Exstream Software announced today the general availability of AFP Jazz!, superior print stream optimization software that allows businesses— such as banking, financial services, telecommunications and utilities companies—that use the Advanced Function Presentation (AFP) platform for producing high-volume transaction documents to significantly reduce costs and increase productivity. Part of the Exstream AFP Studio productivity suite, AFP Jazz! allows companies to take advantage of a visual interface to easily merge AFP documents from multiple print streams, index and enhance them with barcodes or other content to achieve post-processing efficiency. Immediate benefits include reduced postage costs, the ability to quickly make ad-hoc changes directly to AFP print files (without re-engineering the applications that produced them) and the ability to readily integrate documents created with Exstream’s Dialogue software with documents produced from legacy applications or other document tools. AFP Jazz! is the next generation of print stream processing products. The AFP Jazz! full-featured visual interface, integrated viewer and indexer technology eliminate the need for specialized programming skills and knowledge of AFP structures. Users can easily modify documents with drag-and-drop and visual controls that show the effect of document changes as they happen. With incomparable precision, graphics, barcodes and fonts appear on screen exactly as they will appear in print. AFP Jazz! makes it easy to add or replace text, OMR marks and barcodes to satisfy changing operational requirements. Additionally, AFP Jazz! dynamically creates an AFP index with any content from the file itself or from an external system. It also easily creates independent reports for audit or billing purposes. Benefits companies will receive with AFP Jazz! include: • Increased productivity—software requires no AFP training or programming. • Postage savings—controls pages per envelope, cuts number of envelopes used and segregates mailings to optimize postal operations. • Maintain legacy applications—when legacy source code is not available or impractical to modify, the AFP output can be easily enhanced to meet changing business objectives. • Evolve to Exstream’s Dialogue for advanced document creation—easy to merge new and legacy AFP print streams. • Reduce program maintenance—intelligent processing dramatically reduces ongoing legacy program maintenance. “Exstream’s AFP print stream optimization solution is not only easy to use, it is very cost-efficient,” said Gary Jennemann, vice president of development for Microdynamics Group, a service bureau in Naperville, Illinois. “It allows us to easily access and manipulate data inside the AFP print file, resulting in significant savings on postage. We can control pages per envelope, cut the number of envelopes used and segregate mailings. Also, having the ability to merge AFP documents from multiple print streams into a single envelope meets our customers’ requirements.” “AFP Jazz! is powerful print stream optimization software that immediately saves companies time and money and offers a superior user experience compared to competitive products,” said Neal Gottsacker, vice president of products for Exstream Software. “It significantly reduces postal expense with its ability to merge notices and statements into one envelope. AFP Jazz! also provides unparalleled flexibility with its ability to integrate with Exstream’s enterprise personalization solutions, including Dialogue and the AFP Studio line of format converters. Whether you are an AFP expert or a novice, AFP Jazz! will increase your post-processing efficiency.”