IPcelerate.com

SOFTWARE TURNS DESKTOP PHONES INTO BUSINESS-BUILDING DEVICES

New Interactive Tool Helps Businesses Grow with the Touch of an Icon

July 8, 2008

EMBARQ Corporation (NYSE: EQ) is now offering business customers a new tool to help control costs, manage staffing and customer appointments, generate new revenue streams and increase billing accuracy. The surprising part, though, is that it can be done with the touch of a telephone.

EMBARQ Business has partnered with software provider IPcelerate to offer IPsmartSuite, which runs on VoIP-based telephones that are part of Cisco Systems’ Cisco Smart Business Communications Systems. IPsmartSuite offers a visual display screen with touch capabilities – like today’s wireless smartphones – that allows businesses to run a variety of applications to help boost the bottom line.

“IPsmartSuite will revolutionize the way many of our small to mid-sized customers run their businesses,” said Susan Sarna, vice president of marketing and product management for EMBARQ Business. “It will make them more productive, streamline many time-consuming processes and improve the way they interact with their own customers.”

One example of the efficiency IPsmartSuite offers is assisting health care offices with reminding patients about upcoming appointments. Today, an employee has to set aside time to call each patient individually. With this technology, an employee can simply touch one icon on the phone’s display screen and the system automatically dials each patient and provides an automated appointment reminder, freeing up the employee to work on other important tasks.

“This is an off-the-shelf business solution that is preconfigured based on the business’s industry,” said Kevin Brown, president and CEO of IPcelerate. “Business owners need only to answer one simple question that identifies their specific industry and the software automatically loads the appropriate applications. It’s designed for smaller businesses that may not have a dedicated IT department, so we purposefully made it very easy to set up and use immediately.”

The software also customizes what applications are available based on the job function of each employee. For example, a phone in the waiting room offers medical patients one set of options, while staffers receive different options that are relevant to their needs based on whether they touch the “doctor” icon or the “nurse” icon.

EMBARQ Business works with each customer to develop a customized solution based on its unique needs. Pricing starts at $1,200 for smaller businesses and does not include costs for the phone system or a dedicated personal computer, which is needed to run the software.

“IPsmartSuite was created specifically for small-to-mid-sized businesses with their resources and budgets in mind,” said Sarna. “What really excites us is the return on investment our customers will realize with this solution.”

Sample Benefits for Each Business Category

Healthcare

  • Patients can check themselves in for their appointments, view uploaded video reminding them of the importance of regular check-ups or see advertisements from third-party businesses.
  • Doctors can initiate visual video collaboration with other doctors, manage patient appointments, log patient codes for phone calls for more accurate billing, initiate live text and audio messaging and record phone calls.
  • Nurses can receive patient check-in alerts, patient status alerts, initiate automated dial-out for appointment reminders and send e911 alerts in case of emergencies.

Legal

  • Clients can check themselves in for appointments and view uploaded video, photos or general advertisements.
  • Lawyers can enter client codes for phone calls and the application catches user mistakes, which creates more accurate billing. They can record and archive phone calls and manage client information.
  • Employees can initiate automated dial-out for appointment reminders, reconcile client billing and receive client check-in alerts.

Retail Stores and General Office Environments

  • Customers can view advertisements, corporate messages and new promotions.
  • Managers can receive alerts when employees are in overtime, initiate an automated dial-out to off-the-clock staff to cover an employee’s shift, recognize employees, generate automated dial-out alerts to targeted customers about upcoming sales and promotions.
  • Employees can clock in and out, receive task instructions, view employee recognition awards and use e911 alerts in case of an emergency.

For more information on the features and benefits of IPsmartSuite, visit embarq.com or www.ipcelerate.com/ipss-intro.