| g | | | | Contact Center company marketing to small to |
| Tucson, Arizona-- August 24, 2004— | | | | mid-size enterprises. |
| NextWest, Inc., the leading provider of IP-based | | | | De Soto holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing |
| business telecommunications and contact center | | | | and Public Relations from San Jose State University is |
| systems, today announced the appointment of Richard | | | | a graduate of the Cambridge Information Technology |
| De Soto as Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for | | | | Center and successfully completed the MBA |
| NextWest, Inc. | | | | equivalency program at MIT. He has been a |
| In his role, De Soto will oversee all of | | | | designated speaker at number of telecommunications |
| NextWest’s Sales and Marketing efforts, | | | | forums, radio and television interviews and broadcasts |
| including managing worldwide sales channel revenue | | | | and is widely considered an industry expert. |
| objectives, identifying strategic direction, and engaging | | | | About NextWest, Inc. |
| the sales and marketing team in identifying new | | | | NextWest, Inc., headquartered in Tucson, AZ., is a |
| business opportunities in key market segments. | | | | leading manufacturer of IP-based business |
| De Soto has over 20 years experience in the telecom | | | | telecommunications and contact center systems. Our |
| and Internet communications industry. He has held | | | | rock-solid, fully-integrated, IP and converged |
| positions as a marketing and sales executive with | | | | communications systems help small to mid-sized |
| Nortel Networks, US WEST (now Qwest) and a | | | | businesses, government agencies and other institutions |
| variety of successful startups including AltiGen, Entera, | | | | to meet their growing telecommunications needs. |
| and FreeGate. | | | | With cost-effective solutions that are flexible, scalable, |
| Richard has a wealth of experience developing and | | | | reliable and easy to manage, NextWest delivers |
| executing targeted sales and marketing strategies, and | | | | uncompromising quality and features resulting in the |
| we’re very excited to have him on board, | | | | some of the fastest ROI times in the industry. |
| said Sarah Hightower, CEO of NextWest. With his | | | | NextWest’s award winning PCXi and |
| results-oriented attitude and demonstrated record of | | | | NextContact Call Center Solutions are backed by the |
| success, we have the greatest confidence that | | | | world class service and support of NextWest Certified |
| NextWest has gained a strong leader that can take | | | | Engineers. |
| our team to the next level. | | | | For more information about NextWest Business Phone |
| De Soto’s startup track record includes | | | | Systems, IP Phone Systems, Advanced Voicemail, |
| successful IPO’s and acquisitions ranging from | | | | Conferencing Solutions, ACD, Reliable VoIP ( Voice |
| $25M to $440M. As Senior VP at AltiGen, a leading IP | | | | over IP ), Advanced IP Predictive Dialers, IP Telephony, |
| PBX company, De Soto led the company through | | | | Blended Call Center Solutions, VoIP Call Center |
| continual revenue growth in spite of the economic | | | | Systems, VoIP Phone Systems, IVR, Auto Attendants, |
| downturn of 2001- 2003. As a direct result of that | | | | CTI, Advanced PBX Features, NextWest PCXi, |
| revenue growth AltiGen was named as the 111th | | | | NextContact or any of our industry specific solutions |
| fastest growing company in the U.S. by the Deloitte | | | | call 1-877-I-GO-NEXT (446-6398), or visit our website |
| Touché Fast 500 Program and as the 8th largest IP | | | | at . |
| PBX Company in the world by IDC. | | | | Note: NextWest products and services are only |
| My goal here is clear, DeSoto remarked. I will | | | | available through NextWest Authorized Resellers. |
| position our company to be the leading IP PBX and | | | | |