Nortel

Nortel [NYSE/TSX: NT ] has unveiled a new educational program designed to provide IT professionals and students with a broader understanding of unified communications . This new program is the most comprehensive, vendor-neutral training and certification curriculum available today. The new program includes the certification self-study guide entitled Unified Communications Solutions: A Practical Business and Technology Approach , from Nortel Press .

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Nortel has set up new self-service voice capabilities for Nestlé Nespresso, the worldwide pioneer in premium portioned coffee and one of the fastest growing operating units of the Nestlé Group. By means of these new self-service voice capabilities, Nespresso is able to reduce customer waiting times and cut annual Customer Relationship Center costs by up to 16 percent. Customer Relationship Center is the name Nespresso uses for its contact center.

With Nortel’s automated speech recognition technology, Nespresso can now offer its customers faster response to their inquiries through an easy-to-use service hotline. Instead of being placed on hold to wait for the next available coffee specialist, customers can complete either all or part of their order through voice prompts. This results in reduced waiting times and leads to enhanced customer satisfaction. The voice system is multilingual in German, French and Italian and allows Nespresso to cut contact center costs by completing more calls with the same number of agents.

"At Nespresso, we aim for the highest quality in everything we do and part of that strategy is to ensure our customers can address their concerns and place their orders as fast and efficiently as possible. Our coffee specialists in the Relationship Centre in Sion handle more than 300,000 calls a year," said Marc-Alain Dubois, market director Switzerland, Nespresso. "With the new Nortel solution we can offer our customers a comprehensive personal service without long wait times even in peak periods. That is an important factor in driving the success of the Nespresso brand."

"Nortel has worked with Nespresso to meet its communications needs for many years, and again they turned to us when they were looking to increase productivity at their Customer Relationship Center and reduce operating costs," says Thomas Marfurt, country manager, Nortel Switzerland. "With Nortel´s self-service, voice response technology, we were able to design new communications capabilities for Nespresso that could be easily incorporated into their existing technologies to help them meet huge call volumes without employing more coffee specialist agents."

Nespresso has initially launched the new self-service voice capabilities for its 180-agent Customer Relationship Center near Lausanne, Switzerland, where nearly two-thirds of the incoming calls are answered in German, about one-third in French and the rest in Italian. The center relies on Nortel’s Media Processing Server (MPS) 500 speech recognition platform with high reliability through instantaneous back if any component fails. The system also uses Nortel Communication Server (CS) 1000 with intelligent, automatic routing to the most appropriate agent through Nortel’s Contact Center solution. Extension of the system to a number of additional international Customer Relationship Centers is currently being planned.

Nespresso has had a Nortel voice solution with over 300 TDM and VoIP phones in use for several years.

About Nestlé Nespresso SA
Nestlé Nespresso SA, the worldwide pioneer and market leader in highest-quality premium portioned coffee, introduced consumers to the very highest quality Grands Crus to be enjoyed in the comfort of their own homes, as well as to be savoured at locations outside the home, such as gourmet restaurants, upscale hotels, luxury outlets and offices. What transpired was the creation of the unique Nespresso trilogy, a unique combination of the world’s highest-quality Grands Crus coffees, smart and stylish coffee machines and exceptional customer service. The culmination of these three elements came to be known as the Nespresso Ultimate Coffee Experience. Headquartered in Paudex, Switzerland with more than 2,500 employees, Nestlé Nespresso SA sells products in more than 50 countries directly to its customers and at the end of 2007 operated more than 117 prestigious boutiques in key cities around the world. For the second year in a row, it was named the fastest growing company within the Nestlé Group and one of its "billionaire brands", having achieved a growth rate of more than 40 percent in 2007. For more information, visit www.nespresso.com**.

About Nortel
Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortel’s technologies are designed to help eliminate today’s barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries around the world. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit www.nortel.com/news.

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Businesses tired of grappling sky-high outsourced conferencing bills can now rein in those expenses - and watch employee productivity soar - through an in-house Nortel  (NYSE/TSX: NT) audio-and-video solution that makes anytime, anywhere collaboration simple.

By giving every employee access to their own always-open desktop conference room, workers can quickly connect with anyone, anywhere in the world without the hassle of making a reservation. Multimedia Conferencing 5.0, the newest product in Nortel’s Unified Communications portfolio, cuts costs dramatically by eliminating third-party conference operator fees, which can range from 3 cents to 20 cents per minute. With Nortel’s latest solution, companies can expect full payback in as few as six to 24 months.

“Customers have told us that pressures to improve business performance and reduce travel costs are forcing more and more employees to meet virtually - the challenge is to do it without breaking the bank,” said Dave Murashige, general manager, Multimedia Applications, Nortel. “With Multimedia Conferencing 5.0, businesses get a low-cost software-based solution that stems the pain of pay-as-you-go collaboration.”

According to Wainhouse Research**, significant benefits - including, cost reductions, simplified integration and enhanced security - have fueled a strong movement among organizations to bring collaboration tools in house. It also notes that presence-based systems that support audio and video communications allow workers to resolve problems faster and to process 25-35 percent more transactions per hour, leading to direct bottom-line improvements.

United Kingdom-based consulting firm Unified Group, which has recently been engaged in trials with Multimedia Conferencing 5.0, says it is “absolutely thrilled” with the product: “Multimedia Conferencing combined with Microsoft LCS is giving our employees the ability to work more effectively through a single desktop interface for audio and video conferences, desktop calling, presence and instant messaging,” said George Vlismas, manager of Unified Technical Projects, Unified Group.

Multimedia Conferencing 5.0 is highly scalable and fully integrated with Nortel’s flagship Communication Server 1000 as well as Microsoft’s Live Communications Server 2005 and Office Communicator 2005. The Nortel and Microsoft integration provides a single desktop environment for instant messaging, presence, audio/video conferencing and desktop communication. Integration with Microsoft’s Office Communications Server 2007 is expected in the first quarter of 2008.

The integration of Multimedia Conferencing 5.0 is the latest component of the Nortel and Microsoft Innovative Communications Alliance. In October, Nortel unveiled plans to be first-to-market with the industry’s broadest portfolio of Unified Communications solutions and applications built around Microsoft’s new Office Communications Server 2007 and Office Communicator 2007.

For more information on Multimedia Conferencing 5.0 as well as other products in Nortel’s Unified Communications portfolio, please visit http://www.nortel.com/conferencing.

About Nortel

Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortel’s technologies are designed to help eliminate today’s barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries around the world.

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Timico Ltd., a UK provider of converged communication services, has become the first service provider in the UK to work with Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] to launch a tailor-made, hosted VoIP service for SMBs incorporating a PC-based multimedia voice and video application that fully integrates with Microsoft® Outlook® messaging and collaboration client.

This addition to Timico’s VoIP for Business service will enable SMBs to improve efficiency and productivity by allowing them to dial colleagues, suppliers, business partners and customers using a simple click of the mouse within their Microsoft® Outlook® business application. By combining the Nortel Application Server 5200 with Microsoft® Outlook®, the often lengthy process of looking up a contact telephone number and picking up the phone to make the call can be shortened to “one click” access. Moreover, if the call is made between two Timico VoIP for Business users, presence capabilities can be used to determine if the person being called is available, busy or away from their desk.

The PC-based phone, within the VoIP for Business solution, is established on Nortel’s Application Server 5200 (AS5200) platform. The AS 5200 is Nortel’s IMS-ready, SIP applications server, which integrates voice with video, collaboration and presence services to deliver next-generation unified communication services. Users can use a Timico recommended headset with their PC SIP client or they can choose a Nortel desktop telephone handset, according to their preference.

“Timico’s VoIP for Business customers have reported how the solution transforms their business communications, reducing costs and improving productivity by allowing voice calls to be carried over the core network and providing advanced communications tools such as presence, instant messaging and a variety of collaboration tools,” says Trefor Davies, technology director at Timico. These efficiencies are further enhanced by integrating the solution with Microsoft ® Outlook® which is the application that most PC users in a business environment have constantly open because they use it for email and it contains their contact database and diaries. Another benefit to this Nortel-based VoIP system is that it is hosted by Timico so SMB end user customers don’t have to buy the equipment.”

Timico’s enterprise class VoIP service is tailored specifically for SMBs, though larger businesses could also benefit from this technology. The SIP-based, multimedia communications service delivers the kind of business communications tools that used to be the preserve of bigger enterprises. Advanced telephony services such as voice and video conferencing together with presence, instant messaging and a variety of collaboration tools, now fully integrated with Microsoft® Outlook®, are all attainable by even the smallest business.

“Timico is offering a hosted service that seamlessly integrates with the desktop,” adds Brian Day vice president, Carrier VoIP and Multimedia, EMEA, Nortel. “By making the most of Nortel VoIP technology, Timico’s Business Service for SMBs can deliver business communications tools wherever there is IP connectivity, removing the inflexibility of more traditional desktop services improving collaboration, efficiency and productivity For ease of use customers can also download their Microsoft® Outlook® interface to a PC, laptop or mobile device so they can use the applications wherever they go.”

The Timico VoIP for Business service is enhanced by the fact that the company is not only an Internet Telephony Service Provider (ITSP) but is also a Mobile Service Provider, a fixed line service provider and a QoS enabled ISP. This means that its customers can enjoy the benefits of VoIP at their main office site without having to throw away their existing PBX investment; and they can also take advantage of a toolkit of Timico services such as free calling and dial-by-extension between locations, one non-geographic number for all locations and one receptionist for all locations which can cover their home-workers and branch offices.

About Timico

A market leader in the provision of VoIP for Business services, Timico is an independent provider of fixed, mobile, internet and converged communication services to the business market and a “one stop shop” for all the communication needs for small and medium sized businesses. Founded in 2004 by a highly experienced management team, Timico brings an unrivalled understanding of its customers’ needs, delivered through its independence, its high levels of customer service and a desire to help its customers to operate more effectively. The company’s portfolio of services includes fixed line, mobile and internet voice and data services. For more information visit www.timico.co.uk**.

About Nortel

Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortel’s technologies are designed to help eliminate today’s barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries around the world.

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