Jefferies Uses Web to Deliver Instant Messages to Clients and Staff with BackWeb´s Push Technology

Third Market Broker's Largest 200 Clients to Receive Timely Information, Including Customized Trading Indications, Research Alerts and Breaking News

SAN JOSE, Calif., — November 8, 1999 — BackWeb® Technologies (Nasdaq: BWEB), the leading provider of push for e-business solutions, and Jefferies & Company, Inc., the principal operating subsidiary of Jefferies Group, Inc. (NYSE: JEF), today announced a global installation of BackWeb's Polite™ push technology that will dramatically streamline the firm's efforts to keep its clients abreast of the latest market information. Jefferies, which serves large institutional investors such as pension fund and mutual fund managers, is using BackWeb technology to transform the Internet into a 24-hour channel for instantly alerting 200 of its largest clients about key buy and sell indications, updated research and breaking market news.

The Flash messages also allow the firm's 125 account executives to augment their existing phone-based methods of contacting clients with important proprietary news. Flashes are customized based on a particular investor's holdings, so information sent to them is highly targeted. Jefferies often handles trades that occur specifically between institutional investors, away from the various stock exchanges and Nasdaq. The new system allows Jefferies to alert interested parties of another investor's desire to buy or sell a stock. By handling the transaction from within the firm's network of institutional investors, clients can avoid unnecessary and often unprofitable market moves based on sell or buy indications.

"The ability to instantly learn of major trading indications can mean millions to large institutional investors," said Mike Alex, head of Jefferies' trading technology group. "These investors typically hold significant positions in their invested companies, so buy or sell indications can easily move the stock price before a buyer or seller is found. With our new BackWeb system, we can reach interested trading targets much more quickly and efficiently than phone or fax allows – everybody wins."

Drawing the latest research and market data from Jefferies' proprietary database and IS software, the BackWeb system automatically customizes information delivery according to a client's holdings. Based on BackWeb's popular Foundation technology, the system is designed to initially alert the firm's 125 account executives via both automated and manual processes. Once the system is fully streamlined, Jefferies will expand its BackWeb system to its 200 top clients.

"BackWeb's revolutionary Polite push technology has allowed us to transform the Web into a tremendous competitive advantage, both for us and for our clients," commented Jim Nikolai, vice president of trading systems and head of application development for Jefferies. "This powerful approach to leveraging the Internet gives us the most effective way possible to reach clients with vital market information, all via a network that already exists and with technology that anyone can use. This allows Jefferies to extend the competitive edge that we've maintained since first becoming technology innovators in the 1970s."

With BackWeb's patented Polite push technology, Jefferies can deliver multimedia-rich digital packages of any size or format, including audio, video, graphics and html. BackWeb's Polite Agent™ avoids disrupting the customer by using only available bandwidth and politely delivering the information in the background.

"Jefferies' pioneering use of the Internet is a strong testament to its competitive vision and proof positive that polite push technology continues to revolutionize the financial services industry," said Eli Barkat, chairman and CEO of BackWeb. "Once again, a forward-looking BackWeb customer is leveraging our push for e-business solutions to create an ingenious approach to reaching customers with priority information."

About Jefferies & Co.
Jefferies & Company, Inc. is an institutional brokerage firm focused on trading in equity, high yield, convertible and international securities, and an investment bank providing capital raising, research, mergers and acquisitions, and restructuring services for middle market companies. Jefferies is also a leader in equity trading for institutional investors, as recognized by numerous consulting and survey organizations. Further information about Jefferies, including a description of trading, research and investment banking services, can be found at Jefferies' web site, www.jefco.com.

About BackWeb Technologies
BackWeb Technologies is a leading offline Web software company. BackWeb extends the value of technology investments by offering mobile and remote employees offline access to portals, intranets and other Web-based applications and content. The company's products reduce network costs and improve the productivity of an increasingly mobile workforce. At the core of BackWeb's products is its patented Polite® synchronization technology that can distribute large amounts of data even over narrow bandwidth connections. BackWeb® customers include market leaders such as Boehringer Ingelheim, Centocor, Eastman Kodak, GE Healthcare, Guidant, HP, KLA Tencor, Lam Research, Pfizer and more than one hundred other companies. BackWeb also has strategic reseller alliances with software industry leaders: Plumtree, SAP and IBM. The company is headquartered in San Jose, Calif. and Rosh Ha'ayin, Israel. For more information, visit www.backweb.com or call (800) 863-0100.

Statements in this news release, which are not purely historical, are forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Securities laws, including statements of beliefs, plans, expectations or intentions regarding the future. Examples of these statements include, but are not limited to, the ability of BackWeb software to allow customers to gain mobile, disconnected use of their portals and help increase field sales and field service productivity, the integration of BackWeb software with BEA products will help developers extend portal applications for offline use without changing the way they work, and the ability of the resulting applications to help field sales and service organizations realize maximum productivity, cost savings, and process acceleration gains while disconnected from the network. Actual results could differ materially from those in such forward-looking statements. Factors that could cause actual results to differ materially include unforeseen technological issues related to use of the BackWeb software, deployment issues related to implementation, unforeseen software errors, competitive factors and business and expense factors that may affect the perceived efficiencies from use of BackWeb's products, and the risks and uncertainties detailed from time to time in BackWeb's periodic reports and registration statements filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. BackWeb assumes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this press release.