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 Internet Broker Suretrade To Offer Voice-Enhanced Internet Communications
Through Net2phone
Lincoln, RI, March 8, 2000-SURETRADE.com, one of the nation's
fastest-growing online brokerages and a subsidiary of FleetBoston
Financial (NYSE: FBF), announced today the addition of Net2Phone's
(NASDAQ: NTOP) voice-enabled e-commerce solution, Click2Talk, to
its online tools, effective immediately.
"SURETRADE has been recognized by SmartMoney, Fortune, Time and
many other news sources as a leader among online brokers for customer
service and free research, all at rock-bottom rates and commissions
as low as $7.95 per trade," said Donato Montanaro, president of
SURETRADE. "We're committed to connecting customers to quick, accurate,
friendly support by any channel that suits that customer's needs.
Click2Talk is a great tool because it enables our customers to place
calls directly from the web to any telephone in the world, expediting
sales by connecting customers directly to a live broker on a telephone.
While our customers are logged onto our site, they can simultaneously
dial a broker and talk live with them about account openings, navigating
the site or any aspect of our service, products or features," said
Mr. Montanaro. "This will save our users time, energy and money,
regardless of where they are calling from."
When a customer logs onto the SURETRADE site, the Click2Talk icon
will appear on the screen. When the icon is clicked, the call is
seamlessly routed over the Internet from the PC to a live representative
at SURETRADE, enabling the customer to trade stocks, inquire about
products or features, or ask investor-related questions. This feature
allows customers to keep their Internet connection while simultaneously
speaking through one telephone link to a SURETRADE representative.
Customers speak through a microphone and can hear the representative
through the computer speakers. All customers will need Net2Phone's
software in order to use Click2Talk, which is an automatic download
upon initial click. All calls to SURETRADE are free for customers
to make.
Any reservations that customers might have about giving financial
or personal information over the Internet are alleviated since they
are speaking live with an agent. Click2Talk features a real-time
voice. When a voice is encrypted and compressed using Net2Phone
technology, it can only become decompressed once, when the customer
communicates to the representative.
The Click2Talk tool benefits national and international SURETRADE
customers. International customers can reach toll-free numbers that
are inaccessible through traditional long distance phone service,
further servicing international SURETRADE customers as well as domestic.
"By adding Click2Talk to their website, SURETRADE has shown a strong
commitment to customer satisfaction, and gains a competitive edge,"
said Jonathan Fram, president of Net2Phone. "Enabling the customer
with low-cost trading opportunities along with interactive voice
services is a key differentiating factor which we believe to be
the future of online trading and e-commerce."
Recognized as the company who first bridged the Internet with
the public switched telephone network, Net2Phone routes millions
of minutes monthly over the Internet to PCs, telephones and fax
machines. Net2Phone also offers a suite of voice-enabled e-commerce
services to e-tailers worldwide such as 1-800-FLOWERS, Lands' End,
and FTD. Net2Phone has furthered its commitment to e-commerce through
a recent strategic investment in WebDialogs, the leading provider
of web interaction technology and services, enabling a collaborative
environment for web businesses and visitors to interact live and
exchange information over the Internet.
Launched in November 1997, SURETRADE (www.suretrade.com) has grown
to become one of the fastest-growing Internet brokerage firms on
the market, with over 400,000 customer accounts and over $2.5 billion
in customer assets. Offering commissions as low as $7.95 per trade
and some of the lowest margin rates on the Internet, SURETRADE is
highly-ranked by SmartMoney Interactive and a host of other publications
for value, content, reliability and ease of navigation. SURETRADE
is part of FleetBoston Financial (NYSE: FBF), a $185 billion diversified
financial services company serving approximately 20 million customers
through 5,750 outlets nationwide.
Net2Phone (www.net2phone.com) is a leading provider of voice-enhanced
Internet communications services to individuals and businesses worldwide.
Net2Phone enables people to place low-cost high quality calls from
their computer, telephone, or fax machine to any telephone or fax
machine in the world. Net2Phone develops and markets technology
and services for IP voice and e-commerce solutions for the web and
other IP networks.
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