Actioneer Launches Intelligent Agent Infrastructure

Actioneer Inc announced it has launched on its Web site a new catalog of intelligent agents which speed access to applications and services, both Webbased and local. Web users can now visit the Actioneer site to select and download the agents they wish to enable for quick access to frequently visited services. Actioneer speeds access to those services from Windows platforms currently and will soon support additional platforms, including virtually any mobile device with Internet access. At launch, the catalog includes agents for connection to more than 150 services and applications.

"We plan to grow the catalog quickly, to include connectors to many online applications and to thousands of local service providers, like restaurants and taxicabs," said Tom Hagan, president and chief executive officer. "As the catalog grows, and as we add agents capable of executing more and more complex tasks, we expect this agent-based access method will become a valuable piece of Web infrastructure."

With Web-based electronic services multiplying rapidly, users are faced with the need for quick and easy access to those services. Access to Web resources using traditional point-and-click navigation is time consuming, typically requiring users to click through multiple pages before they can perform even the simplest task. This is especially cumbersome when using handheld mobile devices, with their small screens and limited bandwidth.

With Actioneer, users have a way to complete actions without repetitive point- and-click navigation. The user simply opens a small window and enters a short action message. Actioneer interprets what the user has entered, and based on keywords it finds in the message, automatically launches an intelligent agent. The Actioneer agent then drills down and completes the desired action, such as conducting a search at a merchant site and presenting a results page, checking a flight status, fetching a stock quote, or placing an appointment on a Calendar page in their organizer.

As Actioneer adds new intelligent agents, they are posted and maintained in the on-line catalog. After users have selected and downloaded agents for the services they want to access, Actioneer manages the user's selected agent set, automatically updating connectors to accommodate changes whenever service providers modify their sites.

Currently the catalog includes agents connecting to popular applications and Web services such as Lotus Notes, Microsoft Outlook, Amazon, Borders, Yahoo!, CNet, ZDNet, Lycos, CNN, CVS Pharmacy, Ask Jeeves, Travelocity, eBay, and many more.

Kelly Forrister, Actioneer's director of strategic alliances, said, "Actioneer can deliver value to many providers of applications and e-services, by lowering a barrier impeding access to their products." Actioneer is currently working with a number of key partners-including application service providers, Web merchants, and distribution partners-to streamline access to a variety of applications and services on the Web, the desktop and on enterprise servers. Lotus Development Corporation has bundled Actioneer with Lotus Notes to enhance access to the Notes Calendar, To Do list and Journal for the more than 55 million Notes users.

Actioneer also allows users to store personal profile information for taking faster action. Using profile information, Actioneer interprets a command like "get movie times" and automatically returns movie schedules for the user's local neighborhood. The company plans to add future agents capable of executing increasingly complex tasks for the user, filling in forms automatically to simplify online purchases and transactions.

The Actioneer Smart Portal service for Windows is free. The latest release, version 3.5, of the thin client needed for using Actioneer with Windows, is available for free download from www.actioneer.com. A new Interactive Coach woven into the new release of the Actioneer client gets users up to speed quickly when they first use the service and subsequently provides coaching on the fly, suggesting faster and easier ways to get things done.

Over the past two years, Actioneer has been consistently featured as a toprated solution for Palm and Windows platforms by PC Computing, Fast Company, Fortune, ZDNet, and others. Red Herring and Upside Magazine have listed Actioneer as one of the top private Internet companies. ComputerWorld chose Actioneer as one of its "100 Hot Emerging Companies." Actioneer Inc has offices in San Francisco and Cambridge, Mass.

Contact Tom Hagan of Actioneer Inc, 415-292-0801, or tomhagan@actioneer.com