Wildfire Communications Moves Into Latin American Market; William Soto Jr. Appointed to Vice President and Managing Director of Region.

LEXINGTON, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 20, 1999--

Wildfire Communications, Inc., today announced the opening of its Latin American headquarters and named William (Bill) Soto Jr. as vice president and managing director. The new Florida-based office will enable the company to drive the adoption of Wildfire by carriers and users in Bermuda, the Caribbean and Latin America. Bill Soto will be responsible for leading Wildfire's expansion into this marketplace.

Bill Soto brings more than 13 years of telecommunications experience to his role at Wildfire. Prior to joining Wildfire, Bill spent nearly four years as the regional sales manager in the BCALA region for Centigram Communications Corporation, a leading provider of advanced wireless and wireline messaging and communication management systems. During his time at Centigram, Bill increased Centigram's presence in the BCALA territory by adding 17 new service providers in this region. Prior to his work at Centigram, Bill spent six years with Mitel, Inc., a leading global provider of PABX, ACD, CTI and messaging systems. He also worked three years in telecommunications sales with Executone Inc., a manufacturer of Key and PABX telecommunications systems.

Wildfire Communications develops and markets Wildfire, the first speech-based electronic assistant to be offered as an enhanced service by phone companies. By using speech recognition to manage telephone communications for busy people, Wildfire significantly enhances productivity, efficiency and safety. Wildfire is currently offered by Pacific Bell Wireless in the United States, Orange plc in the United Kingdom and Bouygues Telecom in France, and is in market trials with other operators throughout North America and Europe.

"There are a number of factors driving the booming wireless industry in the Bermuda, Caribbean and Latin American (BCALA) region," said Bill Soto. "The low cost of phones, `calling party pays' tariffs, privatization, new carrier licenses and investment in this region all play their part. Carriers are now beginning to look for ways to differentiate themselves from the competition. The Wildfire virtual assistant will revolutionize the way these carriers are able to attract and retain customers."

Earlier this month, Bouygues Telecom, the third largest wireless carrier in France, launched the first foreign language version of Wildfire to its 2.1 million subscribers. In July, Orange, the United Kingdom's third largest carrier, launched a British version of Wildfire to its 2.7 million subscribers, and backed the launch with more than $15 million in marketing.

About Wildfire Communications

Wildfire Communications, Inc., headquartered in Lexington, Mass., is a pioneer in the field of virtual-assistant technology. The company develops and markets Wildfire(R) as an enhanced service offered by public telephone network carriers. Wildfire Communications, Inc., is located at 81 Hartwell Ave., Lexington, MA 02421. For more information on Wildfire Communications, visit their Web site at www.wildfire.com. For a demonstration of the Wildfire assistant, call 1.800.WILDFIRE.

Editorial Art Note: A high-resolution digitized photograph of William Soto can be downloaded from the Wildfire Web site at: http://www.wildfire.com/images/pr_photos/BillSoto.jpg.