BT and Ask Jeeves

British Telecommunications PLC
22 December 2000

December 22, 2000

                     BT.COM ASKS JEEVES TO HELP CUSTOMERS


Jeeves Answers, the intuitive question and answering service from Ask Jeeves,
is now available on BT.com, to support the thousands of visitors interacting
online with BT every day.


BT has worked with Ask Jeeves to provide visitors to BT.com with a more human
interface where they can ask questions using everyday language and receive
back accurate, relevant answers, regardless of their level of Internet
experience.


Visitors can now ask questions such as 'What is BT Together?', 'What can
SurfTime do for me?' or 'What is the best way to pay my bill?'.


Huw Williams, BT's general manager, Electronic Channels, said, 'This service
is an essential part of BT.com's transformation into a one-stop-shop for
existing and new customers. It will enable visitors to the site to find the
information they want quickly and easily, whether they are paying their bill
online or looking for information on our new pricing packages.'


David Gerken, chief operating officer at Ask Jeeves UK, said, 'This new
service will not only make the site more friendly, but it will also provide
many business benefits to BT as customers begin to answer their own questions
through self-help on the site.


'BT.com is the largest customer implementation of Jeeves Answers in the UK to
date and is one of the most advanced sites employing a natural language search
engine.'


BT and Ask Jeeves will continue to work together to improve BT.com, linking
relevant questions to the huge content and knowledge database already
supporting the site. The facility is customer driven, with constant monitoring
and analysis of the type of questions asked. New content will be created to
answer popular questions asked by visitors to the site.


BT.com is the electronic public face of BT and provides residential and
business customers with an e-commerce channel where they can access
information and services covering all their communication needs. Popular
destinations on BT.com include Directory Enquiries, View My Bill and the
BT.com Shop. The site currently has nearly one million registered users and
attracts up to 1.7 million page impressions each week.


The new service can be accessed via 'Search' on the right hand navigation tab
at www.bt.com.

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Notes for editors


For more information on Ask Jeeves (www.ask.co.uk), contact Nick Mason Pearson
on mobile [phone].




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