Strategic Partnership Enables Customers to Connect to both IP-PBX and PSTN Devices

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (March 20, 2006) -- Vertical Communications (ASFT.OB), a leading provider of next-generation, IP-based phone systems and applications that help businesses better serve their customers, today announced a strategic partnership with Quintum Technologies, Inc., one of the fastest growing VoIP gateway companies. Vertical also announced that it has certified the Quintum SIP Tenor VoIP MultiPath switches and gateways for use with Vertical TeleVantage, the company’s award-winning IP-PBX. Together, TeleVantage and the Quintum switches and gateways will provide customers with dual communications features/functions, combined with the extensive call routing and processing capabilities of TeleVantage. Customers will be able to see immediate cost savings and realize improved operational efficiencies by being able to connect to both IP-PBX and Public Switched Telephone Networks (PSTN) without having to immediately upgrade to a pure IP environment.

“Vertical and Quintum have both recognized that while customers want the flexibility and power of IP, they often also have significant investments in legacy systems that they want to protect,” said Charles Rutledge, vice president of marketing for Quintum Technologies. “The combined solution helps customers fulfill the promise of IP by making the telephony system part of the network, thereby leveraging existing data and voice applications to enhance customer service, deliver new capabilities and maximize revenue. At the same time, it allows customers to continue to use their legacy phones and services in an IP setting.”

TeleVantage, a leading software-based IP-PBX designed for small and medium-sized businesses, provides expanded contact center capabilities including true skills-based routing and the ability to record and archive any or all calls. By helping customers to better manage queue and agent performance, TeleVantage allows them to improve customer satisfaction and lower costs.

The combination of the Quintum SIP Tenor VoIP MultiPath switches and gateways – which provide the required network elements that enable connectivity for external calls to the PSTN – and the TeleVantage phone system gives customers added flexibility and cost saving benefits by making it possible for them to run TeleVantage applications from their corporate infrastructure to branch offices without deploying additional telephony equipment.

Specifically, TeleVantage and Quintum Tenor are providing intelligent connectivity for both single site installations and branch offices. For single site installations, customers receive connectivity for IP endpoints as well as traditional analog systems and PSTNs – with dynamic call routing. In addition, the gateway provides support for legacy analog devices including faxes, phones and paging systems, as well as support for inbound and outbound PSTN calls. The gateway also ensures survivability at the branch level, along with analog support, providing the option to centralize inbound and outbound traffic and local PSTN calling which returns a cost savings by eliminating long distance calls. Both single site and branch installations receive emergency services support via the PSTN.

Designed for Small-to-Medium Sized Businesses (SMBs), this partnership and gateway integration provides a cost-effective way for smaller companies to deliver the same enterprise-level customer service larger organizations can, since SMBs can now offer the same flexibility, dual routing and connectivity options, but without the high cost of converting to pure IP.

“We are very pleased to announce our partnership with Quintum as the certified TeleVantage 7 gateway,” said Walter Kenrich, vice president of product management for Vertical. “We are now providing our customers with increased reliability, improved quality of service and a complete IP telephony solution. At the same time we are providing a telephony solution that leverages/extends existing equipment investments and can evolve as the business needs of our customers – and their customers – change.”

Vertical TeleVantage 7 is available through Vertical Business Partners worldwide. Vertical and Quintum will be offering value bundles which will provide Business Partners with the ability to offer end user customers a complete IP-PBX phone system at a value price.

About Quintum Technologies, Inc.
Headquartered in Eatontown, NJ, Quintum specializes in voice-over-IP technologies that bring reliability and voice clarity of public telephone networks to Internet telephony. Quintum’s intelligent VoIP access solutions integrate easily and are designed with “integrated intelligence” – so they’re the perfect fit for SMEs and branch offices of large enterprises. Our proven solutions fit right into existing PBX and IP infrastructures, making them the ideal choice for service providers and network managers. Intelligent design offers PSTN-based 911 access to analog fax machine support for nonstop call quality, easy remote management, and lower TCO.

Quintum’s product line offers a wide range of unique features that differentiate it from other VoIP solutions including real time PSTN failover that eliminates risk from poor IP Quality of Service, MultiPath call routing allowing easy installation into existing data and telecom environments, and transparent communication across NAT firewalls. Quintum sells its MultiPath switches worldwide through its direct sales force and a network of resellers and distributors. For more information call 1-877-SPEAK IP (1-877-773-2547), 732-460-9000 outside the US, or http://www.quintum.com.