February 2004

In the CEO Spotlight section in Internet Telephony� magazine, we recognize the outstanding work performed by exemplary companies. Each month we bring you the opinions of the heads of companies leading the Internet telephony industry now and helping to shape the future of the industry. This month, we spoke with Shawn Lewis, President and CEO of Caerus, Inc., and Volo Communications.

IT: What is your company�s mission?
SL: The Caerus mission is to empower service providers to finally begin reaping the full benefits available to them from advanced services and packet communications technologies.

IT: Please characterize your vision for Caerus/Volo Communications.
SL: Our unique approach will transform the industry over the next six to 12 months as Caerus and its service provider subsidiary, Volo Communications, continue to sign more carriers and service providers of all types onto its network, becoming a dominant player in the wholesale marketplace.

IT: Describe some of the key decisions that you have made as CEO to navigate your company through the recent turbulence of the financial markets.
SL: Throughout my career I have found success by finding the solutions to real life problems rather than developing products in search of a market. I saw that service providers today don�t need another piece of expensive equipment to purchase and integrate with the rest of their network, they need an ROI and new revenue streams from the deployment of customized advanced services.

IT: What are some of the key technology decisions that you have implemented to make certain Caerus/Volo maintains its position in the market?
SL: Volo�s approach to hosted VoIP and VoIP termination services is very different to that of the host of companies that we are often compared with for the following reasons:

� Volo operates its own private, nationwide, MPLS-based IP backbone network. The calls that we carry on our network do not traverse the Internet at all, which affords our customers a much higher quality of service (QoS).

� Volo provides a free softswitch and service creation environment to its customers so they can create their own services, if they so desire. They are not obligated to accept the same basic package of services that their competitors are using.

� Volo is a fully registered CLEC and IXC in the U.S. so it doesn�t have to worry about regulatory uncertainties.

The Caerus softswitch platform is a transaction-processing engine that allows connections to all networks, appliances, and smart devices over 200+ protocols in a one-port, any-service configuration. Unlike traditional softswitches, it is not limited to traditional telecom call flow models and protocols. Caerus� softswitch breaks everything down to methods, properties, and events. It resembles an operating system more than a traditional switch.

IT: What makes Caerus/Volo�s services unique?
SL: Volo Communications provides Tier 1 and 2 carriers, CLECs, ISPs, and cable companies with a free softswitch and service creation environment (SCE) along with a wide range of voice, data, and advanced calling services on its network at market rates. This enables them to rapidly deploy differentiated services and see revenues from day one.

IT: What is the most pressing issue facing the IP telephony industry today, and what can be done can to alleviate problems such as this?
SL: Volo Communications service offerings remove the two biggest problems that have plagued the telecom industry in recent years: Inflated capital expenditures leading to excessive debt burdens; and a lack of new revenue streams from profitable advanced services.

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