CallWave and Hawaiian Telcom Announce Agreement to Offer VoIP Enhanced
Services to Hawaiian Telcom Wireless Customers
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 19, 2005 -- Hawaiian Telcom Seizes
Opportunity to Pioneer Landline-Wireless Convergence and Deliver
Desktop VoIP Software to Its Customers
CallWave, Inc. (NASDAQ: CALL), a leading provider of VoIP enhanced
services, and Hawaiian Telcom today announced a groundbreaking
agreement to deliver mobile convergence to mainstream telecom
customers. Under the terms of the agreement, Hawaiian Telcom will
license CallWave's fixed mobile convergence VoIP software to provide
VoIP-based convergence applications, which include branded desktop
software, to its customers.
Hawaiian Telcom subscribers will soon have the ability to screen live
mobile calls and move these calls between their cell phone and
landline. Hawaiian Telcom will also offer a branded version of
CallWave's proprietary desktop VoIP software, where consumers can
preview calls, listen to voicemail and direct incoming cell phone
calls - all from their internet-connected PC.
In addition to introducing innovative, high-value features to Hawaiian
Telcom subscribers, this agreement has broader significance. Hawaiian
Telcom becomes one of the first carriers to bring the power of a
desktop application to enhance everyday calls on cell phones and
landlines. This move expands the domain of desktop voice applications
beyond peer-to-peer calling to include PC management of, for example,
incoming cellular calls.
By delivering VoIP applications to enhance traditional phone calls,
Hawaiian Telcom is responding to customers' demand for relevant,
real-world solutions to managing their existing stream of calls
through a simple, but powerful desktop application.
"Carriers can now compete with Portals for VoIP applications on the
desktop, and Hawaiian Telecom is a pioneer in this area. They are
leading the way in leveraging their call volumes and large caller
communities to win the desktop," said David Hofstatter, president and
CEO of CallWave. "There is a narrow window of opportunity for carriers
to surround customers with powerful, carrier-branded desktop VoIP
software that enriches both their wireless and landline offerings."
Through this partnership, Hawaiian Telcom is responding to customer
demand for enhanced features from their wireless telecom provider,
with CallWave's proprietary software seamlessly bridging their
landlines, wireless phones and PCs and providing unique caller
services.
Hawaiian Telcom's wireless customers will gain access to CallWave
enhanced VoIP service features, including:
-- Call Preview, which allows users to listen to voice messages
in real time and, if they choose, interrupt the message to take the
call.
-- Call Transfer, which lets users instantly transfer a live
cell phone call to a home or office phone.
-- Follow Me Home, which allows customers to automatically
receive calls destined for their mobile phone on a designated landline
when their mobile phone is either turned off or out of the coverage
area.
-- CallWave's desktop software enables customers to preview
calls by hearing messages in real time, and easily manage and move
calls from their home phone to another convenient device, such as
their cell phone. It also serves as a flexible desktop tool, offering
playback, storage and email of voice messages. To enhance privacy,
Hawaiian Telcom's customers can also block telemarketer calls and
monitor landline calls on their mobile phones.
Hawaiian Telcom's service will be called Call Choice(SM) and will be
offered on a monthly subscription basis. A service trial is scheduled
to launch in mid-October 2005, with the full roll-out in the first
quarter of 2006.
"Hawaiian Telcom's goal is to provide innovative, relevant services to
our customers, and we're proud to be the first carrier to offer
CallWave's VoIP platform to deliver on that promise," said Michael
Ruley, CEO of Hawaiian Telcom. "By gaining access to these
'CallWave-powered' features, our subscribers can take advantage of
VoIP's benefits without having to sacrifice the reliability and
convenience of their landline or mobile line."
At a time when the telecom industry is becoming increasingly
competitive, CallWave offers carriers a unique ability to enhance
their existing networks with value-added VoIP applications. Unlike
other VoIP solutions, CallWave's versatile VoIP platform can be easily
and cost-effectively deployed throughout a carrier's entire network
and can rapidly evolve to meet particular market needs.
With CallWave, carriers gain a strategic advantage, as they can
quickly deploy valuable new services and features that can help them
retain and attract customers, differentiate themselves in the
marketplace and stay ahead of mounting competition. Carriers instantly
gain the inbound call management features of desktop-enabled VoIP, and
compete with companies adding voice elements to their desktop
programs.
In a separate announcement today, CallWave unveiled its CallWave
Rewards prepaid cell phone, the first pay-as-you-go program in which
subscribers can earn rewards for getting calls. For more information
or to purchase the CallWave Rewards phone, please visit
http://www.callwavemobile.com.
About Hawaiian Telcom
Hawaiian Telcom is the state's leading telecommunications provider,
offering a wide spectrum of telecommunications products and services,
which include local and long distance service, digital subscriber line
(DSL) broadband for Internet use, wireless services, and print
directory and Internet directory services. For more information,
please visit http://www.hawaiiantel.com.
About CallWave
CallWave (NASDAQ: CALL) is a leader in VoIP enhanced services for the
consumer and business markets. The company provides VoIP application
services on a subscription basis that add features and functionality
to both the landline and wireless telecommunications services used by
mainstream consumers and businesses. CallWave's proprietary VoIP
software allows subscribers to get more out of their existing personal
communications networks -- landline, mobile, and IP -- by adding
desktop call management software and VoIP-based call-handling
features, and by bridging all three networks to help subscribers get
their important calls. Founded in 1998, CallWave is headquartered in
Santa Barbara, Calif. For further information, please visit
http://www.callwavemobile.com.
Business News Wire (newswire@telecom-digest.org)