[April 20, 2010]

Cloud Communications Alliance Brings Voice Communications to the 'Cloud'

Eight leaders in hosted-IP voice and data communications today announced the formation of the Cloud Communications Alliance™, a consortium of key industry players that will drive development and adoption of the first nationwide high-definition enterprise voice and data network in the IP "cloud." As a result, business customers will experience more flexible and manageable voice and unified communications solutions that will increase personal and business productivity while reducing costs.

The announcement was made at the Cloud Computing Expo being held this week in New York City by founding Cloud Communications Alliance (CCA) companies including Alteva, Broadcore, Callis Communications, Consolidated Technologies Inc., IPFone, SimpleSignal (News - Alert), Stage 2 Networks and Telesphere. Together, the companies represent more than $100 million in combined annual revenue and collectively serve more than 110,000 business customers in the United States.

"As businesses have become comfortable with the concept of cloud computing, they are now beginning to recognize the powerful convergent features between cell phones, office phones and computers, along with redundancy and cost savings gained through enterprise voice and data communications that can also reside in the cloud," said Clark Peterson, chairman of the Cloud Communications Alliance and CEO of Telesphere (News - Alert).

CCA member and Alteva CEO Bill Bumbernick said, "The Cloud Communications Alliance is not just about voice-over-IP, hosted PBX (News - Alert) or unified communications. We're introducing an entirely new way to build, deploy and scale enterprise communications systems that provide HD voice services along with a platform of advanced apps and features that allow businesses to work in ways they never imagined."

Customer Benefits of Cloud Communications

Cloud Communications Alliance members are leaders in deploying and scaling VoIP, hosted PBX and unified communications solutions. Together, their objective is to promote awareness of the Cloud Communications standard and drive its development through the pursuit of new technical standards, capabilities and applications. The Alliance will also jointly deliver services directly to customers, taking advantage of the nationwide coverage provided by its established, regionally owned and operated service provider membership. Key collaboration points among members include:

• Nationwide peering with interconnected switches and gateways across the country to drive network efficiencies and provide optimal HD voice quality. /li>
• Convergent end devices as the intelligence of the network in the cloud and an all-IP network make communications to multiple end devices and transparent hand-offs between computers, office phones and cellular phones a reality. In the cloud, a customer's phone or PC can be used equally for their office phone just as their landline phone was used in the past. In addition, cellular phones can be enabled with 4-digit PBX dialing, office message on hold, simultaneous ring and seamless handing off between end user devices.
• A common support infrastructure to provide premier nationwide customer support through faster, more scalable and efficient back-office systems and processes made more accountable by regionally owned and operated service providers.
• Unique features in the cloud instantly accessible by customers through the Cloud Communications Alliance "Sandbox." This unique capability will allow features and functionality to become instantly accessible for voice and data services by accessing the cloud, much the way popular apps are accessed today through app stores.
• Joint product development, including the evaluation of new technologies and vendors, development of new products and applications, planning to standardize on the best third-party platforms, and joint introduction of new features and services.
• An expanded network of remote field technicians to simplify support and increase customer savings.
• Disaster recovery support across all Alliance members.
• Shared best practices through regularly scheduled forums allowing engineering and sales teams to share and highlight their most-effective platform configurations, vertical solutions and service customizations, and to conduct shared training.
• Thought leadership that merges shared competitive intelligence, coordinates the steering of vendor requirements, and executes joint marketing initiatives.
• Planned collaboration for enhanced customer video conferencing capabilities.

"We view the organization of the Cloud Communications Alliance as an important milestone in the development of the cloud-based communications category that we have long envisioned," said BroadSoft CEO Mike Tessler. "We know this exciting group of service providers well, and we are confident their commitment to evangelizing cloud-based communications services will help drive customer adoption and broad-scale investment into this next generation of communications."

David Lemelin, research director for Current Analysis (News - Alert), said, "The national network created by the Cloud Communications Alliance will increase the reach of hosted-IP, hosted-PBX solutions into multiple-location enterprises, making HD voice communications a reality for many organizations that haven't been able to take advantage of that technology. The Alliance is well positioned to spur innovation and investment in the 'cloud communications' category."

Private Equity Investors Support Initiative

In a related announcement today, significant private equity investors acknowledged support for the Cloud Communications Alliance by expressing enthusiasm for the prospect of more rapid product development and the ability to develop scalable infrastructure more quickly. For the full press release, visit the Cloud Communications Alliance Web site here.

About Cloud Communications Alliance

The Cloud Communications Alliance brings together leading Cloud Communications providers Alteva, Broadcore, Callis Communications, Consolidated Technologies Inc., IPFone, SimpleSignal, Stage 2 Networks and Telesphere to promote development of the Cloud Communications category. The Alliance is aggressively pursuing new technical standards, capabilities and applications. The Alliance harnesses the power of each member's individual networks and systems to create a seamless, nationwide HD voice network that delivers outstanding voice quality, apps, features and cost savings. For more information about the Cloud Communications Alliance, visit www.cloudcommunicationsalliance.com.

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