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Thomson to Develop and Market IP Phones for Microsoft Unified Communications Platform

Posted on: Tuesday, 27 June 2006, 09:00 CDT

Thomson to Develop and Market IP Phones for Microsoft Unified Communications Platform

Paris - June 27, 2006 - Thomson (Euronext 18453; NYSE: TMS) today announced the development of IP-enabled business desktop phones specifically designed to integrate seamlessly with Microsoft Office Communications Server 2007. The strategic relationship between Thomson and Microsoft will help deliver on the promise of new IP technologies by enabling businesses to raise productivity and lower costs through enhanced and smarter communications.

Unified communications involves the fusion of not only the different forms of real-time and non-real-time messaging but also the technological infrastructure that carries them. In providing consolidated access to all communications modes through a single portal with the global reach of the Internet, unified communications integrates switching, messaging and personal communications applications and provides access to services such as e-mail, voicemail and faxes by a common interface by computer or by telephone.

Based on the Microsoft Office Communicator phone experience and designed for intelligent communication across business applications, networks and devices, Thomson's IP phones will work with Office Communications Server 2007 presence-awareness, powerful IP call management features and enhanced instant messaging capabilities, thus fully exploiting the potential of true unified communications.

"Our enterprise customers require best-in-class communication solutions that offer efficient and innovative ways of collaborating," said Bruno Fabre, Vice President, Telecoms at Thomson. The combination of Thomson's IP devices and solutions expertise coupled with Microsoft's visionary unified communications platform will take the complexity out of enterprise communications enabling users to work with customers, partners and co-workers seamlessly and more securely. We are delighted to be qualified by Microsoft. This comes in addition to agreements with other partners, making us a major player in the world of enterprise IP telephony", he concluded.

"Industry-leading companies such as Thomson have played a significant role in the advancement of IP communications. The development by Thomson of IP desktop phones specifically designed to support and maximize the benefits of Communications Server 2007 will serve to greatly advance enterprise communications," said Zig Serafin, general manager of the Unified Communications Group at Microsoft. "We look forward to continuing to work with Thomson and helping our customers gain competitive advantage through these unified communications innovations."

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Certain statements in this press release, including any discussion of management expectations for future periods, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the "safe harbor" of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements are based on management's current expectations and beliefs and are subject to a number of factors and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from the future results expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements due to changes in global economic and business conditions, consumer electronics markets, and regulatory factors. More detailed information on the potential factors that could affect the financial results of Thomson is contained in Thomson's filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

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According to the IEC or International Engineering Consortium, Unified Communications encompasses all forms of call and multimedia/cross-media message management functions controlled by an individual user both for business and social purposes. This includes any enterprise informational or transactional application process that emulates a human user and uses a single, content-independent messaging channel (mailbox) for contact access.

About Thomson -- World leader in digital video technologies

Thomson (Euronext Paris: 18453; NYSE: TMS) provides technology, services, and systems & equipment to help its Media & Entertainment clients - content creators, content distributors and users of its technology - realize their business goals and optimize their performance in a rapidly changing technology environment. The Group is the preferred partner to the Media & Entertainment Industries through its Technicolor, Grass Valley, RCA, and Thomson brands. For more information: http://www.thomson.net.

Thomson's Access Platforms and Gateways (AP&G) activity, part of the company's systems and equipment division, is a leading supplier of digital entertainment receivers to the world's major satellite and terrestrial broadcasters, cable operators and telecom service providers. It offers a full range of digital set-top boxes, phones, broadband modems and gateways with modular VoIP, IPTV and wireless capabilities. Through its Next Generation Networks business unit, Cirpack, it is also one of the leading suppliers of softswitch solutions to migrate telecom infrastructures to NGN (Next Generation Networks) and IMS (IP Multimedia Subsystem) enabling massive deployments of broadband telephony and IP Centrex, for instance. Products are marketed under the RCA, THOMSON, and CIRPACK brands. You can find more information on AP&G's products at www.thomson-broadband.com and www.cirpack.com

 +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Press Relations          |                   |                    | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Martine Esquirou         |  +33 1 41 86 58 51|martine.esquirou@tho| |                         |                   |mson.net            | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Julie Dardelet           |  +33 1 41 86 65 24|julie.dardelet@thoms| |                         |                   |on.net              | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Access Platforms &       |                   |                    | |Gateways                 |                   |                    | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Brenda Clery             |  +33 6 83 30 57 57|brenda.clery@thomson| |                         |                   |.net                | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Jasmine Khounnala        |  +33 6 03 81 48 56|jasmine.khounnala@th| |                         |                   |omson.net           | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Investor Relations       |                   |                    | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Marie Boidot             |  +33 1 41 86 51 00|marie.boidot@thomson| |                         |                   |.net                | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ |Laurent Sfaxi            |  +33 1 41 86 58 83|laurent.sfaxi@thomso| |                         |                   |n.net               | +-------------------------+-------------------+--------------------+ 

All product and company names mentioned herein are the trademarks of their respective owners

The full press release is available on http://www.companynewsgroup.com

This information is provided by CompanynewsGroup

SOURCE: THOMSON

Source: MARKET WIRE

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