Staples Improves Customer Service and Cuts Costs with KANA Response; L

    Business Editors/Software Writers/High-Tech Writers

    MENLO PARK, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 31, 2005--KANA Software, Inc. (NASDAQ: KANA), the leading provider of Service Resolution Management (SRM) solutions, today announced that Staples, the world's largest office products retailer, is leveraging KANA Response, the world's leading e-mail management solution, to offer excellent customer service across multiple business units. With KANA Response, Staples has reached its return on investment goals and is achieving a higher level of customer satisfaction through service resolution.
    As an industry-leading retailer, Staples has nearly 1400 retail stores throughout the United States and Canada and thriving e-commerce sites. Regardless of the channel, Staples strives to respond to all customer requests quickly and costs effectively. By using KANA Response for e-mail based customer inquires, the company is increasing efficiency and significantly reducing response times. Staples selected KANA Response based upon the rich functionality of the product, ease of deployment and ability to scale.
    "Staples is focused on making buying office products easy. An important way we are able to do that is by responding quickly to customer emails," said Doug Woodard, vice president of customer service for Staples. "With KANA Response, we are able to answer customer inquiries in less than four hours. With this product, we are improving overall customer satisfaction while driving productivity in the customer service center."
    KANA's Service Resolution Management solutions enable companies to solve customer service inquiries faster and more accurately across any channel. The company's suite of customer service solutions include self, assisted and proactive service applications and deliver three primary business benefits; reduced service costs, improved customer satisfaction and increased revenue opportunities.
    "KANA helps companies optimize the resolution process, which is the most cost-intensive aspect of customer service," said Brian Kelly, executive vice president of marketing and product strategy at KANA. "By automatically directing the inquiry to the most knowledgeable resource, KANA Response is improving Staples customer experience, helping them reduce costs and increasing customer loyalty."

    About KANA

    KANA is the leading provider of Service Resolution Management (SRM) solutions that improve customer satisfaction, reduce service costs, and increase revenues. KANA's award-winning suite of customer service solutions for assisted, self, and proactive service enables companies to resolve customer requests quickly and accurately across multiple channels. Built on the industry's most advanced Web architecture, KANA's solutions are in use at more than half of the world's largest 100 companies. For more information visit www.kana.com.

    Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements Under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995:

    Information in this release regarding KANA's forecasts, projections, expectations, beliefs, and intentions are forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. All forward-looking statements included in this release are based upon information available to KANA as of the date of this release, which may likely change, and we assume no obligation to update any such forward-looking statement. These statements include statements about KANA's customers' expected benefits and results from KANA applications. These statements are not guarantees of future performance and actual results could differ materially from our current expectations. Factors that could cause or contribute to such differences include, but are not limited to: competition in our marketplace, including introductions of new products or services, or reductions in prices, by competitors; risks associated with lack of market acceptance of KANA's products or services; inability to enhance and develop our products and services within budget and on schedule; inability to attract and retain qualified employees, to manage cash and expenditures or to expand sales; inability to manage our business in light of recent personnel reductions; KANA's history of losses; the effect of potential military action and terrorist activities; and slow economic conditions, particularly as they affect spending by our prospective customers on SRM and similar enterprise software products. These and other factors are risks associated with our business that may affect our operating results and are discussed in KANA's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our most recent annual report on Form 10-K and our quarterly reports on Form 10-Q.

    NOTE: KANA is a registered trademark of KANA Software, Inc. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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CONTACT: KANA Jessica Hohn, 603-665-1306 jhohn@kana.com or PAN Communications Elise Sherman, 978-474-1900 kana@pancomm.com

KEYWORD: CALIFORNIA INDUSTRY KEYWORD: HARDWARE RETAIL SOFTWARE NETWORKING SOURCE: KANA

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