NEW YORK, NY - December 18, 2002 - LivePerson, Inc. (NASDAQ: LPSN), a leading provider of technology facilitating real-time online customer interaction, today announced that Kaplan Higher Education, a unit of Kaplan, Inc., and a subsidiary of the Washington Post Co. (NYSE: WPO), has standardized its online customer support with LivePerson Service Edition. Since implementing LivePerson, Kaplan has seen dramatic growth in the number of online inquiries from customers, as well as increased satisfaction among students and faculty who can now resolve their questions immediately. Kaplan has also seen an increase in internal efficiency as customer service representatives (CSRs) can respond to multiple inquiries simultaneously.
Kaplan Higher Education initially chose LivePerson Service Edition to improve the quality and consistency of their customer service as they experienced unprecedented growth in their online business. LivePerson allows students and faculty to immediately reach a CSR, without having to go offline or even leave the page they are browsing -- a beneficial feature for those who work on a dial-up system. CSRs can quickly respond to questions regarding financial aid, new classes, required materials, admissions and grades. With LivePerson's database of prepared responses and multiple concurrent chat capability, Kaplan has greatly improved the efficiency of CSRs. Service representatives now answer more frequently asked questions quickly and correctly, and can respond to up to four individuals at one time.
"LivePerson Service Edition has helped Kaplan streamline our processes, decrease response time and better satisfy students and faculty," said Stacy Feldman, operations coordinator at Kaplan Higher Education. "Our dedicated customer service and support department is on the front line of all student inquiries, and as we continue to grow, LivePerson enables us to provide excellent customer service with limited resources."
"As the number of people that conduct business online grows, real-time support becomes more important to companies that want to increase customer satisfaction and improve the efficiency of customer service and sales agents," said Robert LoCascio, CEO of LivePerson. "Kaplan Higher Education demonstrates how LivePerson helps companies leverage the Web to bring efficiency to even the most highly trafficked websites."
LivePerson Sales Edition and LivePerson Service Edition are ASP (Application Service Provider) solutions that eliminate the heavy infrastructure investment normally associated with one-to-one customer facing solutions. LivePerson's complete product portfolio includes LivePerson Sales Edition, LivePerson Service Edition, LivePerson MultiCARE and LivePerson Pro for small businesses. LivePerson currently serves eBay, EarthLink, Federated Stores, QVC, Bell Canada, American Airlines Federal Credit Union and more than 3,000 other businesses.
About LivePerson
LivePerson (http://www.liveperson.com/) is a leading provider of technology facilitating real-time online customer interaction. The LivePerson service enables online businesses to communicate securely with Internet users in real time, thereby enhancing the online experience. With real-time solutions consisting of chat, real-time marketing and selling tools, a self-service FAQ product and email management, LivePerson offers clients the opportunity to increase sales, lower customer service costs and increase responsiveness to customer needs. LivePerson is headquartered in New York City.
About Kaplan Higher Education
Kaplan, Inc.'s Higher Education Division includes 45 campus-based schools in 13 states, as well as online programs toward numerous degrees. Kaplan has been providing educational and career services to students, schools, professionals, and businesses worldwide for more than 60 years. Kaplan is a wholly-owned subsidiary of The Washington Post Company (NYSE: WPO). For more information about Kaplan, please visit http://www.kaplan.com/.
Media Contacts: Jennifer Regnault Jane Hynes LivePerson, Inc. OutCast Communications (212) 609-4213 (415) 392-8282 jregnault@liveperson.com jane@outcastpr.com
SOURCE: LivePerson, Inc.
CONTACT: Younjee Kim, +1-212-609-4222, ykim@liveperson.com
Mike Tague
mtague@liveperson.com