Verizon Business Adds Advanced Features to Its Conferencing Services to Improve Collaboration

Verizon Business Adds Advanced Features to Its Conferencing Services to Improve Collaboration

June 06, 2006

Cutting-Edge Tools Make Web, Audio Conferencing Easier to Use and Provide Additional Security Protection

    BASKING RIDGE, N.J., June 6 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ --
Verizon Business today announced a variety of advanced
features for its net and audio conferencing services that
will make them easier to use, enhance collaboration and
strengthen information security.

    The advanced features include:

    - Integrating Verizon Conferencing with Microsoft
Office Live 
      Communications Server 2005 to enable users to
initiate an immediate 
      audio or net conference.  

    - Integrating Verizon Audio Conferencing with Verizon
Customized Net 
      Conference to give users more control over their
conferences. 

    - New administrative features -- Event Registration,
Administrative Tool 
      and enhancements to Web RSVP -- to allow business and
government 
      customers to collaborate more quickly and increase
the security and 
      management of their conferencing structure.  

    Separately, Verizon Business and Microsoft today
announced the results of a groundbreaking Frost &
Sullivan research study sponsored by the two companies. 
"Meetings Around the World: The Impact of
Collaboration on Business Performance" determined that
collaboration --  defined as an interaction between culture
and technology such as audio and net conferencing, e-mail
and instant messaging - is a key driver of business
performance.  For more information, visit:
http://newscenter.verizon.com/kit/collaboration/ .

    "It's very powerful to see just how much
collaboration can impact a company's overall
performance," said Nancy Gofus, senior vice president
of product management for Verizon Business.  "By more
closely integrating how our services work together with a
sharp focus on security, Verizon Business continues to
advance our conferencing and collaboration services to make
teamwork more simple and effective for our customers."

    With the integration of Verizon Conferencing with
Microsoft Office Live Communications Server 2005, customers
can use the click-to-conference capability through Microsoft
Office Communicator to initiate an immediate audio
conference, net conference or both.

    In addition, through the integration of Verizon Audio
Conferencing with Verizon Customized Net Conference,
powered by Microsoft Office Live Meeting, participants can
join an audio conference initiated directly from the net
conference with a dial-out feature to gather participants
to a meeting.   It also gives leaders more control over
conference calls - including the power to mute, disconnect
or monitor attendance for an audio conference or the audio
portion of a net conference.

    Enhanced Web RSVP and Event Registration allow
participants to conveniently and quickly reply to
invitations for meetings and other events. Both tools give
leaders more command and control of their meetings,
enabling them to request qualifying information of
participants, provide automatic reminders and provide
branding tailored for each conference. Event Registration
is available for Customized Net Conference. Enhanced Web
RSVP, which is available for all Verizon Conferencing
products and services, provides more tools for conference
leaders than the earlier version, including providing
automatic, customized reminders and the ability to ask
qualifying questions of participants. Both features can be
accessed 24 hours a day, seven days a week.  

    The new Administrative Tool is designed to help
customers increase security and management of their
enterprise conferencing structure.  Customers can designate
administrators to manage employee conferencing accounts via
the Internet. The administrators can create new users, or
edit or delete them; create logins for new and existing
users; schedule Instant Meeting, Instant Net and Instant
Video Subscriptions; schedule audio and net conferences;
choose who will receive e-mail confirmations; and download
and print user reports. 

    The tool also provides added security by enabling
administrators to keep their employee databases current so
that if an employee leaves a company, that employee will be
deleted from the user database and prevented from accessing
company's conferencing account. 

    Verizon Business is one of the world's largest
providers of conferencing services and assists
organizations worldwide to meet more productively without
the time and costs associated with business travel. The
company offers the convenience of one-stop shopping and
customized products and services, including audio, video
and net conferencing, webcasting, pre-meeting and
post-meeting support tools and equipment sales and
support.
 
    About Verizon Business 

    Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications
(NYSE:  VZ), is a leading provider of advanced
communications and information technology (IT) solutions to
large business and government customers worldwide. 
Combining unsurpassed global network reach with advanced
technology and professional service capabilities, Verizon
Business delivers innovative and seamless business
solutions to customers around the world.   For more
information, visit http://www.verizonbusiness.com .

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    For more information, please contact:

     Stefanie Scott
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

     Debbie Lewis
     Tel:   [phone]
     Email: [e-mail]

SOURCE  Verizon Business