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Great
Lakes Data Systems and Net2Phone Bring Integrated VoIP To Independent
Cable Operators
New Orleans, LA - May 4, 2004 - Great Lakes Data Systems, Inc.
and Net2Phone (NASDAQ: NTOP) today announced the first of several
product integration initiatives aimed at providing turnkey VoIP
solutions for the independent cable market. With the goal of providing
operators with an easily adoptable, fully-integrated VoIP solution,
Great Lakes and Net2Phone have teamed to provide consolidated, single
source billing to Great Lakes customers.
As a leading supplier of billing software to small cable operators,
Great Lakes will also market Net2Phones full-featured robust
cable telephony solutions to its clients in more than 30 countries
on five continents. In the U.S., Great Lakes currently has clients
in 49 of the 50 states, plus Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands.
Great Lakes Data Systems has successfully completed the import
of Net2Phone call detail records and can now post summary-level
detail on a customer invoice alongside video, data and other services
for Great Lakes customers. With this integration, operators
have increased flexibility with bill presentment, and can chose
to show call detail on the invoice or make it available online,
driving additional traffic to the operators web portal and
reducing billing costs.
The next phase of integration will provide Customer Service Representatives
with a single point of provisioning for both video and VoIP services.
Too often, Triple Play is just smoke and mirrors. Our goal
is to provide CSRs with one truly integrated system, and give
customers the option of having all services on one bill. said
Lon Rosado, President, Great Lakes Data Systems. Our ability
to produce an integrated voice, video and data bill is just the
first step in fully integrating the VoIP service delivery process.
We spent months evaluating VoIP vendors and believe Net2Phone
offers a product and business model most consist with the needs
of our existing customer base. said Garrick Russell, Director
of Alliances at Great Lakes Data Systems. Net2Phone supports
both SIP and PacketCable platforms, and were pleased to welcome
them as a Preferred Solution Provider.
The integration with Net2Phone will ultimately offer a scaled
set of solutions to operators with a total voice, data, and video
system. The real triple play here is increased revenues, lower costs,
and greater customer satisfaction, Russell added.
The synergies between Great Lakes and Net2Phone are apparent,
with a synergistic target audience of small to mid-sized cable operators
looking for reliable solutions to help service their customers,
said Stephen Greenberg, CEO of Net2Phone. As a leading provider
of billing and subscriber management software, Great Lakes is a
valuable partner with the experience and reputation to ensure the
high level of quality and reliability that our customers have come
to expect of Net2Phone.
About Great Lakes Data Systems
Great Lakes Data Systems provides the leading PC-based billing,
subscriber management, and PPV software in the U.S. Cable Market.
Privately held and profitable since 1980, the company also provides
cable equipment provisioning, VOD, and cable modem authorization
directly from the billing system. Currently serving small and mid-sized
cable systems worldwide, GLDS has implemented its solutions for
over 300 cable systems in 49 U.S. States and 34 countries. For more
information, contact Laura Rosado of Great Lakes Data systems at
760-602-1900 or visit www.cablebilling.com <http://www.cablebilling.com>.
About Net2Phone
Net2Phone provides PacketCable, SIP and wireless VoIP solutions
around in the world. As leaders in enabling telecom service providers
and cable operators with turn-key hosted VoIP telephony services,
Net2Phone has routed billions of retail VoIP minutes globally, servicing
more than 100,000 users in the US as well as hundreds of thousands
of more overseas. Net2Phones hosted SIP platform provides
partners with residential broadband telephony, calling cards, prefix
dialing and enterprise services in over 100 countries. Net2Phones
PacketCable platform provides cable operators with the ability to
deliver a primary line replacement service with guaranteed QoS and
features such as E911. Traded on the NASDAQ under the symbol NTOP,
Net2Phone's strategic partners and investors include Liberty Media
Corporation (NYSE: L; LMC.B) and IDT Corporation (NYSE: IDT; IDT.C).
For more information about Net2Phone's products and services, please
visit www.net2phone.com
This press release contains forward-looking statements within the
meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended,
and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended.
These forward- looking statements involve risks and uncertainties
and actual results could differ materially from those discussed
in the forward-looking statements. For this purpose, any statements
contained in this press release that are not statements of historical
fact may be deemed to be forward-looking statements. Factors which
may affect the Company's results include, but are not limited to,
the Company's ability to expand its customer base, the Company's
ability to develop additional and leverage its existing distribution
channels for its products and solutions, dependence on strategic
and channel partners including their ability to distribute the Company's
products and meet or renew their financial commitments, the Company's
ability to address international markets, the effectiveness of the
Company's sales and marketing activities, the acceptance of the
Company's products in the marketplace, the timing and scope of deployments
of the Company's products by customers, fluctuations in customer
sales cycles, customers' ability to obtain additional funding, technical
difficulties with respect to the Company's products or products
in development, the need for ongoing product development in an environment
of rapid technological change, the emergence of new competitors
in the marketplace, the Company's ability to compete successfully
against established competitors with greater resources, the uncertainty
of future governmental regulation, the Company's ability to manage
growth, obtain patent protection, and obtain additional funds, general
economic conditions and other risks discussed in this press release
and in the Company's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
All forward-looking statements and risk factors included in this
document are made as of the date hereof, based on information available
to the Company as of the date thereof, and the Company assumes no
obligation to update any forward-looking statement or risk factors.
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