MetaSwitch Integrates Phone and PC Desktop with MetaSphere CommPortal Assistant

Alameda, CA: January 15, 2008. MetaSwitch today announced that it has further expanded its growing suite of enhanced telephony services with an innovative desktop application, MetaSphere CommPortal Assistant™. Working in tandem with MetaSwitch's existing CommPortal application, and leveraging the MetaSphere Service Delivery Platform (SDP), CommPortal Assistant delivers a cohesive, easy-to-use desktop telephony experience.

Demonstrating MetaSwitch's commitment to open standards and pragmatic network migration, CommPortal Assistant can be deployed to subscribers homed on a MetaSwitch softswitch or legacy Class 5 switch. The result is an application that adds value to any carrier's voice service, without changing the way the underlying service appears or is deployed.

Tightly integrated into the Windows user interface, MetaSphere CommPortal Assistant is an ultra-thin client application that enables a range of "always on" interactive capabilities, complementing MetaSphere CommPortal's Web 2.0 interface.

• A simple but powerful toolbar which provides, from the Windows Task Bar, instant access to the most commonly used voice telephony functions, including support for presence status updates; searching both personal and corporate contact lists; placing calls to contacts using click-to-dial; and changing settings of calling features such as call forwarding and do-not-disturb.
• Click-to-dial support within applications such as Microsoft Outlook, which enables users to place calls instantly to their contacts from within the application.
• Remote office support, which enables users to make click-to-dial calls from any phone in the world, with the call being presented as if it came from their regular phone.
• A notification icon, in the Windows notification area (or "system tray"), which provides popup notification of new voice and fax messages, with a link for realtime message retrieval.
• CommPortal Integration, enabling users to directly access the CommPortal Web interface, bypassing the login step, where they can view messages and calls, change settings for services such as MetaSphere Incoming Call Manager, and update their personal contacts.

MetaSphere CommPortal Assistant's features are not embedded in any particular application like Outlook, but are always present on the taskbar, ensuring they are easily accessible from whichever application the user is currently working in. Also, its ultra-compact user interface design makes it less intrusive than full "thick client" applications, and easier for carriers to deploy and support. Taken together, these attributes result in an application that rapidly becomes part of a subscriber's daily working pattern, reducing churn and increasing loyalty.

"We remain impressed by MetaSwitch's commitment to developing new features on the MetaSphere platform that encourage subscriber loyalty," said Don Helms, vice president, commercial telephone services, Bresnan Communications. "CommPortal Assistant increases Bresnan's already compelling and feature-rich services for both consumers and business customers as convergence has increased, making computers as much a communications tool as traditional phone service."

CommPortal Assistant is in carrier field trials today and will be generally available to all MetaSwitch customers in March.

About MetaSwitch

MetaSwitch is an industry-leading vendor of switching and applications solutions for both packet and circuit-switched networks. Its MetaSphere service delivery platform and applications suite enables a broad set of hosted IP communications services, while its core session control and media/signaling gateway products support a full range of Class 4/5 softswitch capabilities. Customers include many of the world's leading operators of wireline, wireless and cable networks, with deployments that scale to millions of subscribers. For more information, please visit www.metaswitch.com.

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