UN Summit to Use Commence RM to Manage Event Preparation

Oakhurst, NJ (March 11, 2002) -  Commence Corporation, a leading provider of CRM and e-business solutions for small- and medium-sized businesses, today announced that the United Nations (UN) World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) is deploying Commence Relationship Management (Commence RM) to centralize information about global attendees and events, and drive the entire Summit preparation process.

The Summit Secretariat, which handles the WSIS preparations, will use Commence RM to store, access, and share participant and event details in a single, centralized database. With Commence RM, the Secretariat can register attendees using custom fields, including country, ranking, and industry, and launch a range of related activities - from creating mailing groups and building the Summit agenda, to facilitating post-show follow-up. Commence RM offers a multi-relational database to link Summit registrants with subsequent updates, phone calls, letters, and other communications, keeping all event-related information in one place.

Using Commence RM, the Secretariat will also centralize information to manage the various working groups associated with the Summit preparations, and track the individual and collective calendars of the Secretariat members. Additionally, Commence RM offers the capability to organize project schedules, action items, and other tasks.

"Commence RM is an essential tool to manage the organization of the Summit. To prepare for an event like the WSIS that focuses on communicating within the information society, we must use technology that enables us to have qualitative interactions with every person involved," said Alain Clerc, Director, Civil Society Division, Summit Secretariat. "Commence RM offers a complete overview of the Summit preparation process, making information always available to everyone that needs it. This helps us work together and communicate more efficiently, and effectively respond to questions and requests."

"The use of Commence RM by the UN for the WSIS validates the widespread use and value proposition of CRM technology," explained Larry Caretsky, President of Commence Corporation. "With Commence RM, organizations like the UN can realize significant efficiencies in how they manage information, and deliver more customer-centric services."

The UN World Summit on the Information Society offers a global forum, bringing together government, industry, and civil leaders to develop a common understanding of the information society within the context of current needs and trends. The first phase of the Summit will take place in Geneva in December 2003, followed by a second meeting in Tunis in 2005.

Founded in 1988, Commence Corporation is a leading provider of e-business and customer relationship management (CRM) software solutions. Commence supports thousands of users through a worldwide distribution network, with outlets in North and South America, Europe and Asia/Pacific. For more information contact Commence at 732-660-0990, or visit the company's web site at www.commence.com.

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