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BellSouth Provides Cost Effective Data Networking for Alabama Businesses

Posted on: Wednesday, 4 August 2004, 06:00 CDT

BIRMINGHAM, Ala., Aug. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- Alagasco, a provider of natural gas services to both homes and businesses, is one of many companies in Alabama that is utilizing an innovative data networking service from BellSouth to share information between locations.

"In addition to linking data communications between 19 of its office locations, Alagasco uses the network service from BellSouth to direct inbound calls over Internet Protocol immediately to the active service center, something that is extremely important if our customers experience service outages," said Joe Hurd, manager of network communications - Alagasco.

BellSouth is delivering operational benefits through network-based virtual private networking (VPN) solutions, known as BellSouth(R) Managed Network VPN, to several Birmingham-based companies, including Alagasco, Brasfield & Gorrie, Alacare Home Health & Hospice and Active Services Corporation.

According to Steve Shaw, assistant vice president of Alabama sales - BellSouth Business, customers want simplified, cost effective data networking solutions that effectively connect all areas of their operations.

"BellSouth Managed Network VPN provides an optimal solution for customers that are seeking to simplify their data network management, increase redundancy and reliability and focus more on their core business," said Shaw. "This service goes beyond just another data network upgrade, serving as the platform for convergence as customers integrate voice, data, Internet and video networks."

Recognized nationally for its excellence as a general contractor, Brasfield & Gorrie chose BellSouth Managed Network VPN as the primary network service for linking the company's job sites in the Southeast that require data connections.

"With the BellSouth VPN service, we are able to add new job sites to the company network very quickly and cost effectively to allow sharing of data between locations, and the performance we have experienced thus far has been superior," said Tom Garrett, chief information officer - Brasfield & Gorrie.

Many businesses manage multiple office locations, with various access types (DSL, Ethernet, ATM, Frame Relay, Private Line) connecting those sites to the company headquarters. There are also often remote users working from home or on the road that need access to critical company information. In the past, companies had to self-integrate and manage these customized networks to allow branch locations to communicate with one another. BellSouth Managed Network VPN Service, launched in 2003 and recently enhanced with additional security and service levels, enables customers to shift responsibility for network integration and configuration of wide area networks (WANs) to the service provider. The VPN Service is transported over BellSouth's private Internet Protocol backbone, which utilizes the flexibility of MPLS (Multi- Protocol Label Switching) to allow internetworking of multiple access methods.

Active Services Corporation and Alacare Home Health & Hospice Care are two health care organizations using the service. Active Services Corporation provides day care and outpatient therapy services for the elderly and disabled and uses Network VPN to connect 18 of its locations.

"It is important for all of our sites to have full access to the company's corporate intranet functions," said Phil Burns, vice president and chief information officer - Active Services Corporation. "BellSouth's service has allowed us to reduce our overall networking cost, while increasing the speed at several locations."

Alacare connects 20 of its locations using BellSouth Network VPN, giving employees the ability to input real-time data into the patient information system. This allows the health care provider to deliver excellent service to its home health care patients. The company also runs voice and video applications over the Network VPN.

"Security and reliability are the primary concerns when working with patient information," said Milton Gwaltney, information systems operations director - Alacare. "The underlying network services we use must meet similar guidelines and BellSouth's service record was a significant part of our decision to integrate our networks using the company's Network VPN solution."

About BellSouth

BellSouth Corporation is a Fortune 100 communications company headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia and a parent company of Cingular Wireless, the nation's second largest wireless voice and data provider.

Backed by award winning customer service, BellSouth offers the most comprehensive and innovative package of voice and data services available in the market. Through BellSouth Answers(SM), residential and small business customers can bundle their local and long distance service with dial up and high speed DSL Internet access and Cingular(R) Wireless service. For businesses, BellSouth provides secure, reliable local and long distance voice and data networking solutions. BellSouth also offers online and directory advertising through BellSouth(R) RealPages.com(SM) and The Real Yellow Pages(R).

More information about BellSouth can be found at http://www.bellsouth.com/ .

BellSouth Corporation

CONTACT: Media, Todd Smith, +1-404-829-8723, ortodd.smith@bellsouth.com , or Terri Denard, +1-205-972-2984, ortdenard@imcingular.com , both of BellSouth Corporation

Web site: http://www.bellsouth.com/

Company News On-Call: http://www.prnewswire.com/comp/095650.html

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