Nortel Unified Communications Solution Sparks Rapid Customer Uptake

Milestone 1,000th Unit of New Business Communications Manager 450 Shipped

• Press Release
• Source: Nortel
• On 6:00 am EST, Wednesday February 4, 2009

LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM--(MARKET WIRE)--Feb 4, 2009 -- Launched October 8, the Nortel(1) (Toronto:NT.TO - News)(Other OTC:NRTLQ.PK - News) Business Communications Manager (BCM) 450, has already shipped 1000 units - demonstrating strong global demand for a solution that connects people faster, improves collaboration and speeds time to decision for firms with up to 300 employees.

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The solution helps medium-sized business more easily and cost-effectively transition to unified communications enabling them to save up to 70 percent of their original investment by reusing their existing equipment.

"The introduction of BCM450 has enabled Nortel to increase our market presence working with our strategic partners across Europe. In a market that increasingly demands cost-effective unified communications and solutions that connect people faster, improve collaboration, and speed decision making," said Barry Bonnett, vice president, Enterprise Business Development, Europe, Nortel. "The BCM450 is a simple up-sell opportunity for our channel partners to protect their customer base."

With BCM450 Nortel expands its addressable market offering greater capacity for businesses like the Dutch law firm Bout Overes. Based in Groningen, Netherlands, Bout Overes has a strong background in legal counseling which dates back to 1892. The company now serves several clients including top businesses from many sectors. By choosing a BCM450 solution delivered by NewComm IT, a local Nortel and Westcon partner, they can move towards a full IP-based Unified Communications environment.

"We aim to provide an optimum service delivery to all our clients; and communications availability is a critical part of that process. We chose the Nortel BCM 450 for its reach features set, its reliability and scalability," said J.J. van der Molen attorney at law, Bout Overes. "It also enables our employees to collaborate more efficiently."

Stephanie Watson, general manager at the analyst firm MZA, commented, "The fact that already more than 1,000 BCM450 units have been shipped, means that many businesses have already realized the benefits that messaging, mobility and collaboration capabilities can bring. Small to medium size firms represent as a whole a true driving force of the EMEA economy, businesses deploying hybrid/IP solutions in the 11-250 user category accounted for almost 60 percent of total EMEA demand in the first three quarters 2008."

BCM450 is available from Nortel, or through its strategic partners across Europe.

"The introduction of BCM 450, in conjunction with our ConvergencePoint program, has allowed our partners to drive the efficiencies and productivity enhancements offered by UC into their mid market customers," said David Garwood, European product manager, Westcon Convergence. "Nortel's evergreen approach has once again allowed existing Nortel customers to protect their Nortel investment while transitioning to a solution that delivers all the benefits offered by unified communications."

In addition to Nortel's market leading unified messaging capability, which combines voicemail, fax and e-mail into a single location that can be accessed from anywhere, whether over the Internet or by telephone, the BCM450 also provides:

- Message forwarding, which sends voicemails and faxes to the desktop or mobile device deemed most convenient by the user or organization. For workers on the move, this can save long distance and roaming charges when retrieving messages.

- Meet-Me Conferencing that can establish teleconferences for up to 120 participants. This can eliminate the need for external services and reduce teleconferencing expenses.

- Computer Telephony Integration, which allows the use of third-party applications to control telephone services, such as click-to-call or automatic screen "pop" with customer information when they call.

- Intelligent Contact Center functionality, which quickly directs clients to the right contact.

- Energy cost savings up to 40 percent over similar offerings from the competition.(2)

BCM450 is a member of the flagship BCM portfolio, which includes the BCM50. Both offer equivalent capabilities differing only in customer target size. These solutions can enhance the profitability of Nortel partners. They also offer reduced training requirements and a simpler sales proposition.

Nortel BCM solutions round out the Company's overall SMB portfolio which has been evaluated 'five-out-of-five' by industry analyst firm Gartner in its Critical Capabilities for Unified Communications report.(3) Market research firm Dell'Oro ranks Nortel number one for the first three quarters of 2008 based on number of Hybrid-IP lines shipped globally.

About Nortel

Nortel is a recognized leader in delivering communications capabilities that make the promise of Business Made Simple a reality for our customers. Our next-generation technologies, for both service provider and enterprise networks, support multimedia and business-critical applications. Nortel's technologies are designed to help eliminate today's barriers to efficiency, speed and performance by simplifying networks and connecting people to the information they need, when they need it. Nortel does business in more than 150 countries around the world. For more information, visit Nortel on the Web at www.nortel.com. For the latest Nortel news, visit www.nortel.com/news.

Certain statements in this press release may contain words such as "could", "expects", "may", "anticipates", "believes", "intends", "estimates", "targets", "envisions", "seeks" and other similar language and are considered forward-looking statements or information under applicable securities legislation. These statements are based on Nortel's current expectations, estimates, forecasts and projections about the operating environment, economies and markets in which Nortel operates. These statements are subject to important assumptions, risks and uncertainties, which are difficult to predict and the actual outcome may be materially different from those contemplated in forward-looking statements. For additional information with respect to certain of these and other factors, see Nortel's Annual Report on Form10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q and other securities filings with the SEC. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, Nortel disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

(1)Nortel, the Nortel logo and the Globemark are trademarks of Nortel Networks.

(2)Based on Nortel's internal test results conducted in August 2008 comparing the energy consumption in the laboratory of a BCM450 with 150 phones and seven 4526T-PWR (NA PC) with the published energy consumption figures provided in data sheets of comparably equipped and configured competitive products.

(3)Gartner, Critical Capabilities for Unified Communications, Bern Elliot, September 16, 2008. The Critical Capabilities report is copyrighted 2008 by Gartner, Inc. and is reused with permission. The Critical Capabilities report is a comparative analysis which scores competing products against a set of critical differentiators identified by Gartner. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in the Critical Capabilities report, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest rating. Gartner disclaims all warranties, express or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose

Use of the terms "partner" and "partnership" does not imply a legal partnership between Nortel and any other party.

     Contacts:
     Nortel
     Michele Prosperi
     +39-0651529407
     Email: prosperi@nortel.com
     Website: http://www.nortel.com