CopperCom Buys Switchmaxx

BOCA RATON, Fla. -- Reinforcing its commitment to independent and competitive telcos, CopperCom, a leader in next-generation switching, today announced the acquisition of the Switchmaxx(TM) division of Phonetics LC. This investment, enabled by the financial strength of parent company, The Heico Companies, LLC, is part of CopperCom's ongoing strategy to provide its customers with powerful functionality to drive the adoption of advanced, revenue-generating services.

The acquisition creates a new CopperCom product line, the Switchmaxx Unified Self-Care(TM) Web portal and applications. When integrated with the CopperCom Converged Switching eXchange (CSX) switch and a customer's legacy equipment, the Switchmaxx solution allows service providers to transition smoothly to next-generation services.

The Switchmaxx solution incorporates leading-edge applications such as Web-enabled voice mail, unified messaging, single-number service, parental controls and more. Significantly, Switchmaxx software provides telcos with a single interface for managing services on both their legacy TDM and next-generation switches, such as the CopperCom CSX. This capability -- unique in the industry -- gives service providers a pragmatic migration path.

With Switchmaxx, CopperCom customers can create a Web "storefront" that makes it easy for their residential and business end-users to order new voice, data and video services, and to manage their accounts, 24 hours a day, seven days a week. For example, a residential customer could purchase "family conferencing" for the Mother's Day weekend through the portal at any hour of the day or night and have that service ready and available for use in a matter of seconds, without ever speaking to a customer service representative or requiring the attention of the service provider's staff. In addition, the telco can leverage the Web experience as a marketing and promotional channel to its customers.

"This strategic investment furthers CopperCom's commitment to enable our customers to advance their business models with cash-generating capabilities and solid customer retention," said Mike Myers, CEO, CopperCom. "The Switchmaxx solution maps well to the CopperCom CSX in that it is able to very successfully bridge legacy switch platforms with next-generation switch platforms and new IP-based solutions. We're giving our customers a competitive advantage."

CopperCom