HAMILTON, Bermuda and NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--March 31,
2000--telegate AG (telegate), Munich, Europe's third largest directory
information provider and an indirect subsidiary of RSL Communications,
Ltd. (RSLCOM) (Nasdaq: RSLC.O) has gained a new partner: the number two
in the German telephone directory inquiries market has taken a stake
in PhoneCom KommunikationsDienste GmbH, the telephone marketing
company based in Munich. With the technological integration of call
centres and voice computers, PhoneCom is one of the leading suppliers
in this segment.
"PhoneCom's unique solution perfectly complements our activities
in the call-centre field," says telegate's technical director, Peter
Wunsch. "Completely new services are possible, especially for the
growth markets of games and leisure. Furthermore, the combination of
voice and data has an important role to play for our international
services and the establishment of our Internet service portal."
PhoneCom was founded in 1995 and developed into one of the
leading service enterprises in the call-center market within a short
space of time. Interactive voice recognition, voicemail and inbound
and outbound services rank among the company's core areas of
competence. In 1999, the approximately 300 PhoneCom employees achieved
total sales revenues of approx. DM 9.2 million. In the state lottery
sector, PhoneCom's customers include SKL and NKL. Among the company's
other customers are the Bauer publishing company, media enterprises,
such as Bayerischer Rundfunk.
Terms for the transaction were not disclosed.
PhoneCom's general manager, Gerrit Neuhaus, said, "With a
powerful partner like telegate, we can cover a much wider spectrum
with our activities, accept larger orders and transfer capacities
within the call centre. We see enormous opportunities for growth in
the future, especially in the Phone-Commerce segment, for instance,
auctions by telephone."
The partnership with telegate calls for PhoneCom to further
develop its high-grade inbound and outbound solutions as 'customised'
services for telegate, and to provide solutions for major projects.
Ensuring a close working relationship between the two companies will
be a working group that will concentrate particularly on discovering
potential synergies. Peter Wunsch: "This will help us continue to
improve our competitive position as an international service
supplier." Thus, voice computers will be used for speech recognition
in the international sector. "Customers will not have to go without
personal information and a friendly voice. However, they will be put
through more quickly, for instance, during competitions on television,
when they will enjoy faster connections to a specially trained crew."
Additionally, telegate and PhoneCom are planning to undertake joint
national and international telemarketing projects.
Founded in 1995, PhoneCom Kommunikationsdienste GmbH, Munich
began with a staff of four and around 600 telephone lines for
computer-aided telephone services. Today, the company employs 520
employees for a contingent of 810 telephone lines. The company's core
competencies include outbound and inbound services, voicemail,
interactive voice recognition and all kinds of fax service.
The Munich-based telegate company was founded in 1996 and has
been listed on the New Market of Frankfurt Stock Exchange since April
1999. Last year, the company recorded total revenues in excess of DM
175.5 million. The range of services offered includes numerous
facilities, such as directory inquiries for the fixed-line network and
all German mobile-telephone networks, call forwarding to around 4,500
service hotlines and telephone and address inquiries by post and fax.
11880.com, the telegate subsidiary founded in January 2000, provides
an online directory service. Additional Internet services are being
planned. telegate AG employs approximately 2,500 people.
RSL Communications, Ltd. is a facilities-based communications
company that provides a broad range of data and Internet, voice and
value-added service solutions primarily to small and medium sized
businesses and residential customers in selected markets around the
globe. Through its subsidiary, deltathree.com, RSL COM also owns and
operates a privately managed Internet Protocol (IP) telephony network
with 45 points of presence in 29 countries.
--30--hkz/cgo*
CONTACT: Financial information:
telegate AG
Wolfgang Brand, +49 89 8954-1120
Fax: +49 89 8954-1810
E-mail: wb@telegate.de
or
Press information:
Hoschke & Consorten
Anja Meyer, Andreas Hoschke, +49 40 361146
Fax: +49 40 361144
E-mail: a.meyer@hoschke.de
KEYWORD: NEW YORK INTERNATIONAL EUROPE
INDUSTRY KEYWORD: INTERNET NETWORKING TELECOMMUNICATIONS
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