Yes, you indeed can use an answering machine but studies have shown that people really do not like to talk to machines. If your customers are unable to easily reach a human voice, they will hang-up and call somewhere else — that’s a lost business opportunity. Think about when you call a business, don’t you expect someone to be there you can talk to? (Don’t you often press zero repeatedly until you do?)

It is nothing short of annoying when a person does not have a live receptionist — an actual, real human being answering the phone. Let’s face it: When it comes to business transactions, it is almost expected to have a knowledgeable person available to your customers during hours (and sometimes even after-hours). All businesses, whether a physician’s private practice, a small computer company, or a conglomerate, rely on the telephone as one of the fastest and most reliable communication tool in their businesses. Whether they are calling in with orders or calling in to ask questions, you need to have the proper tools for the job and that demands a live receptionist. But having an employee (or employees) dedicated to only answering telephones could prove costly, especially if calls come in erratically. And having random employees pick up the ringing phones while distracted or frustrated could lose clients quickly. What’s the best solution?

Today, forward-thinking employers are contracting people to answer the phones when it simply isn’t practical to do it themselves. The personal touch an answering service provides can make the difference in obtaining and keeping a client, or losing them to the competition. Hiring an answering service assures that you can take calls and messages, provide business and product information, clarify the intent of calls, and even arrange meetings with potential customers without having the expense and overhead associated with additional or inefficient employees.

Choosing the right answering service is one of the most important decisions that your company will make. Since service industry terminology and procedures are very industry specific, many business people find themselves lost when trying to find an answering service. Having a basic understanding of the answering service setup process and guidance from a knowledgeable sales representative can help businesses choose an answering service to meet the needs of the business and stay within budget.

Read more about our small business answering service or call us at 1 (877) 877-9473 and let us help get you started.

When discussing the cost phone systems, wiring and installation, purchasing the actual phones, the system itself (cabinet), programming, configuration testing, optional accessories, potential cost savings, gains from increased employee productivity, and costs to maintain quality and ensure reliability must all be considered.  Thankfully, there is great way to estimate it!  Read on…

Ultimately, how much you pay for a phone system will depend on which system you choose and the number of employees you have. Phone system costs are often best estimated as the total cost per employee or user.  Call the manufacturer and ask to locate a professional who is certified by the manufacturer to ensure your purchase is protected by warranty and your installer knows the system.  As the technology continues to become more complex, the last thing you want is your installer to use your site as his on-the-job training while you miss phone calls and business!

Average Phone System Costs

Again, keep in mind that while there are average phone costs, how much you will end up paying for a phone system is dependent upon the size of your office and the features you require.  Just like all other electronics purchases, a well-known brand name does not necessarily equate to a reliable product — an when your business relies on its phones, do not risk it with someone without a proven reputation you can personally verify.  In working with a company such as Phonewire, total costs can be significantly reduced by trade-in promotional offers or special manufacturer equipment bundles.  If your business has more than 50 employees, the cost of these phone systems may be less per employee, due to benefits of a volume purchase.

1. Pure-IP phone systems with enhanced Unified Communications features start at around $350 per phone, but you will generally pay an average of $500 to $900 per employee in total for all – depending on the technology needed and required installation labor for your exact desired solution and integration with existing IT systems. These systems promise many features, but usually those features are locked initially and require software license keys to enable those features.  Make sure you discuss exactly what functionality you can use immediately and what features you must pay later to “turn on”.  At this cutting-edge level, an annual maintenance agreement is usually proposed to make sure that all of the software which powers the phones and phone system are always kept up to date and bug free.

2. Most of the more-traditional KSU phone systems with optional Voice-over-IP capabilities such as SIP trunking and integration with mobile or home office “teleworkers” can cost anywhere from $250 to $500 per employee. Any specific features or integrations needed by your business will require play a major role in the pricing for this type of system and usually must be added as add-on options or licensed feature upgrades.

3. KSU-less systems — that is, phone systems which do not require a controller box in the back room connecting all the phones together —  like our AT&T SynJ wireless phone system, are usually the least expensive type of phone system because the only things you will be paying for are setup, installation, and the telephones themselves. Telephones for this type of system usually range from $100 to $200 per phone depending on the quantity bought at once.

Don’t Forget About Installation

The cost of installation is often included in the overall cost of a phone system, and, in some cases, installation fees can be just as costly. Phone systems, VoIP, and Unified Communications systems are very complex, and require professional expert installation, so paying installations fees will be necessary. Look for a company with a reputation in telecommunications who will provide a flat-fee installation bid.  Be suspicious if they are a young IT company trying to “expand” into telecommunications or quote you a per-hour installation rate as most businesses that primary provide IT services and install phone systems on-the-side may be learning the technology as-they-go and using your business as their “guinea pig” risking the financial success of your business on their lack of telecom knowledge.

Wiring costs are usually your second-greatest expense.  If you are building a new construction building, putting in more wiring before the framed walls are enclosed will always be less expensive than trying to add wiring later.  You may also be required to pay additional charges if your existing wiring is not compatible to your new phone system.

Business phone lines are therefore a vital component needed for all businesses, both big and small. These will differ to standard phone lines by offering organisations a number of additional features and services. This will help to ensure that they get the best possible service for their communication tools, ensuring that the service of correspondence which they offer is of the highest possible standard.

Interaction with Partners and Colleagues

One of the main reasons why phone lines are still important within businesses is because they enable easy and quick communication to occur between businesses and colleagues. Phone lines can be set up in order to allow phone calls to be transferred to different members of the team and internal conference calling options will also be available.

As part of an integrated phone system, this ensures that businesses are able to communicate with each other in an efficient manner – ensuring that everyone is kept up to speed on the latest information.  Even in times of natural disaster, a business phone system will allow you to communicate with your workforce even when the cell phone towers are overloaded or unavailable.

Alongside this, a number of business phone providers will also offer free inter-office calls for businesses, meaning that contacting fellow colleagues will not cost you any extra cash – a great way to improve communication and save time and money.

Interaction with Customers

Another reason why business phone lines are still important is because they ensure that customers always have open access to direct interaction with the company. Business phone lines can be designed to support numerous operators and callers and can therefore ensure that customers are always able to reach businesses.

Functions for taking messages, transferring calls or putting customers on hold are intrinsic features of business phone packages and will be designed to help organisations run as smoothly as possible.

The call rates assigned to these packages will also tend to be competitive for businesses, allowing them to contact their clients and colleagues without worrying about the final cost.

Conference Call Presentations

Ever try to host a conference call with your cell phone?  When giving a presentation to a customer that could be worth a $10,000 profit, this is no time to be pinching pennies.  Wouldn’t you invest $50 to guarantee perfect call quality if it earned you just one $1,000 sale?  Think about it: would you sign a major contract with a company that sounded like they were cutting corners? First, the speaker phone function on cell phones are horrible to use and you risk accidentally disconnecting the call if you brush the touch screen.  Second, call quality on a cell phone is occasionally garbled and heavily compressed.  Third, cell phones drop calls — think of how unprofessional you become when you host a conference call and you keep getting disconnected!  The best Powerpoint slides in the world won’t save you from that embarrassment.

Internet Connection

The last, and perhaps biggest, reason why business phone lines are still important is because they enable business broadband to be provided. This service allows users to connect to the internet but requires an active phone line to be in place beforehand.

It is for this reason that business broadband and business phone lines are often offered to organisations as a package, allowing them to get the best possible communication services available.

Business phone lines will be specifically designed to cope with the high demands which businesses are likely to place on the service. Business broadband will offer the same type of features, making these two services the perfect accompaniment to one and other.

It is therefore vital that businesses invest in an adequate business phone line in order to keep their lines of communication as varied and accessible as possible.

Small businesses rely on the availability of their data to keep running, so data loss is arguably more catastrophic for them than for consumers. In fact, a recent study commissioned by online backup player Carbonite found that 48 percent of small businesses had suffered data loss: “The top causes of small business’ data loss included hardware/software failure (54 percent), accidental deletion (54 percent), computer viruses (33 percent) and theft (10 percent),” claimed Carbonite in a press release. (Incidentally, Carbonite just issued its IPO last week, in this disaster-prone economy.)

Since online backup services securely store your files away from your premises at off-site server locations, your data will stay intact and available even if your local disks are stolen or your premises suffer some disaster. With more and more emphasis on “cloud computing,” it only makes sense that backup should take advantage of this hot trend in technology. Below we take a close look at ten of the most popular and innovatice cloud backup services to help you choose the one that’s right for your needs and budget.

Pricing Changes
The online backup space continues to evolve. The largest supplier of online backup, earlier this year Mozy made news by announcing that it would no longer offer an unlimited storage option, due to excessive storage demands by a small percentage of users. Carbonite still offers an unlimited storage plan for $59 a year (raised from $55 last March) and iDrive recently announced a very affordable unlimited plan at $49.99 a year. “Unlimited” isn’t exactly infinite, though. These plans limit you to the amount of storage on the covered computer’s hard disk, and both of them slow your transfer speed if you exceed 200GB or 150GB respectively. The plans also limit you to a single PC at those price points.

Perhaps of more interest is a plans ability to cover more than one computer. A common scenario I use when comparing the pricing of different online backup services is to consider how much it would cost to back up 50GB of data on three machines for a year. Here’s a table of how the services stack up in this scenario:

Mobile Access
The services have also added mobile apps for devices like iPhones, iPads, and Android devices. Some, like SOS Online Backup offer not only access to your online backed-up files, but also the ability to send links to files downloads to your contacts. IDrive offers a separate iPhone app that doesn’t offer that capability, but does let you back up your phone’s contacts and photos—for free. KineticD has a remote control capability to its iPhone and Web versions, which makes sense, since you’re likely to have the backup app running on your main PC all the time.

Folder Syncing
Another pairing with online backup is folder syncing, which services like MiMedia and Nomadesk offer. These let you designate folders on multiple systems that will automatically be updated whenever you add or change a file in either. But perhaps the most fascinating twist on online backup comes from CrashPlan, which actually lets you specify a friend’s computer as your online backup target, saving you from paying for sever storage.

Where Should You Store Your Files?
Whether you’re looking for whizz-bang new features or just want a safe place to keep your valuable documents and media, our reviews below will help you make the choice that best fits your needs—and your budget. Browse the descriptions below or just give us a call to discuss.

Carbonite

$59/year
Carbonite is a mature online backup service, and its one of the few still offering an unlimited storage plan. But the pricing is per PC, and the service lacks several desirable features you’ll find in the competition.  If you are looking for reliability and enterprise-grade stability, Carbonite is the best choice.  If you want cutting-edge features, than there are other competitors to consider.

CrashPlan 3.0

$50/year
CrashPlan offers unique capabilities, like multiple backup sets and backing up to friends’ computers. We like its unlimited storage in the $50-a-year plan, the ability to back up attached devices, and multiplatform compatibility. Multiple computer accounts are expensive, however, and you don’t get file sharing or mobile clients.

iDrive (2011)

$49.50/year per PC with 150GB
iDrive offers generous storage plans and a powerful Web interface, but it still doesn’t let you mix Macs and PCs in one account, the mobile app doesn’t give access to your backed up files, and there’s no sharing via secure download links.  Good start, but I would wait until they get the details figured out.

KineticD

$2/GB/year
KineticD offers most of what I look for in an online backup product, including constant monitoring for changed or added files, version saving, open-file backup, and multiple PC support. For its relatively high price, however, I expect a slicker, more capable interface.  Needs improvement.

MiMedia

$99/year for 100GB on unlimited PCs
Already-impressive beta service MiMedia offers hands-off, automated backup, the ability to play media files online, and a cloud-based disk drive. For more control over the upload process and backup set, SOS has it beat, and for simple syncing, DropBox is a better bet but if you want anywhere access to your digital media, you could do a lot worse than the reasonably priced and well-designed MiMedia.

Norton Online Backup 2.0

$50 for 25GB on up to 5 PCs
With this release, Norton has brought its online backup service’s features into the mainstream. Support for multiple PCs, including Macs, in one account and a slick Web-based user interface make this a Norton Online Backup 2.0 a real contender.

SOS Online Backup Home Edition 4.7.4
  – TOP CHOICE FOR SOHO USERS!
$79/year for 50GB on up to five PCs 
SOS still offers more than other online backup providers: multiple PC coverage, external and network drive backup, a local backup app, and an excellent iPhone app. Its Live Protect that watches folders for file changes and backs up immediately. In sum, SOS delivers more than any other online backup service.

Employees in the U.S. who work 45 hours a week said they believe 16 of those hours are unproductive, due to factors such as poor communication and slow or problematic office technology, a study conducted by software maker Microsoft in 2005 revealed.

A similar study fielded earlier by printer manufacturer Xerox revealed that 74 percent of those surveyed blamed the basic problem of heavy workloads on their lack of optimal productivity. In this study too, less-than-adequate technology was also named as an impediment to productivity.

With businesses now determined to continue to produce more work with fewer resources, making sure employees are as productive as possible can have a positive impact on profitability. Doing this can require little more than a simple, inexpensive switch to more productive wireless phone systems, wireless phone headsets and other advanced communication technologies that can be added to a small or medium-size office environment in just one day.

The increase in productivity from the introduction of phone headsets alone is startlingly significant! Employees of a large national company in the Midwest reported an increase in productivity of approximately 22 percent after headsets were introduced in place of traditional desk phone handsets, according to a study in 2005 by E3 Consulting, an independent consultant in Los Angeles.

From an ergonomic standpoint, introducing the phone headsets led to a 25 percent reduction in user discomfort in the neck, upper back and shoulders, according to the E3 study. In fact, 67 percent of the participants in the E3 study reported a decrease in the severity of pain associated with shouldering old, traditional phone handsets.

Getting workers hands-free when it comes to phone communication can quickly and easily create a more productive business environment.  For example, AT&T DECT phone model SynJ™ system is a four-line, cordless phone system for small business that leverages a zero-blind-spot repeater system to strengthen weak signals in order to deliver communication ranges of up to 1/2-mile, making it ideal for warehouse or office environments where employee mobility is key and clarity of communication paramount. This phone solution can be expanded to accommodate up to 10 handsets (twice the number as standard DECT systems), and a push-to-talk feature allows for instant communication between employees.

Helping employees become more productive on the job is simple when you give them the tools to work more effectively. The investment you make today to improve your business phone system will help boost office productivity, make for happier, healthier employees, and give you the peace of mind that your workers have the tools to help drive maximum profits.

Call us today at 618-628-1552 to discuss options for your business.

For each cumulative hour of Network Unavailability or fraction thereof in any calendar month, Customer’s account shall be credited for the pro-rated charges for one day of the Verizon monthly recurring charge.

So if your business data services cost $500/month, Verizon will credit you less than $17 for each hour their service is down. What’s your cost in lost productivity? In being unable to process credit cards? For many businesses the answer is hundreds or thousands of dollars per hour, or more.  Asking Verizon to make a commitment for a larger credit only results in a long-term re-evaluation of monthly pricing essentially making you pay the difference somehow.

Best solution? Redundancy.

With two independent sources of Internet, when one service fails you’re still connected. Only if both services fail at the same time do you lose Internet connectivity. With redundancy, your effective connection is more reliable than the better of the two services!

Of course there’s a catch. The services must be “independent” meaning a failure of one is not tied to a failure of the other. In real life, this means the two services must come from different vendors via different paths – such as fiber and coax, or copper and coax. Having services that use different strands in the same cable bundle, such as a DSL line and a T-1 line, doesn’t help if that cable is cut.

Implementation.

The most common approach uses the dual wide area network (WAN) capability built into most modern “firewall” appliances. For example, the SonicWALL or Zyxel ZyWALL or PepLink security appliance includes dual WAN connections with a choice of active-active load sharing or fail-over configurations. As a less expensive alternative, there are even separate dual-WAN “routers” available from Cisco and others for less than $150.  Phonewire has the expert knowledge and close relationships to configure the equipment you need and coordinate with the many available Internet service providers to make sure it all comes together.

Numbers don’t lie.

We actually use the formula for calculating the probability of system failure given failure rates for each of several replicated services that make up the system. The formula is:

P = P1 * P2 * P3 * …

Where P is the probably of system failure and P”i” is the probability of the “i”th service failing.

This formula assumes independence of failure events. That means that the probability of service B failing, given that service A has already failed, is the same as that of B failing when A has not failed.

For example:
Let’s say your first service, which is advertised as “99.99%” reliable, is really only 99.95% reliable, i.e. the service is not working for 4-5 hours each year. Now you add a second service with only 99% reliability (i.e., it’s out of service 1% of the time) but you configure a reliable dual WAN router for redundancy. Now the combined failure rate is:

0.05% * 1% = 0.0005%

A 0.0005% failure rate means the combined service is available 99.9995% of the time. That’s better availability than provided by any single service offered by any Internet service provider in the United States! And with your business at stake, the incremental cost is tiny.  You may have never experienced an Internet outage ever — but what happens on the day you least expect?

The benefits of cordless phones are especially compelling in today’s business environment where every dollar counts and increased productivity is a top priority. Beyond the typical features expected from any standard Caller ID speakerphone, our criteria for this evaluation for the best small business phone system are:

• Initial support for 3 external phone lines.
• Ability to transfer calls to other phones and voicemail.
• Music-on-hold functionality.
• Integrated cordless phones.
• Option for adding a wired or wireless headset for receptionist.
• Private voice mailboxes for every user.
• An automated attendant to direct calls when receptionist is unavailable.
• Total budget of $2,000 or less, including installation costs.

Here’s the most popular phone systems for small business today and our reviews of each…

Functionality

There is only one reason why your company would need a new telephone system: Functionality. Most companies need a phone system to do something that an ordinary phone line doesn’t do. Common features of business telephone systems include: call conferencing, call transfer, intercom, hold, multiple lines, voice mail, paging, music-on-hold, etc.  But today’s business telephone systems do so much more…

New telephone systems and cloud-hosted communication services, like the ones sold by PhoneWire, add the latest technology such as wireless DECT phone handsets for employee portability, instant messaging and push-to-talk radios built-in for faster employee communication, outlook e-mail and calendar integration for better time management, SIP trunking for cost savings, high-definition voice for future communications clarity, cellular/mobile phone connectivity for truly unified communications, and so much more!

Whether your company uses one or hundreds of these features, a new telephone system from PhoneWire is required to run and process all the features that your competitors may already be using now. Most businesses need a new telephone system for one or all of the following reasons:

• Present equipment does not function as it should
• Present equipment is outdated and does not accommodate new technology
• Company has outgrown current system
• Company is looking for their first telephone system

Question: So, when do we need a new telephone system?

Answer: When the functionality of current equipment does not meet the needs or wants of the company.

What to Consider

If we assume the “Functionality” is the sole reason to buy a new telephone system, then we must establish what “functionality” means to your company. Here are some suggestions:

Pick a specific day (say Monday) to assemble all the people who use the telephone system. Please include more than just the people who answer the phone. Sales people, executives, warehouse staff, etc. remember everyone uses the telephone. Present the word “functionality” to this group of people in the form of questions you are not looking for answers yet. Give everyone the week to investigate and think about the questions you have asked.

1. What didn’t the old equipment do that you wish it did?
2. What would you like the new equipment to do?
3. Have you heard of new technology that would help our business?
4. What color telephones are best for the office and why?
5. Are there features about other businesses that you frequently call, that you like or dislike?

After establishing what you would like your new telephone system to do, there are many other considerations that need to be addressed and answered. The following is a checklist of common questions that you as a customer should know and discuss with PhoneWire:

• How expandable is the system?
• What is the system resale value?
• What exactly will the Voice Mail do?
• How durable is the system? References?
• Do you need Battery Backup?
• Are all your phone jacks the proper size?
• Does all existing cable terminate where you think it does?
• How much does it cost to expand/upgrade?
• How much does service cost after the sale?
• Is the Voice Mail able to be upgraded & cost?
• How fast is your vendors’ emergency response?
• Does the system have power fail auxiliary telephones?
• Is the current wiring adequate?
• Is additional wiring required?

PhoneWire is one of the few business technology solutions companies who have a live, 24/7 answering service covering our office lines at 1(877)877-9473 around-the-clock for any emergency!  Customers who elect the security of a maintenance agreement receive the personal cell phone numbers of our executives.  We have the resources that many others don’t.  With a technology as critical as your business communications, we take our job very seriously and respond to the call!

The Panasonic NCP 500/1000 phone system is rack-mountable and is equipped with a built-in main processing card. This card makes it possible to incorporate virtual SIP trunks along with IP phone extensions on-site or remote workers using VPN. KX-NCP products work with complete IP solutions and include voice-mail as well as computer telephony integration (CTI). It is simply necessary to utilize the main processing card and/or optional VoIP DSP cards.

For use with KX-NCP series, you are sure to appreciate Panasonic’s own Communications Assistant (CA) software. This software lets phone users use a graphical user interface that features point & click to operate telephone features, chat messaging with other office users, and presence for use with Outlook and TAPI-enabled CRM desktop tools. When you purchase the Communication Assistant Software, you will receive a license that includes free use for up to five users. If you need to have more users added to the license agreement, you can do so with a simple upgrade. In the event more features are needed, Communications Assistant Pro can be added, bringing greater presence functionality, call logging features, and increased contact list capacity.

Here are some of the features that the main processor runs: EVSM – Enhanced Simplified Voice Messaging, Two-Port Simple Voice-Mail that supports a hundred and twenty-five audio messages, 64 outgoing messages and has a storage capacity of a 120 minutes. You can integrate additional servers or use optional feature cards to add more features and storage as needed. Among the add-ons are support for ESVM4 4-port voicemail, remote programming & door phones. With the KX-NCP series phone systems, you will be able to integrate the KX-TVA voice processing system in order to provide advanced features like call screening, email integration, live recording, as well as greetings set according to Caller ID.

Avaya and Cisco are not as popular as you think — Panasonic is the #1 leader worldwide for phone systems of small businesses with less than 50 extensions. Panasonic has years of experience that other phone system manufacturers can’t compare. Panasonic hasn’t changed it’s name to hide from its questionable reputations like AT&T… Lucent… Nortel… Avaya… Comdial… Executone… Western Electric… Vodavi… Vertical… 3Com… just to name a few! Think about it: if these other companies made high quality products, why do they keep changing names and running from supporting past customers with older systems? Why do all these other manufacturers constantly sell new systems that are almost never compatible with their previous desk phones, expansion devices, or voicemail systems?  These other manufacturers may claim great ROI but engineer planned obsolescence to make it impossible to achieve long term return!

The Panasonic phone system can support it’s own wireless and wired handsets, a broad variety of IP phones, a good assortment of digital and standard analog wall, desk, and cordless phones. It is the easiest to use IP phone system on the market and it is also a perfect system for use in call centers, where phone usage is quite intense, and third party software can be operated along with KX-NCP series.

SECAUCUS, NJ, January 24, 2011 – Panasonic, a leader in business telephone systems, announced today that it has enhanced its state-of-the-art Communications Assistant (CA) productivity software suite. CA is a PC-based software application suite that allows the business user to manage their telephony needs from a desktop or laptop, with different levels of functionality available to suit a variety of business situations:

• CA Basic Express – Users can visually manage all of their individual communication needs from a PC
• CA Pro – Builds on CA Basic Express by enabling voice mail control from anywhere in the world and adds presence and chat/IM functionality to assess coworker availability at a glance
• CA Supervisor – Allows supervisors to visually manage all of their employees’ call activities
• VM Assistant – This module allows users to check voicemail messages from a PC, forward them via email as .wav attachments, and perform many other voicemail management functions (requires optional KX-TVA voice messaging solution)
• CA Operator Console –Simultaneously manages and redirects multiple calls with such features as drag-and-drop call transfer—ideal for the busy receptionist, customer service desk or support desk

“More and more businesses have been moving away from the traditional static desktop workplace in favor of a more mobile one,” said Bill Savino, marketing manager for business telephone systems at Panasonic System Networks Company of America. “In this new dynamic work environment, it’s essential for people to be able to easily manage their communications anytime, anywhere, which includes from their computers. Panasonic’s Communication Assistant is designed to offer businesses another way to stay in touch with and manage interactions with colleagues, customers, and suppliers—wherever they may be.”

CA 3.0 features point-and-click call control; instant messaging (chat); visual voice messaging; Microsoft® Outlook® integration; door telephone and sensor control; IP camera integration and control; call history, calls made/missed, and supervisor group call monitoring and management. The system also supports two types of deployments: computer telephony integration (CTI) without a server for small-to-medium-sized businesses and CTI server-based systems that can support up to four separate locations. Some of the new features available with version 3.0 include “drag and drop” on-screen icons so callers can visually manage teleconference locations; remote location call monitoring; busy signal override, and detailed status reporting.

Communications Assistant productivity software supports the Panasonic KX-NCP and KX-TDE business telephone systems. For more information on Panasonic Communications Assistant and Panasonic business telephone systems, please visit www.panasonic.com/bts.

About Panasonic System Networks Company of America

Based in Secaucus, NJ, Panasonic System Networks Company of America is a unit of Panasonic Corporation of
North America, the principal North American subsidiary of Panasonic Corporation (NYSE: PC). A comprehensive
business-to-business solutions provider, the company develops and delivers reliable, affordable, and flexible
solutions for communication, collaboration, security and productivity. The complete suite of solutions addresses
home and business communications, security and surveillance systems, retail information systems, office productivity
solutions, and high definition visual conferencing, keeping Panasonic customers connected, informed, accessible and
secure. Information is available at www.panasonic.com/psna. Additional company information for journalists is
available at www.panasonic.com/pressroom.