So it is!
Tuesday December 15, 1:33 pm Eastern Time
Company Press Release
Carnegie International Makes Foray into Hospitality
Industry With Purchase of Paramount International
Telecommunications
BALTIMORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 15, 1998--Carnegie International Corporation
(OTC BB: CAGI - news), a holding company specializing in Internet, telephony and telecommunications products,
services and distribution, announced it has signed a letter of intent (subject to normal due diligence) to purchase
Paramount International Telecommunications, Inc., of Vista, California. Financial details were not disclosed.
Founded in 1994 and privately-held, Paramount focuses on serving hotels and other businesses, primarily in 0+/- call
auditing and international one-plus sectors. It has current contracted business for 1999 exceeding $15 million in
revenue.
David Moody, chairman of Paramount, said ''the proposed marriage of Carnegie and Paramount should provide both
companies with increased technological capabilities and products with enormous market potential in the overall
telephony industry and specific application and appeal in the hospitality sector.''
Lowell Farkas, Carnegie's president and CEO, said Paramount's technology and customer base will ease Carnegie's
entry into the hospitality industry with MAVIS(tm), its entirely voice-activated automated attendant and voice
mail/message system. He said MAVIS would be sold to the hospitality industry through telephony-oriented distributors
in the U.S. as part of the overall distribution program.
Farkas said revenues generated by Paramount will have a significant impact on Carnegie's basic earnings per share,
adding some $0.08 in1999, and will not have an immediate substantial dilutive impact due to the contractual purchase
in convertible form. He said Carnegie plans for Paramount to remain in Vista and operate as a wholly-owned
subsidiary.
Intelligent Voice-Activated Communications with MAVIS
Introduced this summer, MAVIS (for Multi-Language Automated Voice Independent System) is a voice-activated auto
attendant that communicates intelligently with callers. Using advanced, proprietary voice recognition software, it
answers incoming calls, recognizes names or departments requested, and directs calls accordingly. The MAVIS
interface is available in English and all foreign languages supported through licensed Lernout & Hauspie (NASDAQ:
LHSPF - news) software and Dialogic CPU telephony cards. It can be used 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, or
implemented after hours, on weekends, or when incoming call volume requires support for ''only-human'' operators.
MAVIS runs on Windows 98® or Windows NT®, can be easily customized to the needs of any business or
organization, supports voice mail/messages, faxes and e-mail, and runs on any existing business telephone system.
Domestic and International Distribution for MAVIS
Carnegie has established worldwide distribution for MAVIS, and said last week that a national marketing and sales
program in the U.S. will be announced by the end of the year and in place by mid-January. It has announced licensing,
marketing and distribution agreements for Russia and other Eastern European countries including Poland, Hungary
and the Czech Republic, Italy, and through Profit Thru Telecommunications (PTT) of Sheffield, U.K., a wholly-owned
subsidiary, with Precitel of Neuchatel, Switzerland, to integrate and distribute MAVIS with French and German
language modules from Lernout & Hauspie.
Carnegie International Corporation (OTC BB: CAGI - news) is a holding company specializing in Internet, telephony
and telecommunications products, services and distribution. Carnegie's primary wholly-owned subsidiaries include:
RomNet Support Services, Inc., an Internet, e-business and technical support services company based in Boston;
Profit Through Telecommunications (Europe) Ltd. (PTT), a telecommunications software company providing business
solutions utilizing proprietary speech recognition, touch tone and bar code responses to send and/or receive
information; Talidan, a reseller marketing telephone time and information at discounted rates in Europe, South
America, and other emerging markets, ACC Telecom of Columbia, Maryland, a leading reseller of equipment and
business telephone systems from Comdial (NASDAQ: CMDL - news), SONY® (NYSE: SNE - news), and Sprint®
(NYSE: FON - news), and Voice Quest, Inc., of Sarasota, Florida, a developer and provider of speech recognition and
voice mail technologies and products. For the first half of fiscal 1998 ended June 30, Carnegie reported total income of
$8.9 million and after-tax basic earnings per share of $0.075. For fiscal 1997, Carnegie reported total income of $6.9
million and after-tax basic earnings per share of $0.07.
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 provides a ''safe harbor'' for forward-looking statements. Certain
information included in this Press Release (as well as information in oral statements or other written statements made
or to be made by Carnegie International Corporation) contain statements that are forward-looking, such as statements
relating to the future anticipated direction of the telecommunications industry, plans for future expansion, various
business development activities, planned capital expenditures, future funding sources, anticipated sales growth, and
potential contracts. Such forward-looking information involves important risks and uncertainties that could significantly
affect anticipated results in the future, and accordingly, such results may differ from those expressed in any
forward-looking statements made by or on behalf of Carnegie International Corporation. These risks and uncertainties
included, but are not limited to, those relating to development and expansion activities, dependence on existing
management, financing activities, domestic and global economic conditions, change in Federal or state laws, and
market competition factors.
MAVIS is a trademark of Carnegie International Corporation. Other trademarks are properties of their respective
owners.
Contact:
Lowell Farkas
Carnegie International Corporation
+(410) 785-7400
lfarkas@carnegieint.com
or
David A. Kaminer
The Kaminer Group
+(914) 684-1934
dkaminer@kamgrp.com
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