IOWA CITY, IA - October 6th, 2004. MetaCommunications, Inc. today announced Approval Manager(tm) 1.0, a unique new software solution designed to provide approval workflow management for leading digital proofing technologies. Inspired by customer demand and designed with the recommendations of an industry advisory panel, Approval Manager masters the inherent difficulty of managing, tracking and scheduling the approval processes within and across creative, publishing, packaging and prepress organizations. Although digital proofing technologies have been available for several years, the workflow management necessary to drive a digital proof through an often complex approval process has been notably absent - causing many organizations to struggle in obtaining the efficiency gains thought possible with digital proofing. Approval Manager provides a user friendly web based interface (Mac OS X and Windows) for setting up and planning proofing stages, and for managing proofing rounds, reviewers, and schedules. Three leading digital proofing technologies are supported - Adobe Acrobat, KPG RealTimeProof, and Microsoft SharePoint - enabling organizations to choose the best digital proofing technology for their particular environment. Approval Manager manages the complex cyclical workflows involved in the creative process chain. These workflows may include proofing iterations between designers, creative directors, legal teams, brand & product managers, merchandisers, marketing, prepress and external customers. "Approval Manager adds a new dimension to today's digital proofing technologies that we believe represents a major breakthrough. Approval Manager brings unprecedented savings in time and improved process control throughout an entire organization," says Robert Long, Executive Vice-President of MetaCommunications. KEY FEATURES Planning and Scheduling - Support for stage plans and digital proof rounds - Proof planning and templating - Proof, stage, and round scheduling Workflow - Linear, parallel and cyclic workflow support - Event driven email notifications and reminders Interface - Dashboard view based on manager, production, and reviewer roles - File comments, round comments, and annotations stored in database - Visual queues for status, schedule prediction, and management - User groups/teams supported for internal and external users - Web browser based interface Technology - Built on .Net technologies with Microsoft SQL Server support - Integrates Adobe Acrobat, KPG RealTimeProof, and Microsoft SharePoint proofing technologies - Integration with Virtual Ticket 6.0 and Job Manager 3.5 ADVISORY PANEL Approval Manager was developed with the recommendations of industry experts from leading organizations. Many of these panelist participated by contributing their expertise in shaping this new technology to fulfill an unmet need in the industry. Panelists include participants from the following organizations: * American College of Physicians * Allstate Insurance * Canon Communications * Carson Pirie Scott (Younkers, Herberger's, Boston Store, Carsons and Bergners) * Corporate Express * Federated Design Group * H&S Graphics * Montage Media * NEC 360 * Paramount Graphics * Southern Graphic Systems * Time * Tru Art Color Graphics * Wellington Management AVAILABILITY Approval Manager will be demonstrated at Graph Expo 2004 in Chicago October 10-13th and at DMA 87th Conference in New Orleans October 17th-19th. Approval Manager is scheduled to ship by the end of 2004. Approval Manager will be available directly from MetaCommunications and through certified and OEM partners worldwide. Licensing costs will be based on a per seat basis.