SAN FRANCISCO (October 27, 2003) – Critical Path, Inc. (Nasdaq: CPTH), a global leader in digital communications software and services, today announced that Z?Tel Communications, Inc., a leading provider of local, long distance and enhanced telecommunications services, is deploying Critical Path’s highly scalable messaging and address book solutions in Z?Tel’s Personal Voice Assistant™ (PVA), which is an integral part of the Z?Tel product line, including Z?LineBUSINESS® and Z?LineHOME®. The Critical Path software is part of a new infrastructure that is intended to help Z?Tel significantly expand its subscriber base over the next two years. In addition, Z?Tel is using Critical Path’s identity management software to automatically provision a wide range of messaging services, from Critical Path as well as third parties. The standards-based Critical Path software provides a platform that simplifies Z?Tel’s efforts to deliver new value-added services that increase subscriber retention, drive higher revenue per user, and lower costs of operations.
Z?Tel is using Critical Path’s solutions to address several key needs. They are deploying the Critical Path Messaging Server to integrate the storage of voicemail and email into a single system that provides both telephone and Web access to subscriber messages. In addition, Z?Tel is using the Critical Path Personal Address Book to provide centralized storage, editing and grouping of contact information (such as names, phone numbers and email addresses among many others) for both current and future messaging applications. The high scalability and easy integration with other systems offered by the Critical Path software is enabling Z?Tel to deploy their solutions quickly and to minimize ongoing support and operational expenses.
“We need a partner whose platform supports large-scale, carrier-class operations while also enabling the rapid rollout of innovative communication solutions that are a key part of our business plan,” said Chuck McDonough, chief technology officer at Z-Tel. “Critical Path’s proven track record of multi-million seat deployments, extensibility for adding new services, and ease of support shows that they understand what we need to drive our business.”
Critical Path’s software is being integrated with systems that Z?Tel has already deployed, as well as with new third party applications. To simplify administration, Z?Tel is also using the Critical Path Meta-Directory to automatically extract subscriber data from an Oracle Customer database and create a consolidated profile for each subscriber. This provides a centralized, up-to-date source of identity data, passwords, and preferences for powering single sign-on and personalization across all of the messaging applications.
“Critical Path’s broad, modular platform provides the scalability needed to handle rapid growth, as well as the extensibility and flexibility required to integrate quickly with other systems,” said William McGlashan, chairman and chief executive officer of Critical Path. “Z?Tel is a good illustration of how our software can help carriers grow their portfolio of services and cut costs at the same time.”
Additional information on Critical Path’s messaging and identity management solutions for telecommunications carriers – as well as other enterprises and government agencies – is available at www.criticalpath.net.
About Z-Tel
Founded in 1998, Z-Tel offers consumers and businesses nationwide traditional and enhanced telecommunications services. Z-Tel's enhanced services, such as Internet-accessible and voice-activated calling and messaging features, are designed to meet customers' communications needs intelligently and intuitively. Z-Tel also makes its services available on a wholesale basis to other communications and utility companies, including Sprint. For more information about Z-Tel and its innovative services, please visit www.ztel.com.
About Critical Path, Inc.
Critical Path, Inc. (Nasdaq: CPTH) is a global leader in digital communications software and services. The company provides messaging solutions – from wireless, secure and unified messaging to basic email and personal information management – as well as identity management solutions that simplify user profile management and strengthen information security. The standards-based Critical Path Communications Platform, built to perform reliably at the scale of public networks, delivers the industry’s lowest total cost of ownership for messaging solutions and lays a solid foundation for next-generation communications services. Solutions are available on a hosted or licensed basis. Critical Path's customers include more than 700 enterprises, 200 carriers and service providers, eight national postal authorities and 35 government agencies. Critical Path is headquartered in San Francisco. More information can be found at www.criticalpath.net.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains forward-looking statements by the Company and its executives regarding the performance, security, scalability and interoperability of our product and service offerings, the ability of our customers to achieve cost savings in the provision of services, industry trends, market and customer requirements, the ability of our products and services to meet the business needs of our customers, the market for products and services like ours and the performance of our senior management in achieving strategic goals. The words and expressions "look forward to," "will," "expect," "plan," "believe," "seek," "strive for," "anticipate,” hope,” "estimate" and similar expressions are intended to identify the Company's forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements involve a number of risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated. These risks include, but are not limited to, our evolving business strategy and the emerging and changing nature of the market for our products and services, our ability to deliver on our sales objectives, the ability of our technology and our competitors' technologies to address customer demands, changes in economic and market conditions, unplanned system interruptions and capacity constraints, software and service design defects. These and other risks and uncertainties are described in more detail in the Company's filings with the U.S Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov) made from time to time, including Critical Path's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002,and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarters ended March 31 and June 30, 2003, as may be amended from time to time, and all subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (www.sec.gov). The company makes no commitment to revise or update any forward-looking statements in order to reflect events or circumstances after the date any such statement is made.
Ernst van der Ploeg
Regional Sales Director
for Critical Path BENELUX
+31 (0) 6 512 77060 phone
+31 (0) 6 105 48013 fax