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Washington DC, FOSE – April 1, 2008 – Ascendent Systems, a subsidiary of Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM), and Sprint (NYSE: S) today announced the deployment of Sprint Mobile Extension, powered by Ascendent Systems, at Lee County Sheriff’s Office, a full service law enforcement agency servicing Lee County, Fort Myers Beach and Bonita Springs. This technology enables law enforcement agents patrolling Lee County to respond faster to real emergencies such as robberies, accidents and other crimes.
Sprint Mobile Extension was integrated with the existing telephone infrastructure of the Sheriff’s Office to deliver fixed-mobile convergence capabilities to commanders and deputies who are away from their desks. The technology extends the identity and functionality of the desk phone out to any mobile phone, thus simplifying how deputies communicate and check voicemail while away from their desks. With this solution, agents and command staff are able to have one phone number to be reached at and have their desk phones simultaneously ring with their mobile devices to help ensure that they do not miss important calls and can respond to situations immediately. Also, being able to make a call from their mobile phone and extend their desk phone number instead of their mobile number was an important security feature for the department.
“When we first learned about Mobile Extension and its fixed-mobile convergence capabilities, the most impressive element was its seamless integration. We were so accustomed to inconveniences, such as missed calls and multiple voicemails, that we had no idea of the benefits of true voice mobility,” said Captain Richard Schnieders of Lee County Sheriff’s Office. “We’ve seen vast improvements in both productivity and collaborative efforts since deploying Mobile Extension, and our citizens are better served as a result.”
Officers also have the ability to access desk phone features such as extension dialing, transfer, park, hold and conference, all from their mobile devices, making it easier for them to collaborate with other staff members on the move. Another important feature to the commanders is the ability to extend office caller ID from a mobile device, thereby protecting the privacy of their mobile numbers.
Through its strategic partnership with Ascendent Systems, Sprint can provide sophisticated enterprise voice mobility to its corporate users nationwide. Mobile Extension works with any phone, including BlackBerry® smartphones, other mobile phones, desk phones, and home phones, and supports both TDM and IP corporate phone systems.
“Perception is shifting around fixed-mobile convergence, and this deployment is further validation that it can now be easily integrated into a variety of telephony environments,” said Theron Dodson, Director of Sales and Marketing for Ascendent Systems. “The deployment of Mobile Extension at Lee County Sheriff's Office is a great example of how voice mobility technology can be used by law enforcement organizations to be more responsive to citizens.”
Lee County has also equipped patrol cars with upgraded Mobile Broadband (based on EVDO technology) cards, offering applications such as IP video telephony, the industry leading Nextel Direct Connect push-to-talk service and multi-user video conferencing directly from the car. Broadband speed means streaming video and high speed data uploads are feasible, which can be especially helpful for patrol officers handling mug shots, reports, line-ups, criminal pursuit or emergency evacuations in the field. “As law enforcement and computing become more and more sophisticated, we’re requiring more bandwidth than we ever thought possible. Sprint Mobile Broadband allows us to push the data out to patrol cars, enabling officers to have the same abilities in their car as at their desk,” according to Captain Schnieders.
“Today’s mobile workforce, whether it’s a sales team or law enforcement agency, no longer wants to be fixed to a desk. We’re finding numerous customers turning to fixed-mobile convergence as the choice to enable mobility,” said Darlene Braunschweig, Vice President of Converged Network Solutions at Sprint. “Lee County Sheriff’s Office is a leader in its use of new technologies to help perform more efficiently, and we are happy to help extend its reach with both Sprint Mobile Extension and the Sprint Mobile Broadband network.”
Sprint Nextel offers a comprehensive range of wireless and wireline communications services bringing the freedom of mobility to consumers, businesses and government users. Sprint Nextel is widely recognized for developing, engineering and deploying innovative technologies, including two robust wireless networks serving approximately 54 million customers at the end of 2007; industry-leading mobile data services; instant national and international push-to-talk capabilities; and a global Tier 1 Internet backbone. For more information, visit www.sprint.com.
Ascendent Systems, a subsidiary of Research In Motion (Nasdaq: RIMM; TSX: RIM), is the premier provider of enterprise voice mobility solutions that allow companies to be more responsive to customers and crisis by giving them the power to reach anyone, anywhere, immediately. The Ascendent Voice Mobility Suite of applications provides single number reachability, real-time notification and conferencing, and voice continuity. These solutions allow users to automatically extend the identity and functionality of their business desk phone to any other device. Partnered with major mobile carrier and infrastructure providers, Ascendent has solutions deployed in Fortune 500 corporations across many industry verticals including manufacturing, finance, healthcare, government, hospitality, and education. For more information: http://www.ascendentsystems.com.
Forward-looking statements in this news release are made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the United States Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. When used herein, words such as "intend" and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements are based on assumptions made by and information available to Research In Motion Limited. Investors are cautioned that such forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements include, without limitation, possible product defects and product liability, risks related to international sales and potential foreign currency exchange fluctuations, the initiation or outcome of litigation, acts or potential acts of terrorism, international conflicts, significant fluctuations of quarterly operating results, changes in Canadian and foreign laws and regulations, continued acceptance of RIM's products, increased levels of competition, technological changes and the successful development of new products, dependence on third-party networks to provide services, dependence on intellectual property rights and other risks and factors detailed from time to time in RIM's periodic reports filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission, and other regulatory authorities. RIM has no intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
Ascendent is a registered trademark of Ascendent Systems. The BlackBerry and RIM families of related marks, images and symbols are the exclusive properties and trademarks of Research In Motion Limited. RIM, Research In Motion and BlackBerry are registered with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and may be pending or registered in other countries. Wi-Fi is a registered trademark of the Wi-Fi Alliance. All other brands, product names, company names, trademarks and service marks are the properties of their respective owners. RIM and Ascendant assume no obligations or liability and make no representation, warranty, endorsement or guarantee in relation to any aspect of any third party products or services.
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