to run the system and the training of users.

These users often have limited computer experience and are reluctant to
give up their favorite E-mail system after spending hours getting
accustomed to its features and capabilities. By switching E-mail systems
in an effort to standardize, users are taken out of their friendly
computer environment and placed into an unknown one.

Mail integration software solves this problem by allowing users to
seamlessly communicate with a variety of other mail systems in a
"friendly" manner. The address and message is "switched" to make it appear
as if users are communicating with a computer on their very same E-mail
system!

Second, mail integration can buy a company time to implement an enterprise-
wide migration strategy to wean users off older legacy based mainframe
systems and prepare them for a standard-based information system.
Additional benefits depend on the particular features offered by the mail
integration software they select.

The technological demands of integration are extensive. Choosing a mail
integrator requires a careful examination of features, benefits and
reputation. Integration vendors approach the issue differently and the
results differ.

Alisa Systems has long been an industry leader in mail systems integration.
They have a reputation for being the best in the business according to
high tech computer publications and other independent sources whose job it
was to compare integration systems.

Alisa offers a complete mail integration package called AlisaMail.
AlisaMail is a full featured E-mail switch that interconnects the most
popular LAN-based electronic mail systems. It provides seamless and
transparent exchange of electronic messages, fully editable documents and
binary files between WordPerfect GroupWise, Microsoft Mail, Lotus cc:Mail,
CE Software QuickMail, X.400, SMTP and Digital VMSmail, ALL-IN-1 and
Message Router. This includes spread sheets, word processing documents,
graphic and binary files. Most importantly, AlisaMail is built on a
relational database, Sybase, that makes the system extremely flexible.
"The really strong point of the system is it's easy to customize how
information is presented." says Don Cole, President of Alisa Systems.

The OpenDirectory, Automatic Directory Synchronization and Message Switch
are the strengths of the system and separate AlisaMail from the
competition.

The OpenDirectory is implemented using a Sybase SQL relational database and
can be used as a corporate directory service. OpenDirectory, a unique
AlisaMail feature, eliminates complicated addressing schemes by
maintaining a common address book synchronized with each mail system. This
"master" directory can include an address book of customers, employees and
vendors that contains information such as their title, organization,
department name, E-mail and postal address, telephone and FAX number, as
well as a photograph. The OpenDirectory provides a centralized address
book for all the E-mail users in their company. It is accessed by either
the user's E-mail client or an Alisa client/server application called
PeopleFinder.

PeopleFinder supports quick and easy on-line searching of the AlisaMail
Open Directory. Users may search specific fields in the database such as
Name, Title, Organization and Location. Available for Windows, Macintosh
and DEC VMS, PeopleFinder allows users to browse the OpenDirectory and its
contents to display information not accessible in the user's address
book.

Existing desktop client/server development tools and applications can also
be used to access the OpenDirectory. With Sybases's OpenServer technology
you can even connect to other corporate databases!

Auto Directory Synchronization works hand in hand with the OpenDirectory
and is the key to mail systems integration. Without Auto Directory
Synchronization, the OpenDirectory would be useless. Open Directory
creates and maintains a master directory of all E-mail users in by
requesting directory updates from each separate mail system. When changes
are made in one E-mail system such as adding, modifying or deleting an
E-mail address, the information is then transferred to the master
directory and then used to update all the other directories. In medium to
large companies where there can be many changes, AlisaMail allows the
updating to be performed automatically. The superior performance of our
Auto Directory Synchronization is made possible by the flexibility of the
SQL database. "In essence, AlisaMail makes each mail system's directory an
aggregate of all the users. It represents the entire population and there
is no distinction in where these people live." says Cole.

AlisaMail utilizes a multi-port gateway which connects the different E-mail
systems to the AlisaMail Message Switch. The gateway and Message Switch
act as a store-and-forward message hub and also handle the conversion of
message formats as required by the E-mail systems. The Message Switch
preserves the functionality of each mail system because it stores the
message in its unaltered format. The format of the message is then
converted only if the recipient mail system requires conversion. If the
receiving mail system does not support all the functionality of the
sender's, the Message Switch will preserve as much functionality as
possible.

Alisa Systems takes full responsibility for the success of your E- mail
integration. Alisa Systems will conduct on-site surveys to determine your
specific mail integration needs and provide a customized solution. They
will even install AlisaMail on site for you, train you and help you
fine-tune the system to maximize performance in your environment.

"There's lots of bits and places for information to be stored in a
corporation and people need access to it," says Cole, "There is a
technology out there that can help you run your business and save money."
 
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