Lucent Technologies Signs $34 Million Outsourcing Agreement to Support Union Carbide's Voice Network and Call Centers

Business Wire, Dec 21, 1999

Business & Technology Editors

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 21, 1999

Lucent Technologies (NYSE:LU) today announced it has signed a five- year, $33.8 million agreement with Union Carbide to provide voice network technology and support for its 46 locations in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico.

Through its NetCare(r) portfolio of services, Lucent will upgrade Union Carbide's 38 Lucent DEFINITY(r) Enterprise Communications Servers to Release 7.1, which will allow the company to send voice and fax over the Internet (VoIP) or via Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), as well as the circuit-switched network. Lucent also will install DEFINITY ProLogix(tm) Solutions servers at eight locations, giving all 46 locations the same networking capabilities.

Union Carbide's five call centers -- located in Houston, Texas, Somerset, N.J., and Danbury, Conn. -- already use Lucent's suite of CentreVu(r) Customer Care Solutions, and these will be upgraded to latest-release software. Union Carbide uses several of Lucent's customer relationship management applications, including CONVERSANT(r) system for interactive voice response and CentreVu Call Management System (CMS), a software application that provides information and management tools, and helps monitor, analyze and optimize call center performance. These applications will allow Union Carbide to better serve its customers and employees, generating the greatest possible value from each customer relationship.

The company's 32 Octel(r) 200/300 messaging servers also will be upgraded to latest-release software, and Lucent will manage all voice communications hardware and software systems, including 16 group videoconferencing facilities, from its NetCare Global Network Management Center in Carrollton, Texas.

Lucent will provide Union Carbide with a turnkey solution that includes upgrades for life, helpdesk support, remote monitoring and software administration, billing, and trouble ticket management as well as asset management.

"We chose Lucent not just because of the quality and reliability of its products and services, but because the Lucent team really listened and understood our needs," said Dick Gittin, director of Information Technology Services at Union Carbide. "This agreement enables us to continue to get the most value from our investment while improving the technology."

"We appreciate the trust Union Carbide has placed in us, and we look forward to playing a part in its future success," said Joie Pacifico, Lucent's Value-Added Services vice president and general manager. "By choosing NetCare to outsource its voice network and call center systems, Union Carbide is gaining the competitive advantage of leading-edge technology without diverting energy and resources from its core business."

Union Carbide, headquartered in Danbury, Conn., USA, is the world's #1 producer of ethylene oxide and ethylene glycol (used to make polyester fibers and antifreeze, respectively), and is one of the largest makers of polyethylene (used in plastic bags and milk cartons). It is also a leading supplier of solvents, coatings, latex, resins, emulsions and plasticizers.

Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, designs, builds and delivers a wide range of public and private networks, communications systems and software, data networking systems, business telephone systems and microelectronic components. Bell Laboratories is the research and development arm for the company. For more information on Lucent Technologies, visit its web site at http://www.lucent.com.