Lucent spinoff unveils eCommunication model

New Enterprise Networks Group also announces initatives with Andersen Consulting, eLoyalty and PricewaterhouseCoopers

Basking Ridge, N.J., 12 April 2000 - The new Enterprise Networks Group being spun off from Lucent Technologies announced today several major initiatives to provide next-generation systems and solutions for personalized e-business communication.

As a first step, the company introduced an open, flexible communication model that will enable enterprises -- from start-ups to established companies -- to move quickly into the next wave of e-business. The new Enterprise Networks Group also announced it is working with Andersen Consulting, eLoyalty and PricewaterhouseCoopers to develop, sell and integrate enterprise-wide e-business solutions.

Called the eCommunication model, the standards-based model is designed to take much of the complexity out of building, integrating and converging the multiple intelligent networks and multimedia applications businesses need to connect with their customers, suppliers, partners and employees.

With it, enterprises will be able to quickly migrate their businesses beyond the content- and transaction-based interactions that have defined e-business until now, to personalized, relationship-based communication and collaboration that helps link virtual organizations to improve efficiency and build long-term customer loyalty.

The company also said it plans to establish a consortium of technology leaders to participate in defining and developing software components of the model, set up an e-business interoperability lab, and expand its existing ISV program to include software developers wanting to write applications for the model.

"e-Business is undergoing a transformation driven by changing business models and by customer desire to interact with businesses over any medium, through any device, at any time and from anywhere," said Don Peterson, president and CEO of Lucent's new Enterprise Networks Group. "With eCommunication, we are taking e-business beyond 'clicks and calls' toward effortless, relationship-based communication that will help enterprises capture and hold customer loyalty."

"As a new company, we are focused on delivering a personalized home financing experience powered by the most advanced multi-media customer relationship technologies," said Richard G. Thornberry, president and CEO, Nexstar Financial Corporation.

"This new eCommunication model will enable us to fully integrate our e-business communication systems, resulting in a seamless customer experience regardless of the customer's choice of media. It will provide us with critical speed to market and allow us to quickly respond to our customers' rapidly changing needs. The eCommunication model is consistent with our view of what our customers expect in the future. We look forward to working with the new Enterprise Networks Group to leverage these capabilities to further build our business going forward," he added.

The initiatives announced today with Andersen Consulting, eLoyalty and PricewaterhouseCoopers are among the first the new company expects to establish with leading consultants, professional services organizations and technology leaders to develop, market and integrate enterprise-wide e-business solutions. The new Enterprise Networks Group is working individually with each firm to create unique solutions that range from front office to back office to hosted solutions for e-business.

The new company plans to help customers implement the eCommunication model through an alliance with Lucent's NetworkCare professional services organization, its own CRM Professional Services organization, and through relationships with business consultants and systems integrators.

The company also is forging alliances with technology leaders similar to one announced with the Sun MicroSystems in December, to communication-enable their portals and to create joint e-business solutions for enterprises.

The eCommunication Fabric is an open, programmable set of integrated communication, collaboration and Web-enabled business software that uses a range of integration services to provide seamless interoperability among multi-vendor products and applications to support anytime, anywhere, anymedia communications. This software also supports the rules for moving information and communication flows between people and systems, while maintaining the integrity of the applications within and between enterprises. The eCommunication Fabric and commlets, currently under development, will be available beginning in the fourth quarter.

Commlets are communication applets, programmable objects that use the services of the eCommunication Fabric to integrate communications services -- such as connection management, media conversion, contact management, context management, resource management, quality of service, security and access control, and billing services -- with e-business applications. Commlets will simplify the integration of complex communication services into e-business applications, reducing the cost and complexity of e-business applications. Commlets will allow application developers to easily comm-enable vertical applications for e-business regardless of the infrastructure. For example, an ISV using the commlets could write a converged data/voice application without the need to understand telephony.

The new Enterprise Networks Group plans to establish a consortium of companies that will participate in defining and developing the commlets to industry standards, as well as helping to evolve relevant industry standards. The company also will draw on its expertise in computer telephony integration (CTI), which it has developed to link data and voice applications in call centers. The new Enterprise Networks Group also plans to expand its existing ISV program to include developers writing applications for commlets, and will make a software developers toolkit available for ISVs.

The Network Infrastructure layer comprises multivendor network services and network systems for secure, transaction-aware and relationship-aware communication networking. Network services include policy management software, address management software, security and network management. The network systems components include LAN switches, secure VPNs, load balancing, caching, gateways, data and telephony servers, WAN access devices, routers, web and applications servers, and data storage servers.

In addition, this year the Enterprise Networking Group plans to introduce e-business offers targeted at small and mid-sized businesses, and for specific industries such as finance and healthcare. The company will set up an interoperability lab for developers to test applications with the eCommunication model and eCommunication Fabric, and will launch a certification program to help its customers and BusinessPartners develop expertise in designing and implementing e-business solutions.

About Lucent Technologies' New Enterprise Networks Group
By the end of September, Lucent Technologies intends to spin off its enterprise communications systems, business cabling and LAN-based data networking businesses into a separate $8 billion company focused on delivering next-generation communication networks for enterprises.

Lucent Technologies, headquartered in Murray Hill, N.J., USA, designs and delivers the systems, software, silicon and services for next-generation communications networks for service providers and enterprises. Backed by the research and development of Bell Labs, Lucent focuses on high-growth areas such as optical and wireless networks; Internet infrastructure; communications software; communications semiconductors and optoelectronics; Web-based enterprise solutions that link private and public networks; and professional network design and consulting services.