MaCATI™ telephone and disk-by-mail survey software upgraded and available through new leasing program.
Bowling Green, Ohio, January 20, 1998 - Senecio Software, Inc. today announced a product upgrade and lease program for
its widely used telephone and disk-by-mail line of survey products for the Macintosh.
"We've worked hard to incorporate the features our sites have been clamoring for," said Dr. Jerry Wicks, President of
Senecio Software. "As with any integrated set of applications, like MaCATI, it's difficult to incorporate change. MaCATI
has become a very sophisticated set of data gathering products for use in surveying by telephone, disk, kiosk and personal
interviewing."
MaCATI 2.5 (ISBN 1-884386-03-2) contains more than 50 enhancements, most of them "under the hood," leading to improved
speed, reliability and adaptive qualities of the questionnaire. (see Upgrade Features below.)
The most dramatic enhancement is MaCATI's ability to survey both Windows and Macintosh users with a single disk. Market
research firms are mailing out questionnaires on disks in increasing numbers. It's often impossible to know ahead of time
if a respondent is running Macintosh or Windows. As a result, survey firms often mail out two disks, one for Macintosh and
one for Windows. MaCATI works on both the Macintosh and Windows and fits on a single disk. Savings in the cost of disk
alone pay for the package.
Lease Program
"The new leasing program will help expand the desktop surveying market by making this technology much more affordable,"
said Dr. Wicks.
The lease program makes it easier and far less expensive for firms to incorporate advanced computer assisted surveying
technology into their research plans.
The cost of professional survey systems are prohibitively expensive for a large majority of market research and opinion
polling firms. By incorporating new metering technology into MaCATI, the cost of software has been lowered to the point
where most companies will recoup the expense of the new system in the first few telephone or disk-by-mail surveys.
And compared to the competition, the MaCATI system cost far less. For example, the cost for software alone to set up a
36 station computer assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) center using a moderately priced but well known package in
the PC market is $20,000. A MaCATI calling center with the same number of stations would cost less than $5,000, and it
would be far easier to set up and maintain. In fact, since the MaCATI survey system can be leased for as few as three
months, any size calling center can be established for as little as a $1,000, making this technology affordable to even
the smallest market research firm, university survey center or corporate office. Plus, during the lease program, tech
support and upgrades are free.
The MaCATI upgrade and new lease program strengthens the Macintosh in the desktop surveying market, making it easier and
more cost effective to incorporate advanced computer assisted technology into survey research.
Availability and Price
MaCATI's basic system (questionnaire editor, disk-by-mail and personal interviewing data collection programs) can be
leased quarterly ($245) or annually ($795). The metering system cost is based only on completed interviews and calculated
on a sliding scale from 50 cents to 10 cents a complete. Existing MaCATI sites can upgrade for half price until May 1, 1998. Educational
sites receive a 10% discount on all leases.
About Senecio Software
Headquartered in Bowling Green, Ohio, Senecio Software, Inc. has specialized in the development of advanced data gathering
systems for computer assisted interviewing and data analysis since 1992. A leader in the desktop surveying market, its survey
software, MaCATI (tm), is the most widely used telephone interviewing and disk-by-mail surveying package in the Macintosh
market. Senecio Software, Inc. can be reached by telephone (419-352-4371), fax (419-354-7512), e-mail (info@senecio.com) or
the world wide web (www.senecio.com).
