An Office Phone That Does More; Four Firms Demonstrate How to Save Money, Make Money and Serve Customers Better By Combining Advanced Software with a 3Com NBX Networked Telephony Solution.

Business Editors/High-Tech Writers

WASHINGTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 17, 2003

An airline is flying higher, a call center is answering faster and a credit card processor is training staff better thanks to the unique marriage of IP telephony and advanced hardware and software applications.

Businesses are increasingly taking advantage of the ease of use and efficiencies of 3Com(R) Corp.'s NBX(R) Networked Telephony Solutions. The following four companies are taking IP telephony one step further by adding "out-of-the-box" solutions from third-party developers to their standards-based NBX system. Similar to installing software or hardware on a PC, diverse applications from developers registered in 3Com's Solution Providers Program can be added to the NBX systems, allowing businesses to create a productivity-enhancing communications tool that also lowers the cost of owning and operating a business telephone system.

Couch Potatoes Get DirecTV Help More Directly

Nothing drives a customer more insane - and costs a company more business - than having to wait "on hold" for long periods of time when contacting a call center. Halsted Communications, which provides technical support in the northeast U.S. for DirecTV customers, knew all too well the frustrations of customers waiting for up to 45 minutes for assistance. Handling more than 1,200 customer inquiries a day, abandoned calls were increasing and hold times created havoc with staffing shifts. But Halsted couldn't afford and didn't need the overly complex customer relationship management (CRM) solutions offered by high-end call center applications.

Instead, using a 3Com(R) SuperStack(R) 3 NBX Networked Telephony solution and EasyRun's EPICCenter call center software, Halsted gained the benefits of combining a networked telephony system with a complete multimedia (voice, email, fax and web) management software solution that is designed for medium-sized enterprise call centers. Almost immediately after installing EPICCenter, customer hold times dropped to just three minutes with the help of EPICCenter's call routing capabilities. EPICCenter's instant call load reports have also allowed Halsted to make staff adjustments quickly to better manage peak and low call periods.

"With the reduction in hold times, we estimate we are saving $5,000-$6,000 a month on our 1-800 telephone lines alone," said Tim Mascord, Halsted customer service manager. "The system is paying for itself in no time and our customers receive faster, more efficient service." (www.easyrun.com)

"Bright" Idea Speaks to Customers

IDS Engineering in Louisville, Kentucky was struggling with a common staffing issue: a small workforce and one phone receptionist who also handled other administrative responsibilities. "We wanted to maintain a personal and efficient transfer of incoming calls to the correct person, but we found answering the phone was cutting into our receptionist's productivity," said Tom Palmer, president of IDS Engineering.

Eager for an alternative to hiring another employee, IDS discovered a combination of 3Com's NBX 100 Communications System and voice recognition software called ExecutiveAssistant from Redmond-based BrightArrow Technologies. Customers calling the industrial engineering firm now simply say the name of the person they want to reach and ExecutiveAssistant automatically connects them to that person.

"Invariably, customers never remember your extension, so this met with a great response from our customers," said Palmer. "And we've been able to free up a staff member to be more productive." ExecutiveAssistant also improves efficiencies by permitting speech recognition for outgoing calls as well. There's no need to put numbers in the phone's speed dial or open up an address book.

Palmer said the company intends to take advantage of the easy-to-use multisite capabilities of the NBX system and to work remotely in the firm's Tampa Bay office, and still gain the simplicity and efficiency advantages of ExecutiveAssistant. "The nicest surprise is that it just works." (www.brightarrow.com)

Keeping Phone Costs Down to Keep Flights Up

Cleveland-based Business Aircraft Center (BAC), which operates more than 200 charter and corporate flights a week, was experiencing rapid growth and a budgetary dilemma over the need to upgrade their existing telecommunications system. BAC wanted to keep its existing Nortel Norstar phones to reduce the learning curve for staff and leverage its existing capital phone costs, but it needed a way to increase the company's phone capacity and improve customer service with voice mail and automated attendant capabilities. A solution from CITEL Technologies and 3Com helped BAC optimize its existing investment and improve productivity.

CITEL's CITELlink(TM) IP Handset Gateway slips directly into the 3Com's NBX chassis and allows businesses to utilize their traditional phone handsets, while gaining access to productivity tools like computer telephony integration, browser-based administration, unified messaging and the multi-site connectivity capabilities that are built into 3Com's voice solutions. In BAC's case, the 16-port CITELlink IP Handset Gateway made an immediate impact.

" The combined solution saved us 75 percent over the cost of upgrading our Norstar system," said Ed Barko, Business Aircraft Center's director of fixed base operations. "Instead of taking 100 messages per day, we now take only a few, and few if any calls are missed. We can offer more personal customer service by more efficiently routing calls, which also frees up time for our staff. We couldn't be happier." (www.citel.com)

Don't Get Mad, Get CallRex

Properly training new customer service employees is a top priority for North American Bancard. The Michigan-based firm provides credit card processing services for some of the nation's most successful companies and their call center handles a large number of customer service and sales calls. Rather than using simulated customer calls to assist in training, North American Bancard is using real-life customer examples to show sales and customer service agents how to successfully deal with customers.

The combination of TelRex's CallRex advanced voice recording and monitoring system and 3Com NBX system allows North American Bancard to record actual customer phone calls for use in training. In addition, all 70 call center employees have the ability to record calls on the fly and flag them to managers in order to help mediate disputes. North American Bancard can now better defend or hold employees accountable when disputes arise over a customer call.

"Using CallRex's voice recording solution has given our call center agents a more realistic training experience that translates into improved customer service," said Gordon Rimac, Vice President of Information Technology at North American Bancard. The 3Com and TelRex solution is packet-based, eliminating the need for third-party hardware necessary for voice recording on a traditional phone system that can add 60 percent to a call center system's cost. (www.telrex.com)

To see more application developer demonstrations, join 3Com at Booth 111 at VoiceCon, February 17 at Marriott Wardman Park Hotel in Washington, D.C.

About the 3Com Solution Providers Program

With its open-platform architecture for NBX Networked Telephony Solutions, 3Com has fostered a community of more than 25 partners worldwide to help take networked telephony to the next level through the integration of software and hardware applications, including call recording, speech recognition and contact centers. Application vendors wishing to join the Solution Providers program agree to demonstrate integration with the NBX platform. Vendors that have proven integration are designated as a 3Com NBX Solution Provider and their applications are promoted through joint marketing efforts to 3Com NBX Voice Authorized Resellers. For more information, please go to: http://www.3com.com/partners/spp/

About NBX Networked Telephony Solutions

3Com NBX Networked Telephony Solutions offer standards-based, interoperable voice and data communications to organizations with new and existing networks. The 3Com NBX 100 Communications System integrates a call processing feature set with standards-based, Ethernet technology in a powerful business telephone system. It's ideal for small to medium-size businesses and remote offices of larger enterprises. The 3Com SuperStack 3 NBX Networked Telephony Solution is a robust system that delivers powerful voice communications to single and multisite organizations and is ideal for sites supporting from two to more than 1,000 users per location and up to 1,500 devices (lines/stations).

About 3Com Corporation

3Com is a tier-one provider of innovative, practical and high-value networking products for enterprises of all sizes and public sector organizations. 3Com is also a leader in providing Internet protocol (IP) service platforms and access infrastructure for network service providers. For further information, please visit www.3com.com, or the press site www.3com.com/pressbox.

3Com, NBX, SuperStack and the 3Com logo are registered trademarks of 3Com Corporation. All other company and product names may be trademarks of their respective holders.