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M5 Networks' 500th Client, Dale & Thomas Popcorn Company, Keeps Popping With Outsourced IP Phone System

Posted on: Wednesday, 29 November 2006, 09:00 CST

M5 Networks, one of the country's leading outsourced IP phone system providers, today announced that it is now serving more than five hundred small and mid-sized businesses with the addition of Dale & Thomas Popcorn Company to its client roster.

Headquartered in Englewood, New Jersey, Dale & Thomas is a fast-growing, nationally acclaimed gourmet popcorn maker with 135 employees and five retail outlets in the New York area. The company is in the process of opening more than two hundred additional stores nationwide. Dale & Thomas implemented M5's outsourced IP phone system with the help of third-party IT consultant, Network Doctor, after enduring persistent downtime and business disruption with a previous hosted phone system from a national telecommunications service provider, SBC Communications (now AT&T).

Since it was founded in 2002, Dale & Thomas has grown tremendously. When the company opened a new manufacturing plant in Teaneck, NJ, they needed an end-to-end phone system solution installed quickly. The first provider selected made big promises regarding features and functionality, but the solution took months to implement and broke down almost weekly. As the IT support provider, Network Doctor was involved in the planning and build-out of the company's new building. After a year of struggling with the incumbent telecom provider, Network Doctor replaced Dale & Thomas' hosted phone system with M5's Outsourced IP Phone System.

"Before partnering with M5, telecommunications was not a part of our suite of services, and we didn't want it to be. We just wanted to focus on supporting our clients' PC and networking needs," said Warren Finkel, Network Doctor Partner. "However, we lost a lot of sleep when Dale & Thomas experienced so many problems with their initial phone system provider. They are an important client for us, so we put all our efforts into finding a more suitable solution. We were looking for reliability, not features and functionality, so the enhanced capabilities received with M5's solution amounted to icing on the cake."

"With the trend of converging voice and data networks increasing in popularity, it makes sense for us to have a resource like M5," said Finkel. "As an IT support provider, Network Doctor needs to stay ahead of the technology curve. The line between IT and telecommunication has become very thin. Soon that line won't exist at all as VoIP, specifically hosted services, continues its path towards becoming the standard in the industry. M5 has proven to be a rock solid solution for our clients; we use them in our own offices."

Since implementing M5's Outsourced IP Phone System, Dale and Thomas has quadrupled in size, tripled the size of its manufacturing facility and opened additional retail locations. Its IT staff enjoys the ability to easily scale the company's communications infrastructure and connect remote locations using M5's outsourced solution, something that was impossible with its previous phone system.

"Technology is constantly evolving, so our IT department needs the flexibility to change quickly as we acquire more and more business infrastructure," said Kathy Tomaselli, Dale & Thomas' Vice President of Information Technology. "Whatever we can outsource to a trusted vendor so we don't have to worry about it is a beautiful thing. M5's Outsourced IP Phone System keeps me from staying up at night. This one IT area has been so reliable and easy to use, it's made my life much easier."

Reaching the 500-client mark is an important milestone for M5 and marks a 25 percent increase in its customer base since earlier this year. M5's solution gives businesses a private, dedicated and redundant voice and data infrastructure, a professional support and project management staff, and average cost savings of more than 20 percent when compared to traditional on-premises phone system solutions and service providers.

"Businesses like Dale and Thomas who are growing rapidly on a path of success don't have time to worry about their phone systems, and they shouldn't have to," said Dan Hoffman, President & CEO of M5 Networks. "We provide superior service and support levels to our clients and their IT consultants and offer valuable customization options that allow them to reap additional benefits from their phone systems, without drawing time and resources away from their core business operations."

About Dale & Thomas Popcorn Company

Founded in 2002, Dale and Thomas is a privately held company which manufactures America's first line of farm fresh -- chef crafted -- premium popcorn products. The Englewood, New Jersey based snack food company sells through wholesale, retail and direct channels, and has recently introduced Popcorn, Indiana™, a wholesale, premium, kettle corn line sold at supermarkets, chain stores and boutiques throughout the county. The company has also achieved a high level of recognition as it was selected by Oprah's magazine as one of her "Favorite Things." The company's Chef Ed has appeared on the Today Show, The View, as well as other national television appearances. Currently centers are located in: New York City, Teaneck, New Jersey, Philadelphia, and Lake Success Shopping Center, with additional openings in Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, New Jersey and Rhode Island in the coming months. Dale and Thomas Popcorn is also available at http://www.daleandthomas.com and 1-800-POPCORN.

About Network Doctor

Network Doctor provides IT support and solutions for growing businesses, from initial setup to ongoing maintenance and management. Services include network design, security implementation, remote connectivity, disaster recovery/business continuity planning, wireless deployments and beyond. In addition to network consulting services, Network Doctor offers a portfolio of managed services including Offsite Backup, Email Archiving, and Email Security. Network Doctor has close relationships with leading hardware and technology vendors, such as Microsoft, Dell, Apple, HP, Lenovo and M5 Networks, which allows it to increase the resources available to its clients. Network Doctor works with businesses throughout the New York metro area, ranging from small to large corporations with mission-critical needs. An innovative and comprehensive approach to network services has earned Network Doctor the trust of a rapidly growing client base. For more information, please visit http://networkdr.net.

About M5 Networks

M5 Networks is one of the country's leading outsourced IP phone system providers. By outsourcing to M5 instead of buying another phone system and signing more local and long distance contracts, businesses save valuable time and hard dollars. M5 was founded in 2000 by the same management team that ran Interport Communications, the ISP pioneer for New York businesses. M5 builds on that legacy by continually innovating to improve its outsourced phone system solution, which is delivering measurable ROI to companies in all industries. M5's core technology partners include Cisco, Verizon, AboveNet, Internap, Qwest, Broadwing and Tekelec.

Recognized as a leading company in the VoIP industry, M5 was named to the 2006 Inc. 500 (#272) and both the Deloitte Technology Fast 500 (#54) and 2006 New York Technology Fast 50 (#5) awards programs. M5 has also been included on the Pulver 100 list as a Communications Growth Company for four consecutive years (2002-2005), FierceVoIP's annual Fierce 15 list in 2005 and the VoIP Magazine 20: Companies to Watch in 2006 list. M5 also received Frost & Sullivan's 2004 Entrepreneurial Company Award and the 2004 and 2005 VoIP Service Provider Awards, the 2005 Best SMB VoIP Service Provider Award and the 2006 INTERNET TELEPHONY Excellence Award from INTERNET TELEPHONY Magazine. Small Business Technology Magazine named M5's Outsourced IP Phone System one of the finalists in its 2005 Product of the Year awards program. To learn more about M5, please visit http://www.m5net.com.

Source: Business Wire

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