HP Business Communications Server Partners Demonstrate Expandability of HP BCS Platform; Partners Provide Wide Range of CTI Offerings Through HP BCS Solution Partner Program - HP's Business Communications Server Solution Partner Program - Company Business and Marketing

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, Dec 20, 1999

Hewlett-Packard Company Tuesday announced several alliances -- formed through HP's new Business Communications Server (BCS) Solution Partner Program -- that will expand the features of its BCS integrated telephony, voicemail and data solution. Partners who have joined the BCS program will provide HP customers with a suite of valuable options for today's business communication needs.

The Solution Partner Program strengthens the role of the HP BCS as the foundation for telephony and data for small- to medium-size enterprises and large enterprise branch offices. The HP BCS provides unified messaging, automated attendant, automatic call distribution and more than 400 voice and messaging features. Through the solution partners, HP will provide customers with a wide range of additional applications and tools that will enable them to expand the HP BCS to meet the specialized needs of individual businesses. Additional partners will continue to be added to the program.

"The days of having separate systems to handle a business' PBX, voicemail and data needs are over," said Dan Abouav, general manager of HP's Business Communications Solutions Operation. "HP and its partners will provide a single, integrated data and telephony system giving small- to medium-size businesses the power and reliability of an enterprise business communications system at an attractive price. With the announcement of the HP BCS Solution Partner Program, our customers gain additional investment protection knowing there is a growing list of solutions available to meet their needs now and in the future."

New applications and solutions for the HP BCS include the following:

-- intelligent call routing;

-- help-desk automation;

-- call tracing and reporting;

-- predictive dialing;

-- Internet integration;

-- interactive voice response;

-- modem sharing;

-- business hoteling;

-- hot desking;

-- power management;

-- database management;

-- remote-access solution; and

-- uninterrupted power supply.

HP also announced that it has signed an agreement to distribute a telephony Software Developer Kit (SDK) from Decisif. The Decisif Software Developer Kit for the HP BCS is a powerful Call Control and Voice Control COM object. The SDK enables developers to use familiar programming languages, such as Visual Basic, C and C++, to rapidly create applications that will integrate with the telephony functions of the HP BCS.

"The SDK enables our customers to rapidly develop custom telephony applications for the HP BCS platform," said Joanne Newbauer, HP BCS business development manager. "Vendors of conventional applications will benefit from a tool that enables them to quickly telephony-enable their applications."

The HP BCS Solution Partner Program is designed to provide Independent Software Vendors and Independent Hardware Vendors with resources to support their efforts in creating HP BCS compatible versions of their solutions. More information on the Solution Partner Program is available at www.hp.com/go/bcs by clicking on "Solution Partners."

HP is powering the communications industry by supplying communications IT infrastructure to every Fortune 500 telecommunications company in the world today. HP and its partners deliver management, network intelligence, billing and customer-care solutions for UNIX and Windows NT system platforms, enabling service providers to migrate from network- to customer-focused business models as the Internet and telephony worlds converge.

Hewlett-Packard Company -- a leading global provider of computing and imaging solutions and services for business and home -- is focused on capitalizing on the opportunities of the Internet and the proliferation of electronic services.

HP plans to launch Agilent Technologies as an independent company by mid-calendar 2000. Agilent consists of HP's test and measurement, semiconductor products, chemical analysis and healthcare solutions businesses, and has leading positions in multiple market segments.

HP has 83,200 employees worldwide and had total revenue from continuing operations of $42.4 billion in its 1999 fiscal year. Information about HP, its products and the company's Year 2000 program can be found on the World Wide Web at http://www.hp.com.