ITXC Corp (NASDAQ: ITXC) and eStara today announced eStara's acquisition of ITXC Push to Talk e-commerce service. As a result of the deal, customers will benefit from the combination of the two market leading Web voice customer contact services. Terms of the agreement were not revealed but include ownership of a minority position in privately held eStara by ITXC.
eStara enhances its revenue stream by adding ITXC Push to Talk users including France Telecom, Hilton Hotel Corp., Club Med and Venetian Resort-Hotel-Casino to its customer base that includes J. Crew, Sprint Corp. and the NHL's Washington Capitals. Besides an equity interest in eStara, ITXC will earn both licensing and call completion revenue from eStara. Both eStara and ITXC retain ownership of their respective patent portfolios with licensing arrangements, which uniquely position eStara as the leading Web voice customer contact service provider. The two services will be consolidated into eStara's corporate facility located in Reston, VA, and ITXC will close its facility in Beaverton, OR.
"This combination is a win-win for eStara, ITXC, and our expanding base of Web voice customers," said Tom Natelli, eStara co-founder, chairman and CEO. "The deal marries eStara's technology with ITXC's Push to Talk experience and carrier grade network, creating new global opportunities for businesses seeking to leverage the power of Web voice customer contact services," he added.
eStaraVoice services connect Web site visitors through Web voice (PC-to-phone) connections and call back (phone-to-phone) connections. eStaraVoice lets companies speak and collaborate with on-line customers over the Web in real-time, increasing call center efficiencies and customer satisfaction while also improving sales results from on-line marketing initiatives. eStara's sophisticated thin-client VoIP technology permits natural voice communications from any PC with a microphone and speakers.
"Push-to-Talk is a great success for its customers who have used it to increase response rates to direct mail and orders from Web sites. eStara is dedicated to the success of this product category and ITXC will share in its success in a number of ways while concentrating on ITXC's main goal of network growth," said Tom Evslin, ITXC Chairman and CEO. Evslin does not expect the transaction to materially change forecast ITXC results nor to materially affect ITXC's cash position or balance sheet.
ITXC is the largest US-based global carrier dedicated exclusively to carrying voice calls on behalf of other carriers. ITXC.net delivers tier 1 voice quality calls over the Internet to and from over 130 countries.
About eStara Inc.:
eStara, headquartered in Reston, VA., gives the power of voice to Business with web voice services. eStaraVoicesm lets online customers talk directly with call center agents over the Internet with the click of a link. eStara web voice connections can be embedded in website pages, e-mails and ad banners. eStara web voice is completely compatible with existing call center systems, so there's no installation, capital investment or system integration required. eStara customers include J.Crew, Allfirst Bank and the NHL's Washington Capitals. eStara won Internet Telephony Magazine's Editors' Choice Award for 2001. Experience the quality of eStara web voice at www.estara.com <HTTP: www.estara.com>.
About ITXC Corp:
In just four years of operation, ITXC Corp (NASDAQ:ITXC) has become the largest global carrier based in the US dedicated exclusively to carrying voice calls on behalf of other carriers. ITXC has permanently changed the economics of international long distance by establishing and operating ITXC.net(SM), the company's Internet-based voice network of over 645 PoPs in 349 cities and 133 countries, which delivers carrier-grade voice quality. ITXC's patented and patent pending BestValue Routing(TM) technology provides such high voice quality that tier one carriers use ITXC for worldwide phone-to-phone traffic without needing to tell their customers that the calls are actually traveling over the Internet. Customers include almost all major carriers and most RBOCs in the US, many major traditional carriers worldwide, new competitive carriers in deregulating countries including local exchange operators (LECs) who outsource their new domestic and international long distance services to ITXC and Internet-based Web-to-phone providers. For more information, visit www.itxc.com. Forward-looking statements:
ITXC has included in this press release certain "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. "Forward-looking statements" consist of all non-historical information and include the analysis of historical data in this release. Actual results could differ materially from those projected in the Company's forward-looking statements due to numerous known and unknown risks and uncertainties including, among other things, unanticipated technological difficulties, the volatile and competitive environment for Internet telephony, changes in domestic and foreign economic, market, and regulatory conditions, the creditworthiness of our customers, uncertainty in legal proceedings and other considerations described as "Risk Factors" in Exhibit 99 to the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2000 and in other filings by the Company with the SEC.
ITXC is a registered trademark of ITXC Corp. ITXC.net, and BestValue Routing are service marks and trademarks of ITXC Corp. All other trademarks mentioned in this document are the property of their respective owners.
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