METRYX™ Industry-Wide Auto Glass Service Provider Registry Launched

New Web-Based Self-Service Tool Available for Access

PITTSBURGH, August 5, 2005 - The new METRYX™ industry services registry, hosted by LYNX Services®, is now live and available on the Web. Glass repair/replacement service providers are now able to update their company profiles on the registry via the LYNX Services website - www.lynxservices.com.

By visiting the registry, auto glass repair and replacement service providers can create, or update, their company's profile including service area and other attributes such as capabilities and qualifications. Any auto glass service provider may post a profile on the registry, but for data security, a secure user ID and password to the LYNX Services Installer Resources portal is required. A user ID and password may be obtained by following the steps provided at the "How to log into METRYX" link found on the right hand side of the installer resources page at www.lynxservices.com .

About the Registry

The METRYX registry is a service to the auto glass repair and replacement industry that will promote information about a service provider's unique capabilities, capacity, and service offerings. It will provide customers with the opportunity to consider other verifiable attributes, in addition to competitive price, when choosing a qualified glass service provider. To this end, the METRYX registry enables glass service providers to specify their company's service area by ZIP code, and record their glass repair and/or replacement services, hours of operation, emergency or after-hours contact information and service capacity. Professional credentials, such as AGRSS™ registration, and qualifications of service technicians, such as replacement and/or repair training, windshield adhesive system training, and state licensing, if applicable, can also be recorded. In support of the integrity of METRYX data, and in service to the industry, associations such as the NGA and NWRA, AGRSS, as well as others that provide verifiable professional training, will be cooperating to help validate credentials that are recorded on the registry.

Leo Cyr, vice president of NGA's Auto Glass Division, believes the METRYX registry will serve his constituents. "This is consistent with the NGA's stance of supporting and promoting professional standards and practices in the industry. I commend LYNX for having the vision to invest in this tool on behalf of the auto glass and insurance industries. By creating awareness of the credentials earned by members of our industry, and by validating those credentials with a number of third party organizations such as the NGA, METRYX will ultimately create demand among customers for the very attributes of professionalism that many in this industry have labored long to develop and promote."

Many industry stakeholders view the METRYX registry as the right mechanism to provide third-party verification of data for both insurance companies and consumers to reference.

"The information METRYX can make available to customers is more extensive than in the past, but that's exactly the point. The information that will be communicated to customers is not confidential. This is information every glass company should want every potential customer to see. The registry allows customers to use the professional credentials that so many of our industry adhere to and invest in. We have all looked for the day when quality metrics and professional standards can become part of an informed decision on which shop the customer can entrust with his/her windshield replacement. Unless consumers learn how AGR businesses are different, and why a safe, high quality auto glass repair or replacement is important, the auto glass decision will continue to be no more than a commodity decision. METRYX will create greater customer awareness of why quality and safety matter. By inviting third parties, such as the NGA, to verify the data provided to the registry, we take a huge step toward creating consumer confidence and trust in our industry," said Cyr.

LYNX Services plans to begin using the METRYX industry services registry profiles in the administration of glass claims for its insurance clients in October.

To reduce the companies' time in updating their general profile information, LYNX Services pre-populated the METRYX registry with previously reported company information. LYNX Services glass program participants that wish to enhance their company's participation in the LYNX Services glass program and self-manage their company's service area and credentials, will simply update their profile on the registry and accept the updated LYNX Services glass program participant agreement.

Over the past two months, a pilot phase for the user interface was conducted among a number of cooperating companies to make the process as simple and efficient as possible. "Once I had all of the necessary company, vehicle and technician information in hand the process to update my profile was straightforward and efficient," said Ed Sprigler of Auto Glass Specialists. "We have already seen cases where adjusting our own service territories makes sense due to the information METRYX compiles."