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January 30, 2002
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| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE |
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NTT Communications Clearinghouse to Provide a New Value-Added Service: |
| NTT Worldwide Telecommunications Corporation (NTT-WT), a wholly owned subsidiary of NTT Communications Corporation (NTT Com), announced today that it will begin ClearConference, a value-added service of IP Telephony* for enterprise customers. ClearConference utilizes IP-enhanced technology to enable IP telephony conference calls among many participants, and is the first application for enterprise IP Telephony. ClearConference integrates current conference call features with the IP world, delivering IP-based high-value features with visual effects. For example, the chairperson of a conference call can reach all the participants simultaneously by just clicking a screen button, and all the participants can share uploaded files with chairperson's ongoing presentation. NTT-WT started the new service in response to customers' strong demands for conference calls, which, owing to IP globalization and flexibility, can be a contingent solution in case of emergencies. In Japan, JPMorgan will be one of the first customers for the service. After the commercial service launch, NTT-WT will be concentrating on sales promotion mainly for enterprise customers who currently have strong demands for conference call capability. iTelco Communications, Inc. (iTelco) developed the customized features for ClearConference and is also providing the maintenance and operation to maintain a high level of service standards. iTelco, with the ongoing cooperation of NTT-WT, will continue to develop new features and applications to provide high value-added services to NTT Communications Clearinghouse. With ClearConference as the first value-added application, NTT Communications Clearinghouse will coordinate with many IP application vendors and continue to provide a variety of new value-added services. *Please refer to Attachment 1 for the explanation of "Clearinghouse". *Please refer to Attachment 2 for the service image of "ClearConference". Features 1. Conference on demand A chairperson can hold a conference call at anytime from anywhere without making a reservation. If a customer prefers the scheduled type of service to the on-demand type, he can reserve a conference 24 hours a day through the Web. (Also available for operator-assisted scheduled type.) 2. Chairperson to reach participants A chairperson can reach the participants of a conference through the Web or by phone instead of each participant having to dial an access number. Through the Web, the chairperson can reach all the designated participants simultaneously by just clicking a screen button. In such a case, none of the participants will pay the cost to connect to an access point. 3. High-grade services at reasonable costs by using IP technology Compared to current standard conference systems, IP technology enables customers to enjoy the same quality of services as current ones, but at a more reasonable cost and with many additional features. 4. High-quality, economical connections through NTT Communications Clearinghouse Through a call-out feature, customers can save telephone charges by the economical pricing of Clearinghouse. NTT Communications Clearinghouse can provide customers with high-grade connections all over the world by using NTT Com's widespread network and many overseas strategic partners. 5. A variety of additional features Many additional features, such as conference recording, file sharing, and an address book, are available. A variety of even features will follow soon. Others NTT-WT today submits the service agreement for ClearConference to the Minister of Public Management. Notes: * IP telephony A general term describing IP-based voice and facsimile communications. The technology to organize voice into IP packets is called VoIP. Voice is transformed into packets by using a VoIP gateway. Reference: About iTelco Communications, Inc. |
