Intertech Demonstrates the Ability to Process a Remarkable 24 Million Records Per Hour.

Business Editors

ST. LOUIS, Mo.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 17, 2000

Benchmarking Test Proves Telecommunications Industry-Leading

Performance and Cost-Efficiency of Intertech's Billing Software

Intertech Management Group, Inc., an industry-leading provider of billing solutions for next generation voice and data communications service providers, today announced that it has successfully completed a performance optimization test for the Event Processor component of its Network Strategies(R) billing solution.

The tests conducted at the Compaq benchmarking lab in Houston, Texas, proved the system can process more than 24 million complex call detail records (CDRs) per hour. This benchmark demonstrates the ability of Intertech's event processor to handle a traffic volume of more than five billion calls per month on a Microsoft Windows 2000 platform.

Network Strategies' Event Processor has been designed from the ground up to support the complex billing requirements of today's most advanced communications service providers. Operating on Microsoft Windows 2000 Server with SQL Server 2000, Network Strategies offers the lowest total cost of ownership, while delivering enhanced billing capabilities.

About the Tests

The benchmark test was executed using the full functional components of Network Strategies' Event Processor. Industry standard Exchange Message Interface (EMI) call records, for a sample set of one million customers, were utilized in the test. Each CDR was processed through stages to reformat, validate (including industry standard cross-reference file lookups), filter duplicate records, guide to the appropriate customer and rate plan, apply rating rules, and finally persist the rated records to a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 database. The complex rating algorithm used in the test employed a traditional long distance tariff, incorporating mileage-sensitive, geographic (inter/intra- LATA and international) and time-sensitive (day, evening, night and weekday, weekend and holiday) elements. The test environment consisted of a Compaq ProLiant 8500 Server with four Pentium 550 MHz processors and an external Compaq Storage Works disk array configuration, running Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server operating system and Microsoft SQL Server 2000. Monthly traffic volume estimates were based on a CDR per hour benchmark of ten hours per day of processing and 22 days per month of processing.

"We are extremely pleased with the results of the benchmarking study which further validates our ability to deliver the lowest total cost of ownership. Service providers processing large quantities of voice calls or IPDR events can turn to Network Strategies' Event Processor with confidence that it provides superior quality and price performance," said Gordon Quick, president and CEO of Intertech. "The consistent processing of 24 million CDRs on the Compaq ProLiant 8500 Server can yield a remarkable cost performance as low as $0.21 / CDR per minute, a benchmark we seriously doubt anyone else can touch."

"Rating telephone call events is a demanding application in terms of business rules, throughput and storage requirements," said Lloyd Spencer, OSS/BSS group manager at Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT). "The superior performance of Windows 2000 Advanced Server and SQL Server 2000 enabled Intertech to achieve these impressive results."

"We are pleased with the results of this testing, particularly with the performance levels achieved on the ProLiant 8500 platform," said Scott Bowman, vice president North America Telecommunications Marketing and Business Development. "The cooperation between Compaq and Intertech provides our customers with a high performance world-class billing solution in the Microsoft Windows environment."

"We are excited to be working in partnership with Microsoft and Compaq," Quick added. "The performance and efficiency of their products showcases the convergence and flexibility of our solutions. We are elated to have achieved this tremendous milestone and look forward to even better results in the future."

About Intertech

Founded in 1987, Intertech Management Group is a market-leading provider of billing solutions for the CLEC/ICP, wholesale and next generation service provider markets. The company's Network Strategies software is designed with the flexibility, scalability and performance to promote fast delivery of new services, rapid expansion into new markets, and quick implementation of innovative marketing programs. Customers can also outsource their billing operation by using Intertech's Billing ASP, which guarantees accurate and timely billing. Intertech's customers include Swisscom-NA, Allegiance Telecom, SBC/Ameritech, Global Crossing, Mpower, Onvoy and ICG Communications. For more information about Intertech and its products, visit the company's Web site at www.billingsoftware.com.

Network Strategies is a registered trademark of Intertech Management Group, Inc. Other product and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective owners.