FirstHand Technologies Granted Patent for Multi-protocol Data Communication System Supporting Wireless Telephony, Content Delivery

Business Wire, Nov 28, 2006

In Conjunction With Prof. Schulzrinne, Columbia University; Six Patents Also Pending for Innovator of Enterprise Mobile Communications

OTTAWA -- FirstHand Technologies, an innovator in transforming smartphones and PDAs into full-featured business telephones, today announced that it has been granted a patent for a multi-protocol data communication system supporting wireless telephony and content delivery.

This patent is licensed from Columbia University, along with several pending applications on which Prof. Henning Schulzrinne of Columbia University is an inventor. Patents pending include inventions for reducing MAC layer handoff latency in wireless networks; for call routing in an IP telephony network; for unified messaging in inter/intranet telephony; for an Ethernet-based telephone and system for inter/intranet telephony; for internet telephony based on SIP; and for a system and method for cooperative roaming.

In addition to his role as chief scientific advisor for FirstHand Technologies, Prof. Schulzrinne is the department chair of computer science at Columbia University and is one of the world's leading authorities on Internet Protocol (IP) technologies. Protocols co-developed by him are now Internet standards, used by almost all Internet telephony and multimedia applications.

"We are driven to create ongoing critical innovations for our market and are excited to work closely with Prof. Schulzrinne and Columbia University to do so," said David Hattey, president & CEO of FirstHand Technologies. "The granted patent and the other patent applications serve to protect the enormous investments we've made in earning our reputation as the leader in extending enterprise IP PBX functionality onto mobile devices."

For enterprises needing to mobilize their employees, FirstHand Technologies delivers the FirstHand Mobile Console and FirstHand Mobile Assistant. Both products extend the functionality of various IP PBXs to a variety of mobile devices. Using Mobile Console, enterprise workers can place and receive a call over the best available network - WiFi or cellular - optimizing for lowest cost, highest call quality or user preference. The Mobile Console delivers personal command and control of communications services over WiFi or WiFi and GSM or WiFi and CDMA network interfaces. Using Mobile Assistant, activities normally confined to the office can now be performed on a mobile device such as making and answering enterprise calls, checking and reviewing voice mail, looking up colleague availability and connecting with one or more of them with the click of a phone button.

About FirstHand Technologies (www.firsthandtech.com)

FirstHand Technologies mobilizes the enterprise by extending the functionality of numerous IP PBXs to a variety of smartphones and PDAs. FirstHand Technologies empowers an enterprise's workforce to go mobile with the same functionality as their office desktop. The FirstHand Technologies advanced fixed-mobile convergence (FMC) solution delivers enterprise features and "single number" seamless connectivity over cellular networks and/or WiFi enabling organizations to achieve "enterprise communications everywhere." The enterprise benefits from faster communication abilities, increased productivity, and significant cost savings.

Based in Ottawa, Canada, FirstHand Technologies' solutions are embedded or bundled into the world's premier equipment vendors, systems integrators and service provider's products. For more information, please visit www.firsthandtech.com.

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