Ascentis Software Raises the Bar With HROffice 4.0

New product delivers best-in-class benefits management to increase employee satisfaction

BELLEVUE, Wash.-May 8, 2002- Ascentis Software, a leading provider of human resource and benefit management software (HRMS), today announced the launch of HROffice 4.0, its latest HRMS technology.

HROffice 4.0 addresses the unique challenges of todays HR executives, who are faced with the daunting task of implementing strategic corporate initiatives while responding to the daily needs of employees. By automating time-consuming tasks, HROffice 4.0 helps organizations realize improved administrative efficiency that gives HR personnel a renewed focus on high-value strategic corporate issues; distribution of HR and benefits management workload to managers, speeding response to employee questions and delivering greater satisfaction to employees who find their needs are met more quickly; faster pay-back from a system that is easy to implement, quick to learn, and does not require high-priced consultants to set up and train employees.

Benefit Enhancements Allows for Greater Variety of Plan Choices
A companys ability to offer a variety of employee benefits contributes to an increased level of employee satisfaction. HROffices robust benefits management engine gives companies the infrastructure to support optional insurance plans such as Aflac, and non-traditional benefits including fitness club memberships, United Way and prepaid legal.

HROffices new benefits features allows us to offer more benefit plan choices, which keeps our employees happy," said Deborah Needleman, vice president of organizational development at MedPlans Partners. We recently added a few Aflac products, for which HROffice provides the infrastructure we need to be able to support these products. We also offer employees United Way payroll deduction, which HROffice can easily track for us."

Greater Security Empowers Managers to Respond to Employee Requests
The majority of an HR managers time is spent responding to employee questions. HROffices new role-based security helps offload some of this work to managers throughout the organization by providing access to HR data to provide quick answers to commonly asked questions.

The single most time-consuming job is researching information in response to an employee question," said Needleman. HROffices security features let me select the level of information each employee or manager has access to, which enables them to generate their own reports. This allows us to devote time to more strategic HR issues like training and special projects, and do the job we were hired to do."

Pricing and Availability
HROffice pricing begins at $995 for 25 employees and begins shipping May 15. Call 425-462-7171 for specific quotes or product information.

Media Evaluation
HROffice 4.0 will be available for media review at the Society for Human Resource Managements (SHRM) 54th Annual Conference & Exposition, being held June 23 -- 26, in Philadelphia. Ascentis will be exhibiting at booth number 638. For appointment and demonstration, contact Mike Hayes, Ascentis Software, 425-462-7171, ext. 163, mikeh@ascentis.com; or Lisa Brandli, MarketFitz, 425-653-1237, lbrandli@marketfitz.com.

About Ascentis Software
Founded in 1994, Ascentis Software, based in Bellevue, Wash., is a leading provider of employee benefit and human resources information management software to the small to mid-sized market. The companys product, HROffice, helps HR departments work strategically towards key company objectives, realize greater administrative efficiency, improve employee satisfaction, and cost savings by providing quick access to employee information.

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