London, 31 August 2005   –  OneSource Information Services Ltd, a Donnelley Group company of infoUSA, today announced that a leading global law firm, Simmons & Simmons, has integrated OneSource Business Browser as a key strategic component of its new global Client Relationship Management (CRM) system.   As a result, nearly 2000 Simmons and Simmons lawyers and employees worldwide will have access to the most up-to-date information on their clients and prospects to help improve service and increase customer retention.  OneSource Business Browser will provide them with company and executive profiles, research reports, industry intelligence, financial data on over 3.2 million global companies and the latest news from national, trade and business press. 

Simmons & Simmons is a global law firm focused on key industry sectors and legal service areas. It holds the prestigious Queen’s Award for Enterprise in the International trade category. OneSource deployed its AppLink application development toolkit to integrate key data elements – specified by Simmons & Simmons – directly into the CRM system. Melanie Farquharson, Partner and Head of Professional Support at Simmons & Simmons, says they chose OneSource because of the breadth, depth and quality of global information was better than any of the other information providers that it reviewed as part of a rigorous product evaluation including Lexis Nexis.

“Providing lawyers with access to news feeds alone is not enough, they also need to know about the company, its industry and executives,” said Melanie Farquharson.  “OneSource offers the best information for our geographical territory, credible sources and reliable and up-to-date information. We will save a tremendous amount of time searching multiple sources for the information we need on clients and prospects. Because we now have a single source of information, we will be able to work much more efficiently.”
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Global and local knowledge is a key component  of  the company’s philosophy. She continues: “Giving lawyers, information professionals and other staff members exactly the information they need to improve client relationship management, without spending hours searching for what they need, is the holy grail of the legal sector. Many firms talk about it, but few actually do it.”

“Clients today expect their law firm to have a solid understanding of their business and industry. In order to do this, we need a reliable source for accurate external information. A CRM system that only uses internal information will not deliver real benefit to the business,” Farquharson continued. “The knowledge that OneSource provides gives us a competitive advantage over the competition and significantly improves the level of service we provide to our clients.”

In the legal sector, knowledge about industry trends and clients enables lawyers to ask the right questions of the customer. Simmons & Simmons say this will help to improve retention, client service and even win extra business.

“Legal firms like Simmons & Simmons can benefit hugely by optimising their internal and external company information,” said Paul Brown, VP of Sales for Europe at OneSource. “Cutting down the time employees spend searching for the information they need to work effectively is a priority in businesses worldwide. We have been pleased to work with Simmons and Simmons to help them achieve this goal.”

ENDS.

About OneSource Information Services, Inc.
OneSource, a Donnelley Group company of infoUSA, and a recognised leader in business information solutions, delivers unparalleled company, executive, and industry intelligence that makes business professionals more effective and productive in completing their critical daily tasks. OneSource® products and services support a company''s vital business processes, including serving customers, finding and leveraging new opportunities, and managing suppliers and partners.

OneSource aggregates and integrates information on over 3.2 million public and private companies, 7 million executives, and hundreds of industries worldwide.

Combining and organising this content from over 2,500 information sources supplied by more than 35 world-class content providers, OneSource has created an unequalled information resource encompassing company profiles, corporate families, industries, executives, financials, news, analyst reports, and trade and business press articles.

OneSource is headquartered in Concord, MA, with offices located in North America, Europe, and the Pacific Rim. Product information is available at www.onesource.com . Customers include Bank One, Chubb, Citigroup, Deloitte & Touche, i2 Technologies, Orange, SAS Institute, and Sun Microsystems.

About Simmons & Simmons
Simmons & Simmons is a leading law firm with offices in Abu Dhabi, Brussels, Dubai, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, Lisbon, London, Madeira, Madrid, Milan, New York, Oporto, Padua, Paris, Qatar, Rome, Rotterdam, Shanghai and Tokyo with over 1,900 staff worldwide. For further information on Simmons & Simmons please visit our website at www.simmons-simmons.com

Note to editors:
For further information please contact:

Teresa Horscroft
PR Consultant
01420 564346 / 07990 520390
teresa.horscroft@btinternet.com

Paul Brown
OneSource Information Services
020 7367 5700
paul_brown@onesource.com