IBM readying new e-mail system

IBM is preparing a new technology that will act as a sorting and replying station for companies buried under loads of e-mail.

For the past year, IBM's Lotus Development Corp. subsidiary, along with the IBM research division and IBM's Global Services Division, have been working together to create a high-end e-mail response system for NationsBank NA, based in Charlotte, N.C.

One major part of the project is the construction of a special automatic e-mail classifier. When completed, the classifier will probably first be released as part of Lotus Domino and later will become a generally available stand-alone product.

The classifier tool, dubbed the IBM E-mail Classification System, will handle a variety of tasks, including:

• Automatically routing e-mail to the appropriate person or queue.

• Generating replies.

• Allowing the end-user company to harvest valuable feedback that otherwise would be lost from the letters.

The most unique thing about the system is that the computers are calling the shots on how the e-mail gets sorted and delivered, said David Johnson, a manager at IBM research division. "[This] goes beyond the state of the art. . . . We use a machine that learns [from] the sample data. A person does not have to write the classifications. The system discovers it based on examples. You don't need an expert."

This should come as welcome news to IS managers who are swamped with e-mail.

As is obvious to companies that engage in electronic commerce, the tidal wave of e-mail often results in untimely replies to messages, which frustrates customers, said Jim Deupree, principal at IBM Consulting's Banking, Finance and Securities Industry unit. It also means companies have to shell out money to hire a staff to wade through the floods of e-mail.

NationsBank was no exception. In 1996, its average monthly flow of e-mail jumped from a few hundred to 20,000 - requiring an additional 100 staffers. The e-mail was gathered centrally and then distributed through the bank once per day, printed, faxed and manually filed for tracking purposes. The average response time for an e-mail was three days. Up to its eyeballs in electronic messages, the bank asked IBM to help.

With the IBM software, the response time has already been shortened for NationsBank. "As an industry, I think we're playing [technological] catch-up," said Michael Dafferner, senior vice president of home banking operations for NationsBank. "The bottom line is the customer is getting better quality faster. People can respond on a more timely basis."

While IBM does not pre-announce products, it does intend to offer the classifier in some stand-alone product form, possibly within the next year. Even now, Lotus consulting is at work trying to weave the categorizer into its Domino-based applications.

Other IBM divisions are working with customers on the classifier, as well. The software currently runs on Windows 95, NT and AIX, and works with any e-mail program.

While the classifier concept is not a new one, the IBM categorizer is one of the most cutting-edge e-mail technologies being developed, according to one analyst.

"I would certainly classify it with the most sophisticated systems," said Chad Rider, a consultant with the Boston-based Patricia Seybold Group. "This is a new incarnation of an old technology."

IBM financials.