Riposte enables post offices to partner with WWW electronic commerce vendors

Boston, Mass. - July 18, 1997 - Escher Group, Ltd. has announced the availability of a Riposte-based Internet commerce fulfillment system: the Riposte Internet Commerce Solutions package. This package delivers two key capabilities to Post Offices: it expands the benefits of selecting Riposte as the post office's automation infrastructure, and it leverages the existing assets of a Post Office by providing electronic fulfillment capabilities to vendors, using with the World Wide Web.

Analysts at research companies such as International Data, Forrester, and Jupiter Communications estimate between $6 to $8 billion revenue will be generated by consumer online sales by the year 2000, with business-to-business sales growing even faster than consumer retail. "The market is demanding turnkey electronic commerce solutions," a spokesperson commented. "Vendors want these solutions from the suppliers that they trust today, such as the guaranteed delivery services of the Post Office. Post Offices who automate services using the Riposte infrastructure have a distinct advantage when moving to electronic commerce solutions."

Riposte Internet Commerce Solutions let Post Offices provide more than just electronic package delivery scheduling to electronic commerce vendors. "Magazine subscription services, catalog fulfillment services, online ticket reservations - the possibilities for Post Offices to securely manage services that use comprehensive name and address databases is almost endless," explained Murphy. Analysts estimate that over 46 million people worldwide will use the World Wide Web by the year 2000. "In each country, it's the Post Office who already has a relationship with every individual, with every customer of every business," explained the Escher Group spokesperson. "They visit every household each day."

The release of the Riposte-based Internet Commerce Solutions package positions Escher Group, Ltd. as the most comprehensive provider of post office automation solutions in the world. To date, no other post office automations vendor has offered a dedicated and comprehensive solution for designing, implementing, and managing distributed postal retail outlets, or to extend these capabilities to the Internet and to mobile units in the field. Escher Group's Riposte system enables post offices to rapidly expand business opportunities in both traditional and newly emerging distribution channels, such as the Internet.

Riposte is a complete end-to-end post office automation solution which includes distributed message-oriented middleware, a graphical, touch-screen application development environment, and flexible mail, agency, and banking applications.

About Escher Group, Limited

Escher Group Limited is a leading provider of distributed transaction processing and data management solutions and services. The company offers a business-to-business XML-based transaction management environment, used in thousands of locations worldwide. Since its introduction in 1993, Riposte®, Escher's flagship messaging solution, has grown to become the market leader in post office counter automation.

Trademarks: WebRiposte and Riposte are trademarks or registered trademarks of Escher Group, Limited in the United States and/or other countries. All other product names mentioned herein are trademarks of their respective owners.

Contact Information:

Escher Group Limited
information@eschergroup.com