INTERPATH SIGNS ON WITH SMARTSEARCH ONLINE

OCEANSIDE, CA, May 4, 2001 -- Interpath has selected SmartSearch Online from Advanced Personnel Systems, Inc. (APS; http://www.aps2k.com). Doug Coull, APS' president, made the announcement.

Interpath is an established, full-service application service provider (ASP) that provides hosting, management, support and delivery of business applications. Located in Research Triangle Park, NC, the company was founded in January 1998 by Progress Energy, formerly Carolina Power & Light (CP&L), and currently employs more than 160 people. Major clients include Nucor Steel, Blue Cross/Blue Shield of North Carolina and Quintiles.

In June 2000, Bain Capital, Inc., a global private equity firm, gained majority ownership of the company with Progress Energy maintaining a minority stake. As part of the transaction, Bain Capital and Progress Energy also invested $100 million in the company. Key solutions provided by Interpath include:

eBusiness applications, including Vignette, BroadVision and Microsoft.
Customer Relationship Management (CRM), including applications from Pivotal Software.
Managed hosting
Data services.
eBusiness development services.

According to Claire Roise, Interpath's Director of Corporate Recruiting, the company's resume volume was rapidly increasing and a Web-based solution seemed to be the best fit for Interpath's needs.

"We generally receive up to 1,700 resumes each month. It quickly became apparent that we had to have an Internet-based resume management tool in order to remain productive," she said. "Prior to SmartSearch Online, our system relied heavily on routing hard copies to hiring managers. We now have a near paperless system for routing resumes."

Roise said SmartSearch Online was eventually selected after an extensive search.

"Other companies claimed to have the bandwidth that SmartSearch Online had, but in many instances we couldn't even log on to their systems, or they were either too slow or too difficult to maneuver," she said. "SmartSearch Online was more user friendly. We also needed a global solution suitable for a company like ours which is in a growth mode now."

Roise added that one of the most useful features has been the system's search capabilities.

"With keyword Boolean searches instantly meeting or resume criteria, it has been an enormous time saver at any point during the applicant process. We can attach applicants to specific jobs and track how many resumes have been forwarded to managers through various reports," she said.

Another big plus for Interpath, she said, is that when someone clicks on the company's career section on their Web site, they are automatically forwarded to SmartSearch Online.

"We input our job postings with SmartSearch Online and they are forwarded through a Web interface to Go Jobs, one of APS' partners. APS forwards these to paid/unpaid job posting sites and refreshes them automatically. It would be an impossible task for us if we had to individually post these to so many different company sites. One-stop posting is faster and more productive."

APS (http://www.aps2k.com) is an innovative leader in developing Internet-based solutions for the staffing industry. Established in 1985, the firm is based in Oceanside, CA, about 30 miles north of San Diego. The company's flagship product, SmartSearch Online (http://www.smartsearchonline.com), provides clients worldwide with the technology framework for their Internet recruiting strategy. SmartSearch Online is the only product offering wireless access and integration with Microsoft Outlook.

In addition to selling and marketing SmartSearch Online in the United States, APS maintains strategic partnerships with companies in France, Germany and Hong Kong that distribute the product throughout Europe and Asia. Clients include Tyson Foods, Corestaff, Adecco, Interstate Hotels, Sharp HealthCare, Belcan Technical Services, Quantum Resources, Copper Mountain Networks, and more.

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