Unified Communications System Powered by Ascendent Systems Easily and Cost-Effectively Transfers the Capabilities of an Office Phone to a Cell Phone

LAS VEGAS, April 1, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Verizon is making it easier foron-the-go professionals to answer calls on the first ring while away from theoffice, with a new unified communications service that transfers thecapabilities of an office phone to a cell phone.

The new PBX Mobile Extension offering, announced Tuesday (April 1) at theCTIA Wireless 2008 trade show here, uses the latest version of the award-winning Ascendent(R) Voice Mobility Suite from Ascendent Systems (a subsidiaryof Research In Motion), to deliver an advanced, enterprise-grade unifiedcommunications system. In addition, PBX Mobile Extension now directly supportsthe BlackBerry(R) Mobile Voice System (MVS) from Research In Motion, providingBlackBerry smartphone users with secure access to a company's PBXfunctionality.

The software-based service, which replaces Verizon Business' PBX MobileExtension offering announced in June 2007, enables large-business andgovernment customers to avoid the complexity and cost inherent in purchasingand deploying separate hardware required with the prior offering. With the newoffering, companies will be able to use standard off-the-shelf servers.

'Busy professionals today are demanding new devices and services that helpthem improve their productivity whether in the office or on the road,' saidNancy Gofus, chief marketing officer for Verizon Business. 'By combining thepower of Verizon's wired and wireless networks with Ascendent Systems' leadingvoice mobility software and BlackBerry smartphones, we are enabling a newlevel of collaboration and productivity for an increasingly mobile workforce.'

The new fixed-mobile-convergence (FMC) offering, available next month inthe U.S. to enterprise customers of Verizon Business and Verizon Wireless,works with traditional or IP-based private branch exchange (PBX) service,including Verizon IP Trunking and Verizon Managed IP PBX. Among otherfeatures, it works with any cell phone from any wireless provider in the U.S.and enables mobile workers to move seamlessly between cell phones and deskphones to maintain calls in progress; conduct real-time conference calls; andinitiate mass notifications enabling businesses to quickly respond to urgentsituations.

When used in conjunction with BlackBerry MVS, users get intuitive andvisual desk-phone features through menus built directly into the BlackBerryphone application.

PBX Mobile Extension features a single phone number that simultaneouslyrings on up to four devices; greater scalability for rapidly growingcompanies; support for Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking on specificIP PBX platforms; and seamless integration of a corporate PBX.