CopperCom Softswitch Delivers Meet-Me Conferencing; New Application Enables Service Providers to Boost Revenues.

Business/Technology Editors

BOCA RATON, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 25, 2001

CopperCom, the company that is Liberating the Local Exchange(TM), today introduced a meet-me conferencing application for their leading softswitch solution. The application provides service providers with an integrated solution to quickly and easily set up multi-party audio conferences with participants based locally or in any part of the world. By integrating the solution into the CSX 2100 media gateway and CopperController softswitch, CopperCom enables service providers to increase their revenues through additional terminating minutes. The meet-me conferencing application is available now.

LTDS, a competitive local exchange carrier (CLEC) in Southeast Iowa, will begin deploying the application in the fourth quarter of 2001. "Our customers are looking for ways to cut costs and travel is typically a large yearly expense for them," said Lance Yedersberger, president, LTDS. "The CopperCom meet-me conferencing application enables us to offer them an all-in-one solution for their conferencing needs while providing the cost savings they desire."

According to Wainhouse Research, an analyst group that specializes in the conferencing industry, the global teleconferencing market is growing at almost 48 percent a year and will be close to $10 billion in 2005. The U.S. represents 80 percent of this market. And, according to information technology research firm International Data Corp, the number of Web-conferencing users is going to double from 13.4 million in 2000 to almost 30 million in 2001. By 2005, the number of users will increase more than five times to 161 million.

"CopperCom continues to deliver working solutions that drive revenues and payback investment for service providers," said Ron Nash, vice president of marketing, CopperCom. "Given that there are approximately 11 million meetings conducted each day in the US, the cost of travel for employees is a large concern. By enabling service providers, like LTDS, to easily add this service to their networks, they can take part in a growing market that saves their business customers both time and money."

Each softswitch system supports up to 128 simultaneous conferences with up to 32 participants per conference. Software on the system allows an operator to easily schedule a conference, as well as to set up the date, time, number of participants and a unique PIN code for each conference.

About CopperCom

CopperCom, the company that is Liberating the Local Exchange(TM), offers an innovative suite of telecommunications solutions for the local exchange. As the only company to design an end-to-end architecture that combines voice over broadband access with a robust softswitch system, CopperCom enables incumbent and competitive carriers to offer a revolutionary way of delivering local telephone service to subscribers over circuit or packet-based broadband connections. Founded in 1997, CopperCom is a privately held company headquartered in Boca Raton, Fla., and is funded by leading venture partners, including Advent International, AT&T Ventures, Charlie Bass, Granite Ventures, Morgan Stanley and Technology Crossover Ventures. For additional information, CopperCom can be reached directly at [phone], or via the Internet at www.coppercom.com

CopperCom and Liberating the Local Exchange are trademarks of CopperCom.