Providers Rally to Offer VoIP for Microsoft Response Point

REDMOND, Wash. — April 18, 2008 — Industry-leading voice over Internet protocol (VoIP) providers are rallying around the Microsoft Response Point phone system to offer an easy-to-use, complete digital voice solution for small businesses. Today Microsoft Corp. announced that Cbeyond, Inc., and New Global Telecom, Inc. (NGT), will offer their superior digital voice services for Response Point. Small-business customers will be able to take advantage of simple, fully integrated VoIP service from these providers on Microsoft Response Point Service Pack 1 when it is released this summer.

“We’ve conducted thorough tests of the services delivered by Cbeyond and NGT and are pleased to align with these leaders and engage their channels to deliver Response Point as a complete VoIP solution to small businesses,” said Xuedong Huang, general manager of Microsoft Response Point. “Brought together, small businesses will experience all the benefits of Response Point’s magic blue button for voice dialing with the reliable voice services of these providers.”

Response Point chose to align with Cbeyond and NGT because of their focus on coverage, high quality of voice service and customer satisfaction. Each service provider uses the industry standard Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) trunking, which institutes a common protocol among digital voice providers worldwide and will boost quality of service and overall network health. Response Point customers will be able to take advantage of digital voice service based on SIP.

“Microsoft’s attention to detail in catering to the small-business segment makes Response Point a natural fit for Cbeyond’s Internet protocol-based voice and data applications,” said Rob Consolazio, vice president of Marketing and Business Development at Cbeyond. “Small businesses that combine our BeyondVoice with SIPconnect service and the Response Point phone system will gain the advantage of communication tools that big businesses enjoy, at an affordable price.”

Each service provider plans to roll out unique partner programs for value-added resellers that will bolster their ability to reach and service small-business customers with Response Point.

“We have designed the Digital Voice Partner Program to cater to the needs of Microsoft Small Business Specialists and are pleased to provide a nationwide digital voice program to the Microsoft community,” said Mike Donnell, president and CEO of NGT. “As a leader in outsourced VoIP services, NGT’s focus and core expertise is on providing our partners with complete communications for the small-business customer.”

Cbeyond and NGT both will participate in the upcoming Response Point 12-city training tour for small-business specialists and value-added resellers, offering tutorials and guidance on their services. Training information and registration are available at http://www.msreadiness.com/CourseDetail.aspx?id=9241 [1]. Response Point will continue to test additional digital service providers and evaluate their ability to provide high-quality, easy-to-use digital voice service to Response Point customers.

About Cbeyond

Cbeyond, Inc. is a leading IP-based managed services provider that delivers integrated packages of communications and IT services to more than 33,000 small businesses throughout the United States. Cbeyond offers more than 20 productivity-enhancing applications including local and long-distance voice, broadband Internet, mobile, BlackBerry(R), broadband laptop access, voicemail, email, web hosting, fax-to-email, data backup, file-sharing and virtual private networking. Cbeyond manages these services over a private, 100-percent Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) facilities-based network. For more information on Cbeyond, visit www.cbeyond.net [2].

About New Global Telecom

New Global Telecom, Inc. is the leading provider of wholesale hosted and trunk-based VoIP solutions in the United States. The company’s nationwide services enable VARs, cable operators, CLECs, and ISPs to deliver a high quality, complete communication solution to address business end-user needs. NGT’s Network Performance Platform is a cornerstone of the service suites, and is an industry-leading network approach to delivering predictable end-user quality. NGT’s digital voice services include a complete range of telephony features, nationwide phone service, worldwide audio & web conferencing, desktop fax services, E911 service, training and other support. For more information, please visit www.ngt.com [3].

About Microsoft

Founded in 1975, Microsoft (Nasdaq “MSFT”) is the worldwide leader in software, services and solutions that help people and businesses realize their full potential.