Printsoft and WebDirect via Actnet

"PrintSoft WebDirect is a versatile Web authoring solution with advantages for print service providers as well as their corporate clients," said Rod Brooks, PrintSoft Product Manager.

"The fact that it can be deployed for sophisticated transpromotional applications as well as for direct mail and letter workflows makes it particularly appealing for service providers seeking a real competitive advantage."

"PrintSoft WebDirect provides completely configurable Web-based workflows for both desktop direct mail and letter applications and for Web-based collaborative authoring on high-value transpromotional applications," adds Gavin Dunlop from Actnet.

This flexible software is exceptionally easy to deploy and is scalable and cost-effective for service providers, while offering high-value capabilities for end-customers.

PrintSoft WebDirect makes collaborative Web authoring for transpromotional document applications both intuitive and powerful. Its capabilities include online previews, conditional message creation and editing, date-range triggers, approval workflows, and version management. It provides un-matched flexibility in the collaborative authoring process, including the ability for end-users to create and preview conditional messages that seamlessly integrate text, images and graphical elements.

Creating conditional messages with PrintSoft WebDirect is a quick and easy process. The service provider pre-configures formatting and branding controls ahead of time to ensure that the user selects from approved fonts, colours and images for the document. To create content for a message block, the user creates a new message object, gives it a name, and types the message text in the Web-based wysiwyg preview pane. She can then format message content as desired in the preview pane, placing graphic elements and images directly in message blocks. She can create as many variations as needed for a particular message block, applying conditional logic to each variation with easy-to-use point and click options.

PrintSoft WebDirect offers exceptional end-user control over the conditional logic in each message block. It allows setting up conditions based on database information, as well as based on date ranges. This gives users the ability to set up messages that will automatically go live for a given date range, and then automatically be retired. Message conditions can also combine data and date-range criteria and can be contextual, with automatic, sophisticated white space management that re-flows elements on-the fly ensuring optimal positioning of marketing messages for maximum impact and ROI.

To support the collaborative authoring process, PrintSoft WebDirect provides built-in user management, permissions controls, status tracking, and configurable approval workflows. It tracks changes and automatically saves previous versions so users always have access to previous work. A shared resource library enables re-use of elements and messages and automatically tracks where each shared resource is used. When a shared resource is updated, users are presented with a list of the jobs that will be affected by the change.

For desktop direct mail and letter workflows, PrintSoft WebDirect offers a streamlined solution, easy to deploy across a client enterprise, that brings the benefits of centralised production printing to distributed corporate users. It offers Web-based preview of direct mail and letter templates and enables Web-based content customisation within defined areas, ensuring brand-control and compliance for distributed corporate users producing personalised direct mailers and letters.

To further enhance the value within a corporate account, PrintSoft WebDirect can be integrated with CRM and other enterprise systems. On the back-end, WebDirect is integrated with the company's award-winning DeskDirect software, which collects the small personalised jobs created throughout an enterprise, aggregates them, applies postal sorting and data cleansing to them, and organises them into efficient, high-volume production print jobs. These jobs can then be printed centrally or sub-divided and electronically re-distributed to production printing locations nearest the points of mail delivery.

PrintSoft WebDirect is now in beta testing at customer sites and is scheduled for general release in December 2006.