British Telecommunications Adopts GeoTel Technology for Intelligent Network Services in $7.8-Million Agreement.

LITTLETON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jan. 15, 1997--

BT to Become First Carrier to Deploy GeoTel's New Network

Intelligent CallRouter(TM); Digital Equipment to Provide

Processing Platform and Integration Services In Partnership

Arrangement

GeoTel Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: GEOC), the leader in intelligent call distribution software, announced today that it has received a $7.8-million order from Digital Equipment Company, Ltd., to supply British Telecommunications, plc (BT), with GeoTel's new Network Intelligent CallRouter (Network ICR) solution.

Under an agreement between BT and Digital Equipment Company, Ltd., Digital has contracted GeoTel to provide BT with GeoTel's intelligent call routing software and product support. As PrimeContractor, Digital will be supplying server platforms, networking solutions and all integration services. With this installation, BT will become the first user of GeoTel's new Network ICR product, enabling the carrier to provide an unprecedented level of network-based call distribution services to its customers.

In response to stated customer needs, BT will provide intelligent call routing as a value- added network service to its Telemarketing customers within the United Kingdom.

Specifically, the Digital/GeoTel solution enables BT to provide customers:

-- The ability to achieve significant call center economies by intelligently distributing every call at the network level across multi-vendor, geographically dispersed call centers based on agent availability as well as call center and network conditions; -- Access to the benefits of intelligent call distribution without up-front capital investment on the part of the BT customer. Instead, BT will fully manage the service for each user, including fault-tolerance, security, system administration and support; -- Real-time control over call distribution logic through the creation of user-friendly call routing scripts enabling customers to dynamically modify their network-based call distribution strategies on the basis of calling patterns, agent availability and call center performance; -- Real-time reporting on all call center management parameters at an enterprise level.

As part of a rigorous Request for Proposal (RFP) process, BT evaluated multiple call distribution technologies before selecting the Digital/GeoTel partnership and GeoTel's Network Intelligent CallRouter.

GeoTel software supports an enterprise-wide, intelligent call distribution system that links multiple, geographically dispersed call centers. Through its ability to provide call-by-call routing to distributed agent groups, the software creates a virtual call center network. GeoTel is the only enterprise-wide call distribution system to meet the certification standards of the three major U.S. interexchange carriers: AT&T, MCI and Sprint. The company's open-systems approach is helping GeoTel customers use advanced telecommunications technology to improve customer service and lower costs.

Strategic Impact

"Working with Digital and GeoTel to provide intelligent call distribution as a core BT network service enables us to offer our customers essentially `shrink-wrapped' access to the benefits of a virtual call center," noted John Nevins, Programme Manager for BT. "As the first carrier in the United Kingdom to make intelligent call routing functionality available to users, we view this addition to our advanced service offerings as a strategic competitive advantage and a key market differentiator."

"From our perspective, this collaboration marks the beginning of long-term partnerships with both BT and Digital," stated John C. Thibault, GeoTel president and CEO. "GeoTel and BT have already agreed to jointly define and develop additional network-based intelligent call distribution services. Moreover, we expect the installation to grow, representing additional market potential for all three companies."

Thibault continued, "Our agreement with Digital and BT also marks the emergence of exciting new business opportunity for GeoTel through expansion into a major new market: that of providing network-based call distribution to network suppliers. Enabling carriers to offer our products as a network service allows GeoTel to address a broader range of customers, and facilitate significantly more rapid deployment of our technology and its benefits. Going forward, we are well positioned to deploy Network ICR applications for additional carriers in any geography, enabling call center users of any size to maximize their corporate call answering resources through intelligent call distribution technology."

"The Digital solution provides for the use of systems running the Windows NT operating system," explained Paul Buchan, BT Account Manager from Digital Equipment Company, Ltd. "The scalability this offers will accommodate future growth, while supporting a range of configurations. Moreover, we recognize that implementing the solution requires a high degree of systems integration. Digital has the proven skills to accomplish this task, and will provide BT with a full range of support. In fact, BT requirements specified a partner that was prepared to assume full responsibility for delivering this solution."

GeoTel Introduces Network ICR

Terms of the initial $7.8-million order call for GeoTel to provide a broad range of product capabilities, including:

-- An intelligent interface that enables the GeoTel Network ICR to integrate into the BT network; -- Intelligent call distribution to multiple BT customers from a common service platform; -- Customized BT network services including time-of-day/day-of-week routing, percentage allocation, and caller-dependent routing with dynamic updates and reporting; -- Documentation, remote and local United Kingdom-based support, and installation services.

The first of these capabilities -- integration into the BT network -- has passed the first stages of protocol certification. With the achievement of this milestone, GeoTel software is now capable of interworking with the switches of the BT network.

Specifically developed to support the call-distribution-market requirements of global network providers, GeoTel's Network ICR will enable BT to offer intelligent call routing as a network service. Call distribution will be centralized at BT facilities while still allowing individual customer control over call routing logic. The system will operate as a carrier-processing platform using high-performance servers provided by Digital.

This solution enables BT to offer intelligent call distribution services to multiple customers from the same processing platform. The newly introduced Network ICR functions much like a Service Control Point (SCP) by distributing incoming calls to specific BT customers based on the 0800 number dialed. Both advanced Telemarketing number services and virtual call centers are supported from the same service platform. Calls can be routed based on time-of-day or caller ID, or on real-time performance data gathered from the customer's multiple call centers. Enterprise-wide reporting is available for the full range of services furnished to each customer.

The Network ICR can be deployed in a wide range of configurations based on a carrier's service mix. A base configuration, which accommodates 200 call centers receiving up to 100 calls per second, can be expanded to handle more than 1,600 call centers and 600 calls per second. Fully redundant in all components, the system's fault-tolerant architecture manages both processing and networking resources system-wide.

BT is one of the largest and most successful telecommunications companies in the world. A publicly listed company, BT has a market capitalization of more than 23,000 million pounds. In the last financial year (1995/96) BT's turnover was 14,446 million pounds, with a pre-tax profit of 3,019 million pounds.

The company has operations in 30 countries and employs about 130,700 people world-wide. Last year it spent 271 million pounds on research and development. Almost three years ago, BT formed a US$1 billion joint venture with MCI, the second largest carrier in the US, and together the two companies formed Concert to create a global network and advanced products and services for multi-national customers.

In November 1996 BT announced it was to merge completely with MCI in a deal which will create one of the world's largest telecommunications companies. The deal is not expected to be completed until late 1997.

Separately, BT has joint ventures in France, Spain, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Sweden, South Africa, New Zealand, Japan and India, with others soon to be announced.

BT's principal activity in the fully competitive UK market is the supply of local, long distance and international telecommunications services, serving over 27 million residential and business exchange lines through a fully modernized and largely digital network.

Digital Equipment Company, Ltd., is a fully owned subsidiary of Digital Equipment Corporation of Maynard, Mass. Digital Equipment Corporation is a world leader in open client/server solutions from personal computing to integrated worldwide information systems.

Digital's scalable Alpha and Intel platforms, storage, networking, software and services, together with industry focused solutions from business partners, help organizations compete and win in today's global marketplace.

GeoTel Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: GEOC), with headquarters in Littleton, Mass., is a global provider of telecommunications software products that enable customer-oriented companies to deliver a high level of customer service responsiveness through enhanced call distribution technology. GeoTel's flagship software product, the Intelligent CallRouter(R), is an enterprise-wide, fault tolerant, open solution that creates a virtual call center network from groups of geographically dispersed agents. GeoTel customers include some of the world's largest users of telecommunications and technology services, such as American Express, Delta Air Lines, Spiegel, and USAir. The company's software is distributed through its partners and through a direct sales force with offices in Atlanta, Boston, Chicago, Dallas, Philadelphia, San Francisco, and Washington, D.C. GeoTel product and company information is located on the World Wide Web at http://www.geotel.com . -0-

Intelligent CallRouter is a registered trademark and Network Intelligent CallRouter is a trademark of GeoTel Communications Corporation. All other company and product names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.

CONTACT: Nancy Pieretti

GeoTel Communications Corp.

508/486-1149

[e-mail]

or

Marcia Goff

Goff Communications

508/429-0788

[e-mail]