Executive Suite: Wildfire Communications Adds Four New Vice Presidents; Expands Management Team to Gear Up for Broad, Global Distribution of Wildfire Electronic Assistant - Company Operations

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, March 8, 1999

Wildfire Communications, Inc. Monday announced the appointment of four new vice presidents. Chris Hart joins the company as vice president and managing director, Europe; Chuck Kolbenson joins as vice president, research and development; Michael A. Neligon joins as vice president, operations; and Virginia H. Spencer joins as vice president, human resources. These appointments represent new positions within the Wildfire management team, which is expanding to drive the continued adoption of Wildfire by carriers and users worldwide.

Wildfire Communications, Inc. headquartered in Lexington, Mass., is a pioneer in the field of virtual-assistant technology. The company develops and markets Wildfire, the first speech-based electronic assistant to be offered as an enhanced service by phone companies. Wildfire is currently offered by Pacific Bell Wireless in the United States, Bell Mobility/Bell Emergis in Canada, Orange plc in the United Kingdom, and is in market trials with France Telecom and Bouygues Telecom in France.

Chris Hart, vice president and managing director, Europe, brings extensive telecommunications sales and marketing experience to Wildfire. Prior to his appointment as Wildfire's first European managing director, he spent nearly ten years with Northern Telecom, most recently as vice president, sales and marketing for Nortel Fixed Wireless Access. He has also held management positions with Belgium-based PA Consulting and the UK Atomic Energy Authority.

Chuck Kolbenson, vice president, research and development, brings 20 years of industry experience to his role at Wildfire. Prior to joining the company, Mr. Kolbenson was a vice president of research and development at the Network Systems division of Comverse Technology, Inc., formerly Boston Technology, Inc. He has also held management and engineering positions at Teloquent Communications, Inc., Summa Four, Voicetek and AT&T Bell Labs.

Michael Neligon, vice president, operations, brings invaluable international business and operations skills to Wildfire. Prior to Wildfire, Mr. Neligon served as president and founder of Seascape Ventures, Inc., an operational consulting company. Prior to founding Seascape Ventures in 1996, he served as vice president of worldwide service and support for Boston Technology, Inc. Mr. Neligon has also held various corporate management positions at IBM/Rolm Systems, where he was employed for ten years.

Virginia H. Spencer, vice president, human resources, has more than ten years' experience in managing human resources for emerging growth high-tech companies. Prior to joining Wildfire, Ms. Spencer served as vice president, human resources for Novasoft Systems, Inc., a document management software company. Prior to joining Novasoft, she served as vice president, human resources for American Superconductor Corporation and director of human resources for Chipcom Corporation, now 3Com Corporation.

Wildfire Communications, Inc., headquartered in Lexington, Mass., is a pioneer in the field of virtual-assistant technology. The company develops and markets Wildfire as an enhanced service offered by public telephone network carriers. Wildfire Communications, Inc. is located at 81 Hartwell Ave., Lexington, MA 02421. For more information on Wildfire Communications, visit their website at www.wildfire.com. For a demonstration of the Wildfire assistant, call 1.800.WILDFIRE.