Alteva Announces Winner of a Complete Business Communications Makeover in Its "My Phone Stinks" Contest

PHILADELPHIA, PA--(Marketwire - Aug 15, 2012) - Alteva, a leading cloud-based Unified Communications (UC) solution provider and subsidiary of Warwick Valley Telephone Company (NASDAQ: WWVY) (referred to as WVT Communications Group), today announced the winner of its My Phone Stinks contest. Freedman Consulting, Inc., of Lansdale, PA answered the call and won the prize, which featured phones donated by Panasonic, implementation fees, one year of UC service -- including hosted VoIP licenses donated by BroadSoft -- and sponsorship from Microsoft. 

The contest, in which employees from businesses in the Greater Philadelphia area were invited to submit an essay at http://www.MyPhoneStinks.com explaining why their existing phone system was more hindrance than help, generated entries which were both humorous and incredible.

WVT Communications Group President and COO David Cuthbert said, "The contest demonstrated for us once again what really frustrates people about the inadequacies of their existing phone systems and service providers. While fun, the competition also highlighted the many problems that exist today and the common lack of dedicated customer service."

Apart from rewarding the winner with a communications makeover prize, the contest reminds businesses of Philadelphia-headquartered Alteva's expanding reputation across the country as a leading UC solutions provider that is revolutionizing the way businesses communicate. 

It was the entry of Ellen Freedman, Founder and President of Freedman Consulting, that impressed the panel of judges. Her company supports the business side of law firms with strategic planning, retreat facilitation, practice management audits, human resources, marketing and client development, financial management and profitability enhancement, compensation, technology and project management, web design, social media presence, and more.

"Effective communications -- both on an interpersonal level and from a technology perspective -- is key to meeting the expectations of clients," said Freedman. "It's critical that we have a UC system that enables us to deliver the same level of service we're advising our own clients to provide, so we always 'walk the talk.' The features that are most important to us are unified messaging, meaning true integration between voicemail and email, and Alteva Anywhere, which enables our clients to find us effortlessly -- without having to call multiple numbers. Alteva provides a system which has been purposely designed with multiple levels of redundancy, guaranteeing continuation of service even under extreme circumstances where other systems might fail." 

Freedman continued, "Above all, I entered the contest because of Alteva's track record in providing service. Their incentives to their own employees to ensure customer satisfaction, and their system for automatic escalation of unresolved issues, ensure that we always receive the high level of service we need. This factor alone sets them apart from other providers, as we have come to learn the hard way.

"Alteva provides the ability not only to record calls -- which in itself is not unique -- but also to take notes that are linked to specific points in the recording, as well as to have key words automatically indexed for later search. We find this particularly enticing because it is very important to many of our law firm clients."

Cuthbert commended the participation of BroadSoft, Microsoft and Panasonic in this competition.

Leslie Ferry, Vice President, Marketing at BroadSoft commented, "We at BroadSoft value Alteva and their innovative approach to the hosted communications market. We appreciated the opportunity to participate in this contest by donating VoIP licenses to the winner. Alteva has shown dramatic growth year over year, and we believe that innovative programs like this contest contribute to that growth. We look forward to continued growth for our own business through our partnership with Alteva."

"We were thrilled with Panasonic's opportunity to participate with our hosted SIP phones and support the winner of Alteva's My Phone Stinks contest," says Michael Chase, national sales manager, Panasonic USA. "Panasonic is excited to be a part of the growth of Alteva."

The winning entry was announced on the website in early June. The executive team of the winning company will be invited to attend the grand opening party and ribbon cutting of Alteva's new Philadelphia headquarter office and Innovation Center on September 20.

For more information about Alteva, visit http://www.altevatel.com, the Alteva YouTube channel at http://www.youtube.com/AltevaLLC or call 1-877-258-3821.

About Alteva:
Alteva, a WVT Communications Group company and cloud-based Unified Communications (UC) solution provider headquartered in Philadelphia, offers the most reliable network, the most responsive and proactive customer service and the best value to its customers. It delivers cloud-based UC solutions including Voice over IP phone systems and service (VoIP PBX), hosted Microsoft Communication Services, fixed mobile convergence, and advanced voice applications for the desktop. Alteva's service requires minimal installation and configuration while eliminating monthly phone and on-premise system maintenance charges, reducing overall communication costs and enabling organizations to improve productivity. By combining Alteva's voice service with Microsoft Communication Services products, including Microsoft Exchange, Office Communication Server (OCS), and SharePoint, Alteva's customers receive a true, high-quality, voice-enabled UC solution that easily integrates with existing business applications. Based in Philadelphia, Alteva is North America's largest provider of enterprise hosted VoIP, and provides hosted UC solutions to businesses in all 50 states and four continents.

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