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| 2000-04-11 |
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CA and cStar Partner to Deliver Increased Customer Service Levels and Reduced Operational Costs With
Remote eBusiness Management Application
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CA World, New Orleans - April 11, 2000 |
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COMPUTER ASSOCIATES DISPENSES NEW REVENUE
OPPORTUNITIES FOR THE VENDING MACHINE INDUSTRY WITH
UNICENTER TNG OPTIMAL VENDING SOLUTION
CA and cStar Partner to Deliver Increased Customer
Service Levels and Reduced Operational Costs With Remote
eBusiness Management Application
CA WORLD, NEW ORLEANS, APRIL 11, 2000-Computer
Associates International, Inc. (CA) today announced a
remote management solution that gives the global vending
machine industry opportunities for new revenue creation
while dramatically lowering operational costs.
The Unicenter TNG Optimal Vending Solution is the latest
in a series of Real World Management solutions from CA
that enables end-to-end management of the total
eBusiness value chain, including such non-traditional
elements as energy and power management systems,
satellite communications, vending machines, ATMs,
vehicle fleets, and shop floor machinery.
Based on the proven capabilities of Unicenter TNG to
monitor and manage large volumes of data from disparate
sources, the Unicenter TNG Optimal Vending Solution
enables vending machines and kiosks to participate in
the eBusiness economy. The solution allows vending
machines to participate as nodes in an
intelligently-managed network. Such networks enable
vending machine managers to perform remote diagnostics,
monitor inventory levels, schedule service calls, and
track real-time sales through a wireless interface or a
power line carrier
CA has chosen cStar Technologies, Inc., a leading
developer of communicating control devices, as its
initial development and marketing partner to deliver the
Optimal Vending Solution. The solution exploits several
patented cStar communication gateway technologies,
embedded in its SkyGate®, DirectGate™ and ThruGate®
products. It enables vending machines to communicate
telemetry data over a variety of media, such as wireless
WAN and LAN, landline and power line carrier.
"The Unicenter TNG Optimal Vending Solution has the
potential to become the most significant development for
the vending industry since the introduction of the
dollar bill changer," said John Pincomb, CA vice
president, Real World Management solutions. "For the
first time, managers of large vending machine networks
will be able to collect actionable information on a
real-time, centralized basis, saving their companies
money and creating new revenue opportunities."
The U.S. vending market alone is a $28 billion industry,
according to the National Automatic Merchandising
Association (NAMA). Vending managers are increasingly
challenged to leverage the power of new technology to
better manage their assets and enhance the efficiency of
operations.
The Optimal Vending Solution provides a complete
management environment. It gives operators an intuitive
three-dimensional user interface up front and a secure
Internet connection in the back. From a centralized
console, operators can visualize the internals of
thousands of vending machines and kiosks in real time to
determine and control inventory, cash flow, open doors,
temperature aberrations, security, and maintenance.
"The Optimal Vending Solution will bring the benefits of
the network economy to an industry that is just waiting
for cost-effective solutions that add the value of the
Internet to its assets," said Pincomb. "Once connected
to a management network, vendors may check the sales for
each machine, be notified of machine jams, process
real-time transactions with credit cards, and even
enable dynamic pricing."
"We are very excited about our partnership with Computer
Associates," said Solbyung (Stella) Yoon, CEO of cStar
Technologies. "The Optimal Vending Solution is a
recognition of the critical competencies cStar and CA
bring to the millions of consumers around the world who
use vending machines to buy everything from beverages
and food items, to cosmetics and office supplies."
cStar's contribution to the solution includes the
wireless transmission equipment embedded in the vending
machines and kiosks. CA's contribution is the management
and visualization software that enables management of
all traditional and non-traditional assets on the
network. "Together, the two partners offer a
cost-effective solution that transforms vending machines
from simple point of sale devices at the very end of the
transaction to interactive participants in the value
chain," said Yoon.
The Optimal Vending Solution features automatic
"discovery" of managed vending machines, integrated data
backup and security, as well as integration with CA's
help desk application suite to ensure the safeguarding
of critical information, such as financial reports, from
intrusion.
CA and cStar also intend to work together to create
additional solutions to monitor and manage other
non-traditional IT resources such as utility meters,
courier drop boxes, HVAC systems, pipe lines, freight
and forestry controls, traffic lights, ATMs and home
appliances.
cStar has worked with CA's Development Partner Program
to attain "Unicentered" certification for its SkyGate®,
DirectGate™ and ThruGate® products. "Unicentered"
products undergo rigorous testing to ensure users
out-of-the-box integration with Unicenter TNG.
About cStar Technologies, Inc.
Based in Toronto, Canada, cStar Technologies, Inc.
develops embedded, wireless transmission systems to
integrate emerging communications technologies. Its
patented SkyGate® with DirectGate™ solutions exploit
packet digital networks to make formerly incompatible
networks talk to each other. Entering its third year of
operations, the company is currently developing wireless
systems to monitor remote equipment and infrastructures.
For more information, visit www.cstartech.com
About Computer Associates International, Inc.
Computer Associates International, Inc. (NYSE: CA), the
world's leading business software company, delivers the
end-to-end infrastructure to enable eBusiness through
innovative technology, services and education. CA has
18,000 employees worldwide and had revenue of $6.3
billion for the year ended December 31, 1999. For more
information, visit www.ca.com
Contact
Patrick Karle, CA
(631) 342-2487
patrick.karle@ca.com
Mike Coveley, cStar
416-739-8484, x222
mikec@cstartech.com
# # #
All trademarks, trade names, service marks and logos
referenced herein belong to their respective companies.
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