Altura is Selected by Alaska Native Medical Center to Provide IP Telephony.

ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Altura Communication Solutions, a nationwide services and solutions company, has been selected by Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium (ANTHC), Anchorage, Alaska, to migrate their existing Fujitsu F9600 PBXs to Internet Protocol (IP) telephony.

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium is a non-profit, statewide organization that provides a range of medical and community health services across Alaska which serves members of 229 tribes in Alaska, which includes the Alaska Native Medical Center (ANMC), Anchorage, Alaska, a trauma level II hospital, which is a place for healing and learning where advanced technology assists in human caring.

As part of the first phase, Altura will migrate approximately 300 stations of ANTHC's administrative department's existing Fujitsu 9600 PBX network of 5,200 stations to the Avaya S8700 Enterprise Class IP Solutions (ECLIPS), including Avaya Communication Manager software. IP telephony will enable ANTHC and the medical center to reduce communication costs related to toll charges, enhance productivity through wireless mobility and provide a centralized network management and administration. ANTHC plans to migrate the remaining of the 5,200 stations to an Avaya solution, in several phases over the next 3 to 5 years.

ANTHC awarded the contract to Altura because of the unique interoperability solution that allows the Avaya ECLIPS to seamless interface with the existing F9600 network. "The interoperability software solution from Altura provided us with the ability to continue to use the F9600s in conjunction with the Avaya systems. This reduced the risk associated with turning up new IP systems without having a built-in back-up plan," according to Steve Sobetsky, director, communication services.

"With Altura's interoperability software, we can migrate and expand our network to IP technology and other advanced applications, such as mobility, while leveraging our initial investments in digital telephones," Sobetsky said. "We have a mission-critical environment and Altura is the only vendor that could provide true redundancy in call control, so that no calls are dropped."

"The interoperability software allows Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium with options not available from any other vendor. They may decide to migrate to IP at their own pace and speed," said Bob Blazek, president and chief executive officer of Altura. "No need to forklift and replace their entire system at once. Additionally, interoperability provides true investment protection. ANTHC may continue to use their voice messaging system and digital phones that works well for them today. It's all about providing choices to your customers."

The interoperability software provides F9600 users with the best option for migrating to IP telephony: Investment protection, cost savings, reliability, productivity improvements, and business continuity. Interoperability software is exclusively available only through Altura.

Altura is an Avaya Platinum Certified Business Partner. The combination of Avaya's market-leading IP solutions and Altura's market-leading service creates a partnership of strength that is unmatched in the telecommunications industry.

About Altura Communication Solutions

With headquarters in Anaheim, Altura Communication Solutions (www.alturacs.com) sells and services a variety of products, including voice switching systems, voice messaging systems, contact centers, voice conferencing systems, network and system management tools and broadband data communications products. The company has nationwide service capabilities and an enterprise customer base of more than 2,000 companies in the financial, education, healthcare and government markets. It is owned by Platinum Equity.

About Platinum Equity

Platinum Equity (www.platinumequity.com) is a global M&A&O(SM) firm specialized in the merger, acquisition and operation of mission-critical services and solutions companies. Since its founding in 1995, Platinum Equity has acquired more than 40 businesses and built a portfolio of companies with over 35,000 employees, more than 600,000 customer sites and annual revenues of $6.5 billion (EUR 5.2 billion). In 2003 Platinum Equity was named the 34th largest private company in the United States by Forbes magazine.

About Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium

The Alaska Native Tribal Health Consortium is a non-profit health organization owned and managed by Alaska Native tribal governments and their regional health organizations. The Consortium was created in 1997 to provide statewide Native health services. Through its six divisions, the Consortium works in cooperation with tribes, Native health organizations, and municipalities to achieve its goals.