Novell Enhances NetWire Forums On CompuServe For Easier Information Access

Customers Access Novell's Electronic Technical Services More Than 6 Million Times Monthly

OREM, Utah -- September 19, 1995 -- Novell today announced the reorganization of NetWire# on CompuServe# to provide customers with easier access to technical support information. The company's newly organized information service includes the addition of library forums and the simplified organization of content by product groups in these forums.

"Novell continues to see an increase in the number of customers who use NetWire on CompuServe and on other on-line services," said Michael Bishop, director of Electronic Support for Novell Technical Services. "Our primary goal is to provide customers with easy-to-use technical support information that is readily available at a low cost. Our customers tell us we are on the right track. We are now receiving more than 6 million accesses per month to the company's on-line technical information."

Customers searching NetWire on CompuServe will now find Novell files, patches and drivers separated into five forums, instead of the previous three forums. NOVFILES, the former forum for content about Novell systems products, has now been divided into two new forums:

* NetWare Operating System Files Forum (Go NWOSFILES) contains content on NetWare# operating system products.

* NetWare General Files Forum (Go NWGENFILES) contains content on all other Novell systems products, including UnixWare# and Network Access products.

Customers will also find that the WPFILES forum for Novell applications has been divided into two new forums:

* PerfectOffice Files Forum (Go NPOFILES) contains content on all applications in the PerfectOffice# suite, including versions of WordPerfect#, Quattro Pro#, Presentations#, Envoy# and InfoCentral#. Quattro Pro content will be duplicated in both this forum and the existing Quattro Pro (Go QPRO) forum.

* GroupWare Files Forum (Go NGWFILES) contains content on Novell's GroupWare applications, including GroupWise#, InForms# and SoftSolutions#.

Novell completed several efforts to help customers understand and use the new forums on NetWire. When customers enter CompuServe, the "What's New" section contains a brief description of the forum changes. When customers enter NetWire on CompuServe, a pop-up screen describes the changes and provides a link to the new forums. For the next 30 days, customers entering the old forums will be notified of the expansion, but will be allowed to use the old forum structure. After the 30 day transition period, customers entering one of the old forums will be notified of the expansion and prompted to select from one of the new forums via a direct link. A text file explaining the expansion has also been placed in the old forums for the benefit of those customers who use off-line readers and do not regularly enter the forums through the NetWire interface.

"Novell Technical Services has made the changes to NetWire on CompuServe based on customer feedback," added Bishop. "These changes make it easier for our customers to find information and also automate the process of placing new content on NetWire, providing customers with more timely information." Customers are invited to send their enhancement requests and comments to Novell Technical Services by sending E-mail to netwire@novell.com.

Visit NetWire at the following locations: NetWire on CompuServe (Go NETWIRE); NetWire on the Internet (http://www.novell.com); NetWire on MSN#, The Microsoft Network on-line service (Go NETWIRE); and NetWire on SpaceWorks (1-800-577-2235). Novell also offers additional electronic-based technical information services like FaxBack and the Network Support Encyclopedia Professional Volume# (NSEPro), a knowledgebase CD-ROM.

NetWire Backgrounder

In May, Novell consolidated the technical information for all major company products and brands NetWire# as the name of the company's on-line technical information service on all major on-line services. NetWire is currently on CompuServe, the Internet, the MSN and SpaceWorks.

NetWire provides on-line access to technical, corporate and product information from Novell through remote access 24 hours-a-day. NetWire includes message forums and easily searchable on-line databases and libraries of downloadable files. NetWire on CompuServe is best known for providing quick, inexpensive access to technical solutions from experienced system operators (SYSOPS) and other knowledgeable users. Technical questions posted on NetWire on CompuServe usually receive a response within 24 hours. Advanced questions are routed through Novell's direct technical resources, the same resources used to solve hotline support problems.

Novell has also created two "Top 20" lists on NetWire on the Internet. These lists provide customers with the top 20 Technical Information Documents (TIDS) and top 20 downloadable files based on customer access. Automatically updated according to customer usage, the "Top 20" lists represent the most common technical solutions delivered to on-line customers by Novell.

Novell's electronic technical support offering provides Novell's service partners, large accounts, customers and technical support engineers with access to comprehensive technical information on Novell products, anytime, anyplace. Novell is establishing the electronic support programs and delivery vehicles required to provide technical assistance to a billion users worldwide by the year 2000.