AFS Announces Strategic Alliance Partnership with Explore Information Systems Integration with the FireSafe™ Automated Fire Protection System to provide P&C Insurance Underwriters with detailed, accurate information required to evaluate a property’s risk of fire peril. COEUR D’ALENE, ID, February 23, 2004 Advanced Field Services, Inc (AFS) and Explore Information Services, LLC (EIS) of Eagan, MN, today announced the formation of a strategic business partnership, paving the way for the FireSafe™ product to be incorporated as a multi-tiered AFS value-added product offering. FireSafe™, specifically designed for Personal Property Lines, provides cost-effective, “property specific” protection status information for evaluating the risk of fire peril. FireSafe features sophisticated mapping technology and a “national” database of over 47,000 fire stations - the most complete national database available today. FireSafe requests yield a host of valuable information including the accurate latitude and longitude of the insured property, proximity to the municipal boundary, location and distance to the three nearest fire stations, type of station (full time, volunteer, etc.), and protection status. The integration of FireSafe™ data has been finalized and is presently available as an option for those utilizing the core line of AFS Risk Reporting Services. Real-time data access will also be available in the next 30-days as a component of the much anticipated release of AFS’s new “Property Profile” module, a “pre-bind” tool designed for agents and direct writers. A second-tier product is also presently available and offered in the form of a Responding Fire Department Verification service, which will be conducted by the AFS Call Center’s professional ‘in house’ staff. This service will be provided either as an upgrade to the baseline FireSafe™ information included in the core line of Risk Reporting Services, or as an upgrade option in the new “Property Profile” module. The Call Center provides verified information – identifying the actual “responding” department to the property should the event of fire occur. This data is obtained through a physical phone verification survey of the three nearest fire stations noted on the FireSafe™ report. “This alliance provides for expanded distribution options designed to meet the growing trend for packaged service solutions”, commented Eric Taylor, VP Strategic Business Solutions for AFS. “As we continue to leverage our unique position in the underwriting cycle by incorporating additional streams of valuable decision-oriented data into our business process, our end users ultimately benefit from a single source solution, minimizing the necessity for multiple integrations, unbudgeted technology expenditures and multiple vendor management responsibilities.” Explore Information Services is a leading provider of information solutions to the Insurance industry and Government entities. Explore’s "exception-based" reporting services, (EARS, RiskAlert, FireSafe) deliver cost-effective underwriting information to Property and Casualty Insurers, resulting in reduced risk exposure and enhanced premium revenue. Explore’s e-government solutions serve the information needs of state and federal governments with customized database services and software applications. Based in Eagan, Minn., Explore is a division of Schwan’s Technology Group, a unit of The Schwan Food Company. For more information on Explore Information Services, call (800) 531-9125 or visit Explore on the Web at www.exploredata.com. Advanced Field Services is a national provider of professional risk reporting services to the Insurance and Real Estate industries. They are a privately owned corporation, and have been servicing the marketplace since 1996. Their corporate headquarters is located in Coeur d'Alene, Idaho, and they have regional processing centers and satellite management sites strategically located across the US. Their core competency focuses around the field inspection profession, and they offer a wide assortment of risk reporting surveys, value-added product offerings, and technology-driven underwriting tools. For additional information about AFS and the professional risk reporting services they provide, visit AFS on the web at www.afsweb.com or contact their sales department at sales@afsweb.com or (208) 772-7060.