Nortel Launches New SIP Contact Center Capabilities to Add New Dimensions to Customer Service Communications

TORONTO, Canada, December 5 /PRNewswire/ --

- Video, Voice, IM in One Customer Session

TORONTO, Canada, December 5 /PRNewswire/ --

Nortel(x) (NYSE/TSX: NT) today announced new capabilities for its SIP Contact Center 6.0 solution that adds new dimensions to customer service through a versatile range of communication choices.

Customers benefit from capabilities that will let them interact with agents via video or start a call with one means of communication then change to another within the same session. If a customer is waiting for agent assistance, information relevant to their inquiry can be pushed to them through web pages.

"Nortel's SIP Contact Center solution creates a breakthrough consumer experience by providing customers a range of methods through which they can receive support," said Dave Murashige, general manager, Multimedia Applications, Nortel. "It helps businesses drive ongoing competitive advantage by offering customers a multi-modal approach such as starting a call with voice, moving to video and using Instant Messaging at the same time. What once would have taken multiple sessions can now be done in one."

Nortel's SIP Contact Center 6.0 helps customers get information faster when they access the contact center via the company's web site because they are automatically pushed a web page that references the information they need while they wait for an available agent. Also, once they are speaking with an agent, expert advice is not limited to one agent. A virtual team of knowledge experts can collaborate via phone, web, email, chat, IM, or video.

Companies such as Vantis Credit Union, a financial company based in Winnipeg and serving 22,000 members, are already using the Nortel SIP Contact Center solution to improve customer service and employee productivity.

"As a result of Nortel's SIP-based solution, we are restructuring our internal processes for easy retrieval access of our member files to provide excellent service at any time, all while reducing our cost base," said Michel Audette, President and CEO, Vantis Credit Union. "It is about bringing in new tools, that can be deployed easily, and ultimately help us better communicate with our members."

The Nortel Contact Center uses industry-standard SIP interfaces, simplifying solution deployment and enabling true integration with a multivendor SIP architecture. Having a native SIP application means there is no data interpretation needed so information can pass through the network faster, allowing companies to easily add multimedia services.

SIP is the first technology protocol designed to support multimedia communications across any device.

"SIP is revolutionary," said Alec Ko, executive consultant, CGI. "A customer will make the decision to buy - or not buy - a particular item based on customer service. Today's savvy buyer wants more for their money; they want a company that stands behind their offerings. What better way than to give them a quick, one-stop arena for getting the answers they need to be productive. At the end of the day, that's what they'll remember most."

Nortel's Contact Center 6.0, is a next-generation SIP-based multimedia contact center designed to be open and interface with any endpoints whether mobile, IP, SIP or TDM. It offers a single architecture that enables managers to adapt any contact center to meet diverse customer needs and accelerate customer resolution, often in a single session.

About Nortel

Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that enhance the human experience, ignite and power global commerce, and secure and protect the world's most critical information. Our next-generation technologies, for both service providers and enterprises, span access and core networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications, and help eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people with information. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit www.nortel.com/news.

Certain statements in this press release may contain words such as "could", "expects", "may", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates ", "targets", "envisions", "seeks" and other similar language and are considered forward-looking statements or information under applicable securities legislation. These statements are based on Nortel's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the operating environment, economies and markets in which Nortel operates. These statements are subject to important assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict and the actual outcome may be materially different. Further, actual results or events could differ materially from those contemplated in forward-looking statements as a result of the following (i) risks and uncertainties relating to Nortel's restatements and related matters including: Nortel's most recent restatement and two previous restatements of its financial statements and related events; the negative impact on Nortel and NNL of their most recent restatement and delay in filing their financial statements and related periodic reports; legal judgments, fines, penalties or settlements, or any substantial regulatory fines or other penalties or sanctions, related to the ongoing regulatory and criminal investigations of Nortel in the U.S. and Canada; any significant pending civil litigation actions not encompassed by Nortel's proposed class action settlement; any substantial cash payment and /or significant dilution of Nortel's existing equity positions resulting from the approval of its proposed class action settlement; any unsuccessful remediation of Nortel's material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting resulting in an inability to report Nortel's results of operations and financial condition accurately and in a timely manner; the time required to implement Nortel's remedial measures; Nortel's inability to access, in its current form, its shelf registration filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), and Nortel's below investment grade credit rating and any further adverse effect on its credit rating due to Nortel's restatements of its financial statements; any adverse affect on Nortel's business and market price of its publicly traded securities arising from continuing negative publicity related to Nortel's restatements; Nortel's potential inability to attract or retain the personnel necessary to achieve its business objectives; any breach by Nortel of the continued listing requirements of the NYSE or TSX causing the NYSE and/or the TSX to commence suspension or delisting procedures; (ii) risks and uncertainties relating to Nortel's business including: yearly and quarterly fluctuations of Nortel's operating results; reduced demand and pricing pressures for its products due to global economic conditions, significant competition, competitive pricing practice, cautious capital spending by customers, increased industry consolidation, rapidly changing technologies, evolving industry standards, frequent new product introductions and short product life cycles, and other trends and industry characteristics affecting the telecommunications industry; the sufficiency of recently announced restructuring actions, including the potential for higher actual costs to be incurred in connection with these restructuring actions compared to the estimated costs of such actions and the ability to achieve the targeted cost savings and reductions of Nortel's unfunded pension liability deficit; any material and adverse affects on Nortel's performance if its expectations regarding market demand for particular products prove to be wrong or because of certain barriers in its efforts to expand internationally; any reduction in Nortel's operating results and any related volatility in the market price of its publicly traded securities arising from any decline in its gross margin, or fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates; any negative developments associated with Nortel's supply contract and contract manufacturing agreements including as a result of using a sole supplier for key optical networking solutions components, and any defects or errors in Nortel's current or planned products; any negative impact to Nortel of its failure to achieve its business transformation objectives, including completion of the sale of its UMTS access business to Alcatel-Lucent; additional valuation allowances for all or a portion of its deferred tax assets; Nortel's failure to protect its intellectual property rights, or any adverse judgments or settlements arising out of disputes regarding intellectual property; changes in regulation of the Internet and/or other aspects of the industry; Nortel's failure to successfully operate or integrate its strategic acquisitions, or failure to consummate or succeed with its strategic alliances; any negative effect of Nortel's failure to evolve adequately its financial and managerial control and reporting systems and processes, manage and grow its business, or create an effective risk management strategy; and (iii) risks and uncertainties relating to Nortel's liquidity, financing arrangements and capital including: the impact of Nortel's most recent restatement and two previous restatements of its financial statements; any inability of Nortel to manage cash flow fluctuations to fund working capital requirements or achieve its business objectives in a timely manner or obtain additional sources of funding; high levels of debt, limitations on Nortel capitalizing on business opportunities because of support facility covenants, or on obtaining additional secured debt pursuant to the provisions of indentures governing certain of Nortel's public debt issues and the provisions of its support facility; any increase of restricted cash requirements for Nortel if it is unable to secure alternative support for obligations arising from certain normal course business activities, or any inability of Nortel's subsidiaries to provide it with sufficient funding; any negative effect to Nortel of the need to make larger defined benefit plans contributions in the future or exposure to customer credit risks or inability of customers to fulfill payment obligations under customer financing arrangements; any negative impact on Nortel's ability to make future acquisitions, raise capital, issue debt and retain employees arising from stock price volatility and further declines in the market price of Nortel's publicly traded securities, or the share consolidation resulting in a lower total market capitalization or adverse effect on the liquidity of Nortel's common shares. For additional information with respect to certain of these and other factors, see Nortel's Annual Report on Form 10-K /A, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other securities filings with the SEC. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Nortel disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward- looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

TORONTO, Canada, December 5 /PRNewswire/ --

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