New offering enables service providers to deliver application services in a hosted solution, eliminating capital expenditure requirements and easing strain on school IT staff
Cistera Networks, Inc.® (OTCBB: CNWT), a leading provider of enterprise application platforms and engines for IP Communications, today demonstrated the first-ever comprehensive VoIP services package delivered to education customers in a managed services environment. The same sophisticated IP Communications services that Cistera already provides to thousands of students nationwide via a customer premise equipment (CPE) model can now be delivered in a hosted environment.
Cistera’s founder and Chief Technology Officer Greg Royal introduced the new, comprehensive managed application services from the floor of Sylantro Global Summit 2007 in Las Vegas.
“For the first time, school systems can look to a hosted VoIP solution as a real alternative to purchasing a communication system outright,” Royal said. “All the features and applications that school systems currently enjoy with a CPE purchase are now available in a hosted model. This means that schools now can avoid raising bonds and other fund-raising activities to enjoy the benefits of managed services on a lease/rental basis.”
Working with partners such as Sylantro and Aastra, Cistera can deliver this new hosted solution to service providers and truly create a best-of-breed approach for educational institutions that need robust communications solutions to meet the needs of school systems.
“For quite a while now, customers in the Education market have entertained the idea that a managed services offering for VoIP is a very attractive proposition, but there was a gap between the application services offered in a CPE model and those that could be offered on a hosted basis,” said Yves Laliberté, executive vice president at Aastra Telecom. “Cistera has bridged that gap and is the first enterprise applications provider to make full use of the capabilities of Aastra’s 5i Series IP Phones with their powerful XML and SIP API capabilities. We believe that Cistera’s new hosted approach with Aastra endpoints is a viable and value-generating alternative to the CPE model.”
Demonstrations of the new Cistera managed services offering are ongoing this week during the Sylantro Global Summit 2007 at the Sylantro Showcase.
The education managed services package features functionality from two of Cistera’s most popular application services – the Quality Assurance and Compliance (QAC), and Event Alerting and Notification (EAN) solutions. These two systems have been strategically combined to meet the needs of educational institutions:
* Cistera’s EAN solution is designed to provide expedited, convenient and reliable messaging in a multi-modal broadcast capacity, which transmits to devices including IP and analog phones, mobile phones, and two-way radios. It also features bell scheduling and an overhead paging function. The solution creates a seamless framework for instantaneous communication among first responders, administrators and campus security that allows for a more organized and improved response to emergency events.
* Cistera’s QAC system allows school districts and universities to improve communication and collaboration among personnel by automating quality assurance and compliance functions with recording and monitoring systems over IP phones. The system also includes screen capture, supervisory intervention and reporting tools that increase the organization’s ability to address the needs of students and staff.
To view a demonstration of Cistera’s new managed services offering, please visit us during Sylantro Global Summit 2007 at the Sylantro Showcase. Cistera Networks founder and CTO Greg Royal and Cistera CEO Derek Downs will be among the company executives present. After the event, service providers can contact Cistera for more information at 1-866-965-8243.
Cistera is the leading provider of QAC and EAN solutions for IP Telephony, based on a number of core application engines that reside on the award-winning Cistera ConvergenceServer™. Each solution works independently, as well as together, to provide flexible and comprehensive features to address administrative and operational issues.
About Aastra
Aastra Telecom is a North American business unit of Aastra Technologies Limited (“Aastra”), a global company at the forefront of the Enterprise Communication market. Headquartered in Concord, Ontario, Canada, Aastra develops and delivers innovative and integrated solutions that address the communication needs of businesses small and large around the world. Aastra enables Enterprises to communicate and collaborate more efficiently and effectively by offering customers a full range of open standard IP-based and traditional communications networking products, including terminals, systems, and applications. For additional information on Aastra, visit our website at http://www.aastra.com.
Aastra® is a registered trademark of Aastra Technologies Limited.
About Cistera Networks, Inc.
Cistera Networks, Inc.® (OTCBB: CNWT) makes Application Driven Telephony a reality by setting the new standard in advanced IP phone application platforms and engines for the Enterprise IP Communications environment. The award-winning Cistera ConvergenceServer™ (CCS) uses the industry-leading Cistera Enterprise Platform for IPT to provide Unified Application Administration, as well as Fault and Performance Management for enterprise IPT Application deployments. Cistera provides next-generation solutions for numerous vertical markets including education, finance, healthcare and government. Cistera Networks maximizes IP phone capabilities, taking the communications platform to an entirely new level. For more information, please visit www.cistera.com and www.cisteraexperience.com.
This release may be deemed to contain forward-looking statements that are subject to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements include, among other things, statements regarding future events and the future financial performance of Cistera Networks that involve risks and uncertainties. Readers are cautioned that these forward-looking statements are only predictions and may differ materially from actual future events or results. Readers are referred to the documents filed by Cistera Networks with the SEC, specifically the most recent reports on Form 10-K and 10-Q, each as it may be amended from time to time, which identify important risk factors that could cause actual results to differ from those contained in the forward-looking statements.