Other Sites

Press release edited by Applelinks senior editor Kirk Hiner

Agent Software, innovators in intelligent search solutions, today raised the bar for information search and retrieval with the introduction of Precision Recall. Precision Recall is a desktop application that takes the concept of federated search—one of the hottest areas in search today—to the individual to significantly improve the accuracy of research, boost productivity and enable users to more easily share research files, while eliminating wasted time and money.

In a federated search, a user enters a word or phrase and receives integrated results from multiple data stores (e.g., other search engines, commercial information services, or internal databases). Utilizing highly-innovative categorization technology, Precision Recall similarly allows users to quickly, easily and cost-effectively collect, organize and publish vital content from a variety of resource repositories including local files, email and the Web. Precision Recall accomplishes this all within one simple integrated application interface. Precision Recall is fully complementary with popular search tools including Google, and extends and enhances Apple's revolutionary Spotlight technology introduced in their recent OS X 10.4 Tiger Release.

It's estimated that searchers are successful at finding what they seek 50 percent of the time or less. Additionally, according to IDC's 2004 report The High Cost of Not Finding Information, 40 percent of corporate users cannot find on their intranets the information they need to do their jobs. Companies incur costs based on time spent looking for information and recreating information that cannot be found, as well as less tangible opportunity costs arising from the inability to leverage existing information.

In his role as a senior research scientist at NASA Ames Research Center, located in the heart of Silicon Valley, Dr. Hector D'Antoni makes heavy use of the Internet. "For searching, Precision Recall provides structure and helps quickly organize information in a meaningful manner," D'Antoni remarked. "Further, it saves time by clustering information so it is handy in creating collections of files related to a specific subject. I would rank the product as an outstanding research tool based on its precision, the quality of data obtained and its ease of use."

Precision Recall is an integrated search application that returns unbiased and precise results to queries based on user-defined properties. Its innovative categorization technology creates an interactive topic view into a local repository that organizes results into relevant groups and dynamically creates virtual folders containing content users can easily customize. Users personalize results within areas of interest through evaluation of the appropriateness of the content, which they can then edit, annotate and rate. These logical groups eliminate disconnected searches and provide an accurate history and audit trail. Topic Views also increase productivity and facilitate knowledge coordination and collaboration. As a result, end users increase accuracy, productivity and can collaborate with their peers while maximizing value from the Web, company intranet, emails and local files. Plug-ins for RSS feeds, subscription sources and other search tools are under development.

Key product benefits include:

• Enhanced recall and insight,
• More accurate and precise search and data retention,
• Improved speed, efficiency and ease of use,
• Increased collaboration with peers and
• Less need for redundant services or databases.

Agent Software was founded by three software industry veterans—Allan Goode, president and CEO; Russell McMahon, CTO; and Herb Blumstein, COO—who recognized a critical need for solutions to improve and streamline the information access and retrieval function. "To say that people today are inundated with information is a gross understatement," observed Goode. "Individuals and companies don't need more data; they are drowning in data already. What they need is more intelligent data. Precision Recall helps users more effectively leverage Internet search to create and support an opinion by melding trusted research with internal trends to lead to intelligent and immediately actionable information."

Precision Recall integrates easily into existing desktop applications, with no IT or database experience needed, and requires no additional hardware. The solution works with today's popular search tools including Google, and Apple Tiger's revolutionary Spotlight technology.

Pricing for Precision Recall starts at $99.00 per individual user depending on features and system configurations. Discounts are available for government, education and non-profit organizations. Precision Recall for the Mac OS X v10.4 Tiger platform is available now.