PAR3 Communications Acquires EnvoyWorldWide

PAR3 Communications®, Inc., a leading provider of enterprise customer communication solutions, announced today the acquisition of EnvoyWorldWide®, a provider of high- availability notification services for business continuity and emergency communications. The union of these two companies creates a single source for notification solutions that meet the growing needs of the enterprise, from collections and customer service to the communication of unplanned events that threaten the continuity of business operations. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed.

The newly combined entity with 200 employees and offices in Bedford, Mass. and Seattle serves leading companies such as Bear Stearns, Duane Reade, Medco, Nextel Partners, Progressive Insurance, Symantec, Strohl Systems and US Airways. Additionally, customers throughout a variety of industries utilize the solutions, including:

• Four of the top seven utilities
• Six of the top 10 financial services institutions
• Five of the top seven airlines
• Three of the top five wireless carriers

EnvoyWorldWide is a leader in business continuity notifications, with market expertise and a solution offering that broadens PAR3′s capabilities to serve a diverse customer base. Combining the companies’ respective offerings creates the only provider of automated notification solutions that address the full spectrum of communication needs, from fully integrated, sophisticated interactions to on-demand, self-service solutions.

“PAR3 has been open to accelerating its growth through the strategic acquisition of a company that complements both its business and culture. EnvoyWorldWide is that company,” said Nicholas Tiliacos, president and CEO, PAR3. “By combining our strengths, we are well-positioned to enhance our leadership in providing end-to-end enterprise communication solutions.”

The Gartner Group predicts that 75 percent of the Global 2000 will have emergency notification systems in place for employee communications in the event of a crisis by 2007. Automated notifications solutions can enable enterprises to:

• Distribute information in real-time to critical contacts and resources, both internal and external
• Establish a real-time communications channel to communicate the occurrence of a disaster, a critical first layer of an enterprise security infrastructure
• Notify key personnel and customers in minutes, rather than hours, reducing the risk of errors and incorrect actions
• Deliver consistent, multi-channel messages, confirm receipt and offer the ability to interact on an as-needed basis

“EnvoyWorldWide’s success has been predicated on the increasing frequency of events of varying urgency that threaten an organization’s ability to conduct business,” said Ben Levitan, president and CEO, EnvoyWorldWide. “By joining forces with PAR3, we can leverage both companies’ combined successes, best practices and technologies to better meet the needs of a sophisticated user base looking to improve communications processes through automation.”

PAR3′s solution, which is fully integrated with client data systems, provides companies with a cost-effective way to personally interact with customers about a variety of time-sensitive issues, from retention and customer service to collections and revenue recovery. As a result, enterprises have improved contact rates, decreased accounts write-offs, dramatically increased contact center efficiency, and improved retention and campaign response rates.

Now with EnvoyWorldWide, the combined entity provides a comprehensive spectrum of notification solutions, from a single, proven source. The complementary solutions and combined experience serving the Fortune 1000 creates a unified solution capable of increasing personalized outreach, optimizing contact center agent productivity, reducing costs and ensuring critical events are communicated in the most effective way.

“We are looking forward to the opportunities created through this acquisition and will work with a combined leadership team to continue serving our existing and prospective clients,” added Tiliacos.