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TeleBright.com to Offer Free Online Telecom Purchasing Support For Small Business, Widest Selection of Services and Plans In One Place /ADVANCE FOR
Jun 20, 2000 10:51 AM ET
PR Newswire
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/ADVANCE/ ROCKVILLE, Md., Jun 21, 2000 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- TeleBright.com (www.telebright.com) said today its newly launched web site promises to revolutionize online telecommunications shopping and purchasing for small business. The site is the first to offer free, live support to help small businesses choose low-cost, customized telecom services from more than 35 national, international and regional service providers, the widest selection of service offerings available anywhere.
TeleBright.com offers small businesses an opportunity to make real "apples-to-apples" comparisons. The TeleBright.com proprietary IntelliRate(R) technology instantly produces customized results that list plans from least expensive to most expensive, allowing real-time, side-by-side comparisons of telecom services including long distance, wireless, international calling, local service, Internet dial-up, DSL, T1 and Web Hosting.
As a result, small businesses do not have to submit laborious RFPs and wait for a response. They can purchase their choices directly from the TeleBright.com site or by calling an 800 number to receive additional support. Once the sale is complete, TeleBright.com acts as the sales agent for the small business -- tracking the sale through delivery and providing e-mail updates to the client.
"TeleBright.com does the work for small business, guaranteeing our experts can help them choose the right service options from among the widest assortment of service options available in one place," said Chet Thaker, CEO and Founder of TeleBright.com. "Our free analysis and live help will make it easy for small businesses to select and purchase telecom services online, improving their communications capacity and adding directly to their bottom line."
TeleBright.com (www.telebright.com) offers these small businesses numerous features and services that are not available on other telecommunications comparison shopping sites, including:
* Free Online and Live Telecom Support * The Widest Selection of Providers (more than 35, including the big three) * E-mail and Customer Enabled Online Tracking of Orders to Guarantee Delivery and Service * Savings, Service, Performance Check-up at 90-days * Service Bundling Options That Can Maximize Savings.
As the telecommunications needs of small business continue to grow in complexity as do the service plans that are offered, they are turning increasingly to the Internet to find low-cost service options and to learn more about new telecommunications products like DSL, T1 and Web Hosting.
TeleBright.com plans to capitalize on the expected boom in online telecommunications purchasing. According to the Yankee Group, more than 8 million small and medium size businesses spend more than $15 billion on Telecom services and 74 percent have Internet access. Total B2B e-commerce volume, including telecom purchasing, in the U.S. is estimated to reach $3.2 trillion by 2004.
Services and Providers
TeleBright.com can customize information from more than 35 providers, from the big three in long distance, to specialized regional carriers that offer highly, competitive rates and services. TeleBright.com offers plans from more providers in each service category, including international, than any other site. TeleBright.com has also negotiated exclusive service offerings that can't be matched by other telecom sites, including special offers on new DSL service.
Finally, TeleBright.com has exclusive "feet on the street" partnership agreements with Value-Added Resellers that allow their support experts to meet one-on-one with small business clients to discuss more complex service options.
Small businesses can purchase long distance, wireless, international calling, local service, Internet dial-up, DSL, T1 and Web Hosting through TeleBright.com. Additional service offerings planned for the future include Wireless Internet; cable and direct satellite; frame relay, ATM, IP, TDM; Networking and Outsourced Applications for small businesses.
Service providers offering their plans on TeleBright.com are seeking to take advantage of the Internet's low-cost distribution channel, just as other industries have recently begun to offer their services through Internet channels in order to quickly and cost effectively reach new online shoppers. The big three automakers and a number of personal computer manufacturers have recently announced they will make parts and supplies available through these "business exchanges" in order to reduce inventory and other costs.
TeleBright.com receives a fee from providers for all services it sells, but since the company receives a commission from all providers on its site, it doesn't benefit from steering clients to particular providers or promoting one provider's services over another.
In an unprecedented effort to ensure neutrality, TeleBright.com will allow an independent auditing firm to analyze its technology and comparison-shopping engine to guarantee that every small business that shops on the site is offered objective, unbiased information.
"Our goal is to offer choice and variety and we will not favor one provider over another," Thaker said. "Our service doesn't stop with the sale. We'll also follow up with the provider and e-mail service updates to our customers. Small businesses can also track the progress of their order online through the TeleBright.com site."
Participating TeleBright.com service providers include: AirTouch (NYSE: VOD), American Long Lines, AT&T (NYSE: T), Bell Atlantic (NYSE: BEL), Broadwing Communications (NYSE: BRW), Cable & Wireless (NYSE: HKT), CAIS, Capsule Communications (NYSE: CAPS), Cellular One, Conectiv Communications (NYSE: CIV), Covad (NASDAQ: COVD), Destia, Espire, Excel, Global Crossing (Nasdaq: GBLX), GTE (NYSE: GTE), InnerHost, MCI Worldcom (Nasdaq: WCOM), Megapath, Neptune, Northpoint, OneStar, Phoenix Networks, PSINet (Nasdaq: PSIX), PSN, Qwest (NYSE: Q), RCN (NYSE: RCN), Rhythms (Nasdaq: RTHM), SAVVIS (Nasdaq: SVVS), Speakeasy.net, Sprint (NYSE: FON), Starpower, Startec (Nasdaq: STGC), Telares, Teligent and TTI.
Convenience
TeleBright.com offers the most affordable service options and rates available 24 hours a day, seven days a week, without the sales call hassles that small businesses are often subjected to by telecommunications companies.
Every small business that purchases telecom services through TeleBright.com receives a number of additional free services. TeleBright.com will check with each customer 90 days after the sale to ensure products were delivered and are performing as promised. In addition, TeleBright.com will provide periodic re-assessments of each small businesses chosen plan and will send e-mail notification if relevant new service plans for the chosen provider become available.
And small businesses that truly want to maximize savings can select from bundled service options offered exclusively by TeleBright.com. These bundled service plans offer additional discounts to small businesses that purchase multiple services from a single provider.
"Our goal is to be a small business telecom partner for life, not just for a single sale," Thaker said. "We want to provide the missing link in telecommunications -- service after the sale. Part of that service includes periodic reassessments of our client's calling plans to ensure that they are optimizing telecommunications offerings to get the right service at the right price."
Small businesses are also guaranteed privacy as they shop. TeleBright.com has earned the TRUSTe approval seal in recognition of its consumer privacy protection policy.
TeleBright.com's unique service is already being praised. After conducting an exhaustive analysis of sites offering telecommunications products, Soho-Telecom.com named TeleBright.com "one of the best of the bunch."
Small businesses that have tested the TeleBright.com web site are also singing its praises. "This is a great service," says one small business owner. "I love that we can basically customize all of our telephone and Internet services to fit the needs of our small business."
Founded in November of 1999, TeleBright.com is the product of over 85 years of combined telecommunications experience (from companies such as AT&T, Bell Atlantic and Nortel Networks) and more than 3 years of database development work. The company is based in Rockville, Maryland.
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