Low cost, back up phone service revitalizes communication lines and normal business activity despite interruption in power

SAN JOSE, Calif. - August 18, 2003 - While some east coast companies equipped with backup power generators remained operational during last week's massive power outage, others entirely dependent on the outside supply of electricity were not so fortunate. Generally, it is the lack of knowledge and resources that prevents businesses from putting backup redundancy systems in place, but today there are some simple, affordable precautions companies can take to ensure "business as usual" when disaster strikes.

Now, any sized business can rely on 24/7 uninterrupted phone service, independent of the status of the area's electricity supply, without installing a single piece of equipment or making a costly hardware investment.

For just four dollars per employee per month and no equipment to buy, install, or maintain, businesses can protect one of their most vital communications functions from failing when existing PBX telephone systems become inoperable. The Virtual PBX® Parachute™ is designed to backup a company's on-premise phone system carrying forth advanced PBX features such as ACD queuing, voicemail and extension-to-extension transferring. Moments after a power failure or any other disaster renders a company's existing PBX inoperable, calls are routed from the company's long distance provider to the PBXParachute™ data center and onto employees at alternate phone numbers using the same extension plan as their normal PBX system. Since the service is not dependent on functioning equipment at the company's location, business goes on as usual, without interruption.

"The importance of business continuity in today's volatile environment is undisputed," said VirtualPBX™ CEO Paul Hammond. "Having an affordable, dynamic and powerful recovery solution on board like the PBX Parachute™ gives company owners and managers an assurance that business can and will continue despite the occurrence of natural or man made disasters." VirtualPBX.com, Inc., a pioneer in the hosted voice communications market, introduced its VirtualPBX™ service in 1998. The VirtualPBX™ service provides all the sophisticated phone capabilities of a large company phone system without the disadvantage of buying, installing and maintaining an on-site PBX system. Additional information on VirtualPBX.com, Inc. can be found at www.VirtualPBX.com. VirtualPBX™ and PBXParachute™ are registered trademarks of VirtualPBX.com, Inc.

Joan Citelli
Cintara
408-559-4409
joancitelli@citellipr.com

Paul Hammond
President & CEO
VirtualPBX™
paul.hammond@VirtualPBX.com
1-888-825-0800 x363