Seaport Hotel Enhances Guest Service Using BlueNote Networks' SessionSuite to VoIP Enable New Seaportal.

Deluxe Four-Diamond Hotel Adds In-Room Web Portal Technology to Personalize Guest Experience

TEWKSBURY, Mass. -- BlueNote Networks, the leading provider of Business Communications Platforms for delivering real-time voice and video communications as services in a Service Oriented Architecture (SOA) environment, announced today that Boston's Seaport Hotel, a deluxe, Four-Diamond hotel, meeting and exhibition center, has implemented BlueNote's SessionSuite[TM] SOA Edition software as part of Seaportal, an in-room web portal for guests.

Seaportal is an innovative, state-of-the-art, in-room application that was developed to enhance the Seaport guest experience by providing appealing services "on demand" through an interactive web portal running on a touch screen computer. Features include current hotel and local attraction information, video and audio entertainment, travel updates and access to web-based e-mail. By voice-enabling its Seaportal using BlueNote's SessionSuite, Seaport Hotel also provides direct calling capabilities to various featured guest services - such as housekeeping - as well as complimentary local and domestic long distance calls over the Internet, all from a user-friendly touch screen display. The Seaportal appeals to the hotel's wide variety of guests and enables business travelers to travel without their laptops - an important benefit in these days of fluctuating airline restrictions.

BlueNote's efficient use of Seaport's existing IT and telecommunications infrastructure was a key factor in Seaport's choice to partner with BlueNote. "VoIP capabilities were a mandatory requirement for phase I of the Seaportal and BlueNote's SOA approach enabled us to design, build, implement and integrate this technology into our application without the need to overhaul our existing PBX and guest-room phones," said John P. Burke, vice president of Technology for Seaport Hotel. "With BlueNote's SessionSuite SOA Edition, we quickly integrated cost-effective IP telephony service into the Seaportal using simple and easy-to-understand web Service APIs. The low-cost, high-value addition to our infrastructure was accomplished using existing developers, without the need for specialized telephony expertise.

While unified communications is fast becoming a must-have for any progressive customer-service entity - hotels, online retailers, call centers, etc. - looking to improve customer reach and loyalty, integrating IP telephony services into business applications has, to-date, been considered an expensive and time-consuming customization effort. However, with the advent of web services and SOA, vendors such as BlueNote are able to deliver interactive communication services to significantly enhance end user experiences with minimal effort or time commitment from its customers. Applications are quickly and easily built using web services technology - the result is faster time-to-deployment, lower project costs and the ability to re-use services to deliver other innovative applications in the future.

"The convergence of communication channels, networks, devices and business applications to web-based systems enables unified communications," said Bern Elliot, Gartner's research vice president. "Emerging solutions that seamlessly integrate web services and IP telephony play an important role in communications-enabling business processes. These allow organizations to provide convenient, productive and profitable customer-facing applications."

"Voice interactions are involved in almost all business processes and communications-enabling business applications is a must for forward-thinking organizations such as Seaport Hotel," said Tom Burkardt, president & CEO, BlueNote Networks. "Think of how often a hotel guest, for example, calls the front desk. SessionSuite SOA Edition allows organizations like Seaport to improve their guests' experience by making it easy and economical to contact guest services, book dinner reservations or make a complimentary phone call - all from a touch-screen display. By selecting BlueNote, Seaport is able to quickly and easily offer a competitive guest service, while leveraging their existing systems."

About Seaport Hotel

Situated on the historic waterfront, just minutes from the city's finest shops, museums and attractions, guests will find a refreshing change in the Four Diamond Seaport. As Boston's most accommodating host, Seaport, comprised of the Seaport Hotel and Seaport World Trade Center, provides unparalleled service along with distinctive hospitality, technology, sophistication and flexibility, which combine to create fulfilling and productive experiences for each of its guests.

About BlueNote Networks

BlueNote Networks is driving the integration of real-time interactive communications with Service Oriented Architectures (SOA) by delivering the first enterprise-class Business Communications Platform: SessionSuite[TM]. BlueNote Networks combines 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. Its SessionSuite software products form the foundation enabling globally-reachable services and integrated workflow applications, while leveraging an existing IT infrastructure.

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