You Are Here: > Home > Our Company > Press Releases > 2006/09/18

Our collective knowledge provides greater insights

With SumTotal, Pearson Government Solutions Supports U.S. Department of Health and Human Services

MOUNTAIN VIEW, Calif. – September 18, 2006 – SumTotal® Systems, Inc. (Nasdaq: SUMT), the largest provider of talent, learning and business performance technologies and services, said today that Arlington, Va.-based Pearson Government Solutions has deployed SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1 software to manage training for 3,000 customer service representatives (CSRs) who staff the 1-800-MEDICARE Helpline. Pearson Government Solutions manages the nationwide telephone line on behalf of the Department of Health and Human Services’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to help beneficiaries with their questions about Medicare and their Medicare health plans.

Specifically, Pearson uses SumTotal Enterprise Suite 7.1 to deliver online training to CSRs who field calls on topics such as Medicare’s prescription drug coverage plan. SumTotal’s software will also assess how well the CSRs have mastered instruction on a particular topic, as CSRs must meet a high level of proficiency on a weekly basis across a number of subject areas. With SumTotal’s talent-management software, Pearson can assess each CSR’s performance.

“Measuring our representatives’ performance is critical to success, but we also want to capture institutional knowledge and disseminate that quickly to our customer service representatives,” said Mike Bowers, senior vice president and general manager of Pearson Government Solutions’ Health division. “SumTotal’s TotalCollaboration product gives us an easy way to capture knowledge from our company experts, and transfer this knowledge for future reference.”

TotalCollaboration enables Pearson’s CSRs to get answers from company experts via threaded discussions and instant messaging. According to Bowers, the system from SumTotal will boost the 1-800-MEDICARE Helpline staff’s productivity and knowledge.

“Pearson has a reputation for delivering superior service to federal government agencies,” said Don Fowler, chief executive of SumTotal. “We’re pleased that they have chosen to work with SumTotal’s Government Solutions group to serve not only the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, but also the American public.”

About Pearson Government Solutions
With over 5,500 employees worldwide, Pearson Government Solutions, Arlington, Va., serves the U.S. federal, state and local and international governments; higher education institutions and student financial aid entities. The company designs, builds, and operates solutions that optimize the performance of public sector entities in delivering information, benefits, and services to their constituents. Clients include the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the U.S. Departments of Education, Health and Human Services, Homeland Security, Justice, Labor, and Veterans Affairs; the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and the U.S. Office of Personnel Management.

Pearson Government Solutions is a business of Pearson, the international publishing, education and professional services company, including the Financial Times Group, and the Penguin Group. For more information, visit www.pearsongovernmentsolutions.com.

About SumTotal Systems, Inc.
SumTotal Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ: SUMT) is the largest provider of learning and business performance technologies and services. SumTotal deploys mission-critical solutions that align learning with organizational and business goals to generate significant bottom-line results. With more than 17 million users worldwide, SumTotal has helped accelerate performance and profits for more than 1,500 of the world’s best-known companies and government agencies including Accenture, Aetna, Cendant, DaimlerChrysler, Delta Air Lines, Harley-Davidson, Microsoft, Novartis, all branches of the U.S. Armed Forces, U.S. Bancorp, United Airlines, Vodafone, Wachovia and Wyeth. SumTotal has offices throughout the United States, in London, Paris, Frankfurt, Singapore, Sydney, Tokyo, Hong Kong and Hyderabad. For more information about SumTotal's products and services, visit www.sumtotalsystems.com.

Media Contacts

Lauren Sell
Porter Novelli
Lauren.sell@porternovelli.com
+1-512-241-2246 (direct)
+1-713-398-8700 (cell)