Wednesday September 10 8:03 AM EDT
Company Press Release
Source: Versatility Inc.
Versatility and Lightbridge Announce Marketing Alliance
Partnership Offers Telecom Providers Powerful Customer Interaction Solutions
To Streamline Customer Acquisition, While Improving Customer Service
DALLAS, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- (PCS '97, Dallas Convention Center) -- Versatility Inc.
(Nasdaq:VERS), a leading provider of open, CTI-enabled customer interaction software for
teleservicing, telesales and telemarketing, and Lightbridge, Inc. (Nasdaq:LTBG), a leading provider
of customer acquisition and retention solutions for the global telecommunications industry, today
announced a marketing partnership to provide world-class call center solutions to
telecommunications carriers.
Under terms of the agreement, Versatility and Lightbridge will co-market each other's products,
offering telecom companies enterprise-wide solutions for improved customer acquisition,
management and retention. Eventually, the two companies plan to integrate their software
products, the Versatility Telecom customer interaction product and Lightbridge's Telesto(TM)
network of customer acquisition and retention solutions. The end result will provide carriers with a
single solution for credit and fraud screening, service activation, credit card and fulfillment
processing, CTI, customer service functionality, scripting components and proactive marketing
tools for customer retention.
``Versatility has used its extensive expertise in the telecommunications industry to develop
Versatility Telecom, the first customer interaction software solution tailored specifically to meet
the customer service demands of the telecommunications industry. We chose to partner with
Lightbridge because of the synergy between our companies and products, allowing us to create a
more comprehensive telecommunications solution for carriers in this very competitive
marketplace,'' said Todd Clark, wireless industry product marketing manager for Versatility Inc.
``Lightbridge leads the market with Telesto, the industry's only complete, workflow-enhanced
customer acquisition and retention solution, allowing carriers to enter new markets quickly and
efficiently,'' said Deborah Pappas, director of marketing at Lightbridge, Inc. ``This market is
growing rapidly -- and as a result, carriers are experiencing heightened competition for market
share and increased customer acquisition costs and retention issues. We look forward to working
with Versatility to deliver critical tools to help telecom carriers acquire, activate and maintain
high-value customers.''
As the first phase of a multi-phase integration plan, Lightbridge will integrate Versatility
PowerGuide, an intuitive desktop integration and powerful scripting tool, with its TeleServices
Center, which provides a range of outsourcing support solutions tailored for the telecom industry.
With carriers' increasing use of call centers as a distribution channel, Versatility PowerGuide's
front-end solves the problem of call handling and scripting and leverages the power of
Lightbridge's real-time online transactions to back-end systems. This combined offering will
provide telecom carriers with a single, integrated solution to support call center services in a
converged marketplace.
About Lightbridge, Inc.
Lightbridge, Inc., based in Burlington, Mass., is a leading provider of software-based services that
help global telecommunications carriers quickly acquire customers and retain them over time.
Lightbridge has leveraged its credit processing expertise into solutions that help carriers quickly
and cost-effectively provide bundled services through new channels. Telesto, Lightbridge's
network of integrated customer acquisition and retention solutions, provides best-in-class credit,
fraud, churn, channel and market performance solutions to such clients as AT&T Wireless,
BellSouth Mobility DCS, Omnipoint Communications, PrimeCo Personal Communications and
Sprint PCS. It is the only complete, workflow-enhanced system for customer interaction in the
converged telecommunications marketplace. Additional information on the company can be found
on the Web at lightbridge.com.
This press release contains forward-looking statements concerning Lightbridge that involve a
number of risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause Lightbridge's actual results to
differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements include risks set forth
under the caption ``Risk Factors'' in Lightbridge's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended Dec. 31, 1996.
About Versatility
Versatility Inc., based in Fairfax, Va., is a leading provider of Customer Interaction Software (CIS)
for teleservicing and telesales call center solutions. The only CIS vendor to offer a full suite of
software that is CTI- enabled, Versatility has helped companies including AirTel, Avantel, British
Telecommunications Plc. (BT), Lucent Technologies, Mellon Bank, PrimeCo Personal
Communications, and Sanwa Bank California find the hidden revenues in their call centers.
Versatility is traded on Nasdaq under the symbol VERS and can be reached at 1-800-VERSATILE
(1-800-837-7284 extension: 111) or via the World Wide Web at versatility.com.
In addition to historical information contained herein, the statements in this release related to
growth are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of
1933, as amended and Section 32E of the Securities and Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are
subject to the safe harbors created thereby. The Company's future actual results could differ
materially from the forward-looking statements discussed herein because of competition, the
ability of the Company to rapidly develop and market new and existing products and to control the
related costs, the ability of the Company to expand its direct sales force and indirect distribution
channels, the ability of the company to attract and retain key personnel, the level of orders which
are received and can be implemented in a quarter, general economic conditions in the United States
and world wide markets served by the Company and those other factors discussed from time to
time in the Company's public reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, such as
those discussed under ``Risk Factors'' included in the Company's Form S-1, filed Dec. 13, 1996
and 10K for the year ended April 30, 1997.
Versatility is a trademark of Versatility Inc. Telesto is a trademark of Lightbridge, Inc. All other
trademarks contained herein are the property of their respective owners. |
