Press Release:
WESTLAKE VILLAGE, Calif., Aug 19, 1999 (BUSINESS WIRE via COMTEX) --
FNet Subscribers to Receive Expanded Package of Value-Added Features
Franklin Telecom (AMEX:FCM) announced today that FNet, its service subsidiary, is introducing Message One (MSG1), a unified messaging service that allows FNet subscribers access to a full array of advanced voice and fax features with the Internet.
One of these features is Selective Call Forwarding. This can be customized to allow the user to predetermine specific callers (i.e. prime customers, employees, family members, etc.) whose calls will automatically be forwarded to the customer; other callers will be sent to voice mail.
MSG1 also provides Find Me/Follow Me capability, which can ensure that the subscriber is never out of reach for important calls. Messages, including faxes, can be retrieved from anywhere throughout the world using either an Internet browser or a standard telephone.
Internet Call Waiting is an additional feature. If the customer is surfing the Internet, for instance, an incoming call or fax will prompt a pop-up message that appears onscreen. The customer then has the option, by clicking a button, of accepting the call or forwarding it to voice mail. MSG1 can also accommodate conferencing up to eight calls, with the conference call managed through the Web site.
A subscriber to MSG1 will receive two telephone numbers: one for voice and one for fax. Customers may use these numbers as their primary numbers; if they want to maintain an established number, they may simply call forward to the MSG1 numbers to have complete access to the expanded features. The customer will be billed for all domestic calls at 9 cents per minute. The enhanced services are free.
Michael Peters, who heads Franklin's division for E-commerce and Enhanced Services, stated: "This is a tour de force of enhanced Internet features. People in business have come to depend on these types of features to maintain a competitive edge. Making this available via the Internet offers exciting advantages -- especially on the cost basis at which we are offering MSG1. For the business traveler, the fax service alone makes the package very valuable."
Peters went on to explain: "In addition to offering this service to FNet subscribers, Franklin will sell a hardware/software bundle to ISPs that want to offer this service to their customers. It has two obvious advantages to the ISP: it will grow their number of customers and it will increase their revenue per customer. It's also going to make their customers very happy."
MSG1 (at www.MSG1.com) will be available for commercial sign-ups starting Sept. 30. Limited spaces for the current Beta testing are available now. To apply to participate in the Beta tests, e-mail support@fnet.net and enter "Beta MSG1" on the subject line.
About Franklin Telecom
The primary business of Franklin Telecom is the design and manufacturing of communications devices, including hardware and software solutions that enable superior-quality Voice over IP applications. Franklin's Internet subsidiary FNet provides Voice over Internet Protocol global Telco services.
Certain statements in this news release constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, performance, or achievements of the company to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements, expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements.
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