Ascendent Releases
Homeland Security Product
Continuous Product Development
Underscores Company Growth
On September 18, 2002, Encino, California based Ascendent Telecommunications Inc., a leader in advanced voice and mobility solutions for enterprise and government, announced the general availability of its new Continuity of Government (COG) solution, AscendentCOG™. Designed to provide governmental orga-nizations with seamless communications capability in the event of a voice-system outage, telephone network outage or evacuation, AscendentCOG allows people to stay in contact when the main communications hub is down or an entire staff has been evacuated or displaced. This marks the third successful product evolution for Ascendent, assuring its continued relevance in today’s rapidly changing telecommunications market.
The cornerstone of Ascendent Telecommunications mobile extension service is a device called WirelessConnect™, which allows virtually any type of wireless cellular phone to be quickly and seamlessly linked to practically any type of PBX anywhere in the country, giving the cell phone all the features and functions of a desktop phone and generating significant savings for companies with a large mobile workforce, as Ascendent founder and CEO Steve Forte explains, “Any salesperson that has to make international calls from outside the office can, at the touch of a button, gain access to the company’s PBX and dial out as if the person was sitting at his or her desk. So instead of a call to Hong Kong from Los Angeles costing $3 it may cost just 14 cents and if that person was dialing an international branch of their enterprise they would just have to punch the three or four digit extension to place the call.”
WirelessConnect™ has been so well received in the market place that Nextel (Nasdaq: NXTL), the leading provider of fully integrated communications services, made a significant up-front payment for the rights to distribute the innovative PBX enhancement through their own distribution channels. Other company’s extending the reach of their PBX include: Accenture, Steelcase, Inc., Tellabs and General Motors Corp to name just a few. Toshiba Computer Systems Group (CSG), the number one vendor in worldwide notebook PC sales, was so impressed with the mobile extension capabilities Ascendent offered that they engaged in an OEM agreement whereby Ascendent would develop a customized enterprise mobility communications platform for Toshiba Notebook PCs and PDAs. Based on Ascendent’s WirelessConnect™, the new embedded communications solution, called MobilityConnect, will provide Toshiba enterprise customers with the ability to privately manage incoming calls they receive on their cell or office phone via a soft console on their Notebook, PC or PDA.
“Ascendent has taken the knowledgebase and expertise it used to create WirelessConnect™, expanded those capabilities to any wireless device with their MobilityConnect offering and now, with AscendentCOG, they’ve launched a solution that is virtually mission critical,” remarked Klaus Koch, Kline Hawkes Principal and Ascendent board member. “Ascendent, through their innovative development and creative product positioning, represents the kind of entrepreneurial skill set we look for in a company. We’re excited about the progress they’ve made to date and look to the future with great anticipation as they continue to grow their business.”