Blue Bell, Pa., March 29, 2011 — PDS, a leading developer of human resource, benefits, recruiting and payroll systems, and its partner, EasyAsk, an industry leader and original innovator of natural language search technology, offer real-world search capabilities for HR and benefits professionals that rival IBM's Watson computing system.

With IBM Watson's recent victory on Jeopardy!, PDS and EasyAsk demonstrate how PDS Vista HRMS® clients can leverage EasyAsk's powerful technology to easily search and analyze data resulting in better business decisions.

"EasyAsk is a sophisticated search and query tool that offers our Vista HRMS clients the ability to quickly and easily access and perform queries on data stored in the Vista database," said Charles Jefferies, president and CEO of PDS.  "HR and benefits managers can use the Vista EasyAsk solution to make requests such as:  report on how many employees reside in a particular state, pie chart the number of employees by pay company, or cross tab the number of employees by position and sex.  Users simply ask the question in plain English and Vista EasyAsk does the rest for them."

PDS clients are raving about the search technology.

"Our natural language search technology has been integrated with PDS' HR, benefits, recruiting, and payroll solution since 2003," said Craig Bassin, CEO of EasyAsk.  "We designed the tool so that users of Vista EasyAsk have the ability to ask questions in simple English language and quickly get their answers in a variety of formats, such as spreadsheets, pie charts and graphs and HTML.  The Vista EasyAsk solution provides quick answers to complex HRMS questions without the need for specialized training and provides organizations with the information needed to make critical business decisions."

With the availability of this Vista EasyAsk technology, valuable information can be put in the hands of anyone from manager level to the CEO.  An HR manager, for example, is able to leverage the natural language search technology to make HR processes more efficient and fix problems in a more timely manner.  Hiring managers can identify and align skills and resources faster enabling them to more efficiently find appropriate candidates.  Vista EasyAsk adheres to the security-level associated with the employee making the query, so they only have access to the information in which they are authorized to see.


About EasyAsk
     EasyAsk is radically changing the speed and ease of how people find information through the company's ground-breaking natural language search and query software. EasyAsk software products go far beyond traditional search, allowing users to simply ask questions in plain English and receive highly tuned results on demand. The EasyAsk eCommerce Edition uses this unique technology to deliver an industry leading website search, navigation and merchandising solutions that boosts online revenue through increased conversion rates, better customer experience and agile merchandising. EasyAsk Business Edition revolutionizes enterprise decision-making, moving beyond traditional business intelligence solutions with easy, low-cost deployment and a unique natural language interface that extends access to information anywhere in the organization. Based in Burlington, Mass., EasyAsk has long been a leader in natural language information analysis and delivery software. Customers such as Gap, Coldwater Creek, Hewlett Packard, Lands End, Lillian Vernon, Aramark, BASF, Talbots, Nedbank, BNP Paribas, TruValue, Siemens, Hartford Hospital, Ceridian, JoAnn Fabrics and Harbor Freight Tools rely on the EasyAsk software products to run their business and e-commerce operations daily. For more information, please visit EasyAsk.