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April 16, 2003, SANTA CRUZ — Open Field Software, Inc., a developer of advanced adaptive learning applications for email management, began shipping Ella™ today. Ella is the first Smart Inbox Assistant™, which learns by example how to personally organize and automate the processing of email messages from within the Inbox.
Designed for the millions of Microsoft Outlook users, Ella quickly learns how you want to organize your Inbox, automatically sorting your email into three customizable categories, such as Inbox, Later and Spam. With the average email user receiving more than fifty messages a day, a number projected to grow 100% annually, knowledge workers are looking for better ways to organize their email.
“Ella helps users focus on messages that are important to them, moving lower priority email to folders for later review,” said Bob Cagle, Open Field Software Chief Executive Officer. “The amount of email we receive keeps increasing daily, and we are desperate for a better way to manage it. Ella is the first product that lets you teach the computer how to work for you.”
Dan Cohn of Redwood Computer, one of Ella’s early beta users, said “I was up and running in minutes. Ella gives me complete control, and it is easier and more accurate than rules. Now Ella sorts my work and personal email just like an assistant.”
How Ella™ Works
Instead of relying on rules, lists and challenges, Ella learns from examples you provide to recognize which messages you want to read first, and which should be set aside for later review. By using the Ella Wizard and integrated toolbar, users simply show Ella a few examples of messages to keep in their Inbox, and messages to move to the Later and Spam review folders. Ella quickly learns these preferences and automatically places all new messages in the appropriate folders.
Ella’s adaptive learning engine is built on a high-performance associative memory technology that observes user examples, then creates, updates, and maintains a message classification model unique to each individual. Over 100 attributes of the user’s example messages are analyzed and learned by Ella in order to create the profile for the user-defined message categories. Then Ella accurately sorts incoming messages, and improves its learning each time the user adds new examples.
Unlike email filtering products that can only identify spam, Ella builds a personal data model while observing how the user works with email. The user defines what is, and what is not spam, or any other kind of email, and Ella learns from examples how to recognize and organize incoming messages. Future applications will include other data sources beyond email, such as corporate databases and the web.
System Requirements
Ella supports Microsoft Outlook XP or 2000 running on Windows XP, 2000, 98 or ME, connected to an Exchange or POP3 mail server. An IMAP version is in beta testing.
Pricing and Availability
Ella is available now for Microsoft Outlook XP and 2000 users at http://www.openfieldsoftware.com. The suggested retail price is $29.95, and a free 15-day trial version is also available.
About Open Field Software, Inc.
Open Field Software, Inc., www.openfieldsoftware.com, designs and markets a class of personal software applications that leverage, enhance and expand productivity from within email. The Open Field Software advanced adaptive learning engine creates a digital profile of personal preferences to assist knowledge workers in organizing information throughout all networking environments. Open Field Software, founded in 2002, is privately held and headquartered in Santa Cruz, California.
For More Information:
Robert Wong
Vice President, Marketing
Open Field Software, Inc.
(831) 466-6900
robert@openfieldsoftware.com
Leigh Anne Varney
Varney Business Communication
(415) 387-7250
la@varneybusiness.com
Copyright © 2003 Open Field Software, Inc. All rights reserved. The Open Field Software Logo, Ella and Smart Inbox Assistant are trademarks of Open Field Software, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
© 2004, Open Field Software