SoftSmiths leads the way to deliver NERC E-Tag 1.7

Houston, TX. – January 8, 2002 – Today SoftSmiths reported its progress toward delivery of a NERC E-Tag 1.7 compliant tagging solution, demonstrated by the successful participation in the first of a series of interoperability testing cycles. SoftSmiths delivers critical e-Business solutions and services that enable the energy industry participants to enhance profitability and reliability in the competitive marketplace

E-Tag is the method of sending and receiving information about NERC Interchange Transaction Tags. E-Tag uses the HTTP protocol to assure that tags get sent, received, and approved in a timely, reliable manner. All Transmission Providers, Control Areas, and Purchasing/Selling Entities are currently using E-Tag Functional Specification Version 1.67. E-Tag 1.7 is scheduled for implementation at 00:00 CST on March 6, 2002.

“SoftSmiths announced readiness for E-Tag 1.7 back in November and has conducted extensive interoperability testing with other vendors, providing a test environment that has been available 24x7 since the beginning of the test period”, said Hugo Stappers, Director of Sales/Marketing at SoftSmiths. “As the architectures between 1.67 and 1.7 are completely incompatible we want to ensure our customers of the 1.7 availability to allow a timely transition and avoid any disruptions of transmission service or failure to flow energy schedules”

To integrate seamlessly with NERC E-Tag information, SoftSmiths offers e-Link, an XML Application Programming Interface as part of its e-Wheel and e-Merchant product suite. e-Merchant is a toolbox for Purchasing/Selling Entities whose market strategy may focus on high-volume hub trading, buying and selling of physical assets or a combination of both. SoftSmiths’ e-Merchant suite offers a flexible, scalable business technology solution – seamlessly integrating, Risk Management, Scheduling, Portfolio Assessment, Trading, Resource Management, Accounting and Reporting.

Please review the “WHAT'S NEW in Version 1.7 of the NERC TRANSACTION INFORMATION SYSTEM” and the “Electronic Tagging - Functional Specifications, Version 1.7” for more information. Both documents are available from http://www.nerc.com/~filez/tag/E-tag/E-Tag.htm

About SoftSmiths

SoftSmiths, Inc. is a Texas-based, privately held corporation. The company has been successfully delivering e-business solutions to energy service companies since commencing commercial operations in January 1997.

SoftSmiths is a leading provider of business critical Transaction Management Systems and services to the energy industry. SoftSmiths products are designed to address increased customer and transaction volumes and yield increased operational efficiencies, thereby enabling its customers to profitably operate in the competitive marketplace.

SoftSmiths' highly differentiated position in the market is a result of its in-depth knowledge of the industry’s business practices, having the broadest product development strategy and using its intellectual property and consulting service to meet its customer’s competitive business requirements.

SoftSmiths is a registered trademark of SoftSmiths, Inc. All other products are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.

Contact Information:

Softsmiths Inc.
Hugo Stappers
Phone:    713.626.9184
Fax:          713.626.0186
Email:      mkt@softsmiths.com
Website:  www.softsmiths.com

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