The National Dispatch Center Inc. now offers One Connect with two enhanced-feature packages; Road Warrior, Globe Trotter personal one-number offerings available to wireless carriers for individual & corporate subscribers.

SAN DIEGO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 10, 1997--The National Dispatch Center Inc. (NDC), the nation's premier gateway provider of operator dispatch and wireless messaging services, Monday announced it is selling two new One Connect one-number service packages to paging, digital cellular and PCS carriers, according to John B. MacLeod, chairman and chief executive officer of San Diego-based NDC.

The new packages -- Road Warrior and Globe Trotter -- are being sold on a wholesale basis by NDC to carriers for resale to end users. Each package features several standard services, including personal 800/888 number, alphanumeric or numeric messaging, voice mail, calling card services and fax mail.

The services are designed to simplify customers' lives, enhance their productivity, and save time and energy, because One Connect eliminates the need for separate phone numbers to be used for home, work, fax, voice mail, cellular and calling card.

``With NDC's One Connect, carriers can now participate in selling highly attractive one number services to their customers without having to make an up front investment in capital equipment, collateral materials and marketing programs,'' MacLeod said.

``NDC provides each carrier with training videos, ready-to-go collateral, quick reference wallet cards and turn-key service. And One Connect will increase traffic on each network because it's 'message-centric' -- subscribers are notified any time someone attempts to reach them by live call, fax, voice mail or page.''

Callers trying to reach One Connect subscribers contact them through a single number for any form of communication. When someone calls the subscriber's 800 number, he/she reaches a voice recording of the subscriber's own voice which instructs him/her as to which keypad numbers to press in order to reach the subscriber directly or through an NDC operator.

For example, ``You have reached the One Connect number for John Doe. If you would like to talk with me, press 1. If you want to leave a voice mail, press 2. If you would like to send me a numeric page, press 3. If you would like to send me a fax, press 4. Or if you would like to send me a text message through an operator, press 5.''

The caller follows the directions and the subscriber receives either a notification of a voice mail, fax or call, or the alpha or numeric message, on his/her pager or other wireless device. The subscriber then calls into his own account to retrieve faxes, voice mail and live calls, from any phone, anywhere in the United States.

NDC sells One Connect to the paging and PCS carriers at wholesale rates. The carriers then mark it up and resell it to the end users as their own product. The Road Warrior package provides individual and corporate subscribers with a personal toll-free number, alpha or numeric messaging, voice mail, calling card services and fax mail.

The service pricing includes 30 free numeric messages and 30 free minutes of transaction time.

The Globe Trotter, One Connect's premium service, offers all of the Road Warrior services and more -- operator-dispatched messages, live call connect and follow-me service. Globe Trotter includes 300 free numeric messages and a combined total of 60 free minutes of usage and operator-dispatched text messages.

The service is ideal for cellular PCS customers who use One Connect to help screen calls and manage their communication needs.

Corporate One Connect service, available for both packages, allows organizations to be set-up in a common database account accessible through a corporate (on-line) directory and with the ability to forward messages or faxes to other subscribers in that account.

In some instances, a company will choose to establish a common toll-free number for the company, with each individual employee having his own extension. This program is ideal for companies with a mobile work force. They can now utilize the One Connect corporate service to create a ``virtual receptionist.''

As part of each One Connect account, NDC is also offering outdial calling services with associated credit limits of 100, 250, or 500 minutes per month to help protect carriers and their customers from telephone fraud.

Customers are notified of their available balance (in minutes) each time they place a direct dial call. Once a limit is reached, One Connect will immediately terminate any current call and disallow any other outdial usage.

NDC is the premier gateway provider of quality wireless messaging services in the United States, including multilingual operator- dispatch services, one-number services and wireless-information services. The company provides more than 1,300 paging, ESMR, PCS, CDPD and other wireless networks nationwide with toll-free number access to these services.

NDC services are device- and carrier-independent; messages generated from the NDC system can be sent to any type of wireless receiver in the database, via any of the wireless carriers linked to NDC. Messages can also be sent to virtually any computer with a PCMCIA slot via wireless PC cards.

NDC's corporate headquarters are located at 8911 Balboa Avenue, San Diego, Calif. 92123. The telephone number is 619/654-9000. NDC's Web site is located at http://www.ndcwireless.com

CONTACT: National Dispatch Center Inc., San Diego

Beth Walsh, 619/654-9000

[e-mail]

or

Merrill Marketing/Communications, San Diego

Kim A. Merrill, 619/278-1321

[e-mail]