BlueNote Networks Introduces Significant New Web Services Offerings for Multi-Channel Business Communications.

Rich and extensible offerings add outbound notification and innovative interaction

TEWKSBURY, Mass. -- BlueNote Networks, the leading provider of Business Communications Platforms for delivering real-time interactive communications as services in an enterprise applications architecture, today introduced the addition of two new Web Services - the Outbound Notification Solution Framework (ON-SF) and the Session Interaction Plugin Framework (SI-PF) - making its SessionSuite([R]) Web services offering the most comprehensive and innovative enterprise suite available today. Powered by BlueNote's SessionSuite SOA Edition software platform, SessionSuite Web services' multi-channel capabilities allow organizations to easily add outbound notification, as well as voice interaction, to any business application, thus leveraging all of the benefits of a Web services approach. Easy to implement, SessionSuite Web services provide a powerful development framework for creating new applications or enhancing existing applications to improve customer reach, collaboration and overall business communications.

As the first SessionSuite Solution Framework, the ON-SF facilitates creating multi-channel (i.e. voice, text, email) notification applications through Web services. It is designed to deliver high-volume personalized interactive messages, with the capability of notification-enabling any application by integrating with existing business applications. This allows various business events to trigger outbound notifications and, based on customer interaction, allows the application to collect results for further processing.

A multi-channel enabled alternative to VoiceXML, the SI-PF allows the creation of interactive media applications, such as IVR (interactive voice response), using Web Service APIs, resulting in more direct integration with business applications and logic. This tighter integration complements the ON-SF with added interactivity, and is designed to add voice interaction or interaction via any other SIP media, to any application or process, simply and quickly.

Both the outbound notification and IVR applications can be combined to extend the reach of applications to the phone, or these capabilities can be deployed independently to address unique business needs such as delivering new customer welcome messages, providing order confirmation, fulfillment and delivery information, and notifying customers of new products and services, for up-sell opportunities.

"In competitive markets where customer satisfaction, personalization, and business process integration are paramount to maximizing loyalty, revenue potential, and business efficiency, having a Web services suite that allows for multi-channel, personalized communications is a very effective way for businesses to proactively communicate with their customers and partners," said Bern Elliot, Gartner's research vice president. "For instance, personalized notification services that support both multiple channels and personalized contact preferences can strengthen customer relationships and open doors for up-sell opportunities."

SessionSuite Web services' easy to add, powerful communications can be applied across many vertical markets, including financial services, healthcare, travel and transportation, and higher education. Whether it is an airline informing passengers of upgrade status and other itinerary changes, or a financial institution delivering stock alert messages and secure notifications of transaction confirmations to clients, businesses and customers benefit from proactive customer service with flexibility and choice of communication channels.

"BlueNote's expanded Web services will enable NKU to easily and flexibly extend the reach of our applications with voice notifications and interactions to enhance our administration's communication with the student population," said Tim Ferguson, chief information officer for Northern Kentucky University. "Specifically, we will be looking to offer personalized notifications, such as university open/closed status, emergency notifications, and similar events. This Web services approach also gives us the opportunity to leverage our own student population to develop new applications to benefit and enhance NKU administration and culture."

"This premise-based solution combines Internet Telephony with a rich business communications framework to effectively extend our reach of capabilities beyond the enterprise," said Mark Ericson, director of product strategy for BlueNote Networks. "In expanding upon our vision and commitment to communications-enablement and integration via Web services, SessionSuite clearly provides the most comprehensive and innovative suite of multi-channel Web services capabilities available today."

Pricing and Availability

BlueNote's ON-SF and SI-PF will be generally available at the end of the month. Please contact BlueNote Networks for SessionSuite pricing information.

About BlueNote Networks

BlueNote Networks is driving the creation of communications-enabled business applications with its award-winning SessionSuite([R]) Business Communications Platforms. BlueNote Networks solutions combine the preeminent features of Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) with Web services to drive innovation, while radically lowering the cost and complexity of enterprise voice, video and data services. SessionSuite software products form the foundation for enabling globally-reachable communication services and integrated workflow applications, while leveraging existing telephony and IT infrastructures.

BlueNote Networks is headquartered in Tewksbury, Massachusetts. For more information, visit www.bluenotenetworks.com.