| Zoom Unveils
ZoomTel™ VoIP Products and Global Village® VoIP
Phone Service
New Products with Bundled Service
Enable Easy Adoption of Internet Phone Calling, Including
Free VoIP to VoIP Calls Worldwide
Boston, MA - July 13, 2004 — Zoom
Technologies [NASDAQ:
ZOOM],
a leading provider of communications products since 1977,
today announced the introduction of its ZoomTel™ Voice
over Internet Protocol (VoIP) product line and Global Village
VoIP phone service. The first product in the ZoomTel line
is the ADSL X5v, which is typically bundled with Global Village
phone service to provide ADSL users with easy-to-use VoIP “voice
over the Internet” phone calling capabilities with
unmatched flexibility and choice. By enabling VoIP using “plain
old telephones” and offering a commitment-free VoIP
phone service, Zoom provides consumers with a new, low-cost
way to call anywhere in the world and an easy, low-risk way
to discover the revolutionary benefits of VoIP.
Zoom’s flagship product, the ADSL X5v with bundled
Global Village phone service, provides out-of-the-box free
VoIP to VoIP service and “pay as you go” service
to virtually any phone in the world, with no monthly minimum
service charge. The X5v effectively gives a telephone a two-line
capability, allowing customers to make VoIP or regular calls
over their DSL phone line. “Voice over IP is a revolutionary technology with
superior features and dramatic cost savings; but the traditional
switched
phone network continues to hold some important advantages
in a number of situations, including power outages and emergencies,” said
Frank Manning, Zoom’s President. “In addition,
most people are comfortable with the styling, variety, and
features of conventional phones. Our approach is to dramatically
enhance the power of those phones using VoIP, while letting
them also easily make calls using the traditional phone network.
With Zoom, people can think of Voice over IP as a free second
phone line.” “Pre-shipment orders for the X5v have exceeded both
our expectations and our experience with other products,” said Terry
Manning, Zoom’s Vice President of Sales and Marketing. “We
are particularly encouraged not only by the large number
of sample orders, but also by the quality and diversity of
the customers placing those orders and the potential that
we believe this has for future volume sales.” The X5v’s unique TelePort™ phone port lets a
user plug in one or more corded or cordless phones and then
use those phones for VoIP calls or for conventional calls,
including 911 emergency dialing, local or toll-free number
dialing, or dialing when power fails. Phones connected to
the X5v can originate or answer both VoIP and conventional
phone calls using the same phone line that’s used for
ADSL service.
The X5v includes powerful broadband data features including
an ADSL modem, a router, a gateway, an SPI and NAT firewall,
a 4-port Ethernet switch, and a USB port. It is compatible
with any operating system that supports an Internet browser,
including Windows, Macintosh and Linux systems. Global Village VoIP Phone Service
When sold in retail stores, ZoomTel products include Zoom’s
Global Village VoIP phone service. Global Village provides
a rich set of enhanced calling features, including free VoIP
calls to Global Village customers and to many other VoIP
users around the world. Global Village also offers low-cost
long distance calling to phones connected to the public switched
phone network. Unlike other VoIP phone services that only
connect IP calls to the public phone network for a monthly
fee, Global Village service offers both pay-as-you-go and
flat-rate monthly billing plans. Global Village service also
provides a free chat room for conference calls with up to
four other Global Village customers. Global Village can be
accessed through an easy-to-use Web browser interface that
makes its advanced features like call forwarding and conferencing
easy to use, and which allows users to review complete records
of incoming and outgoing phone calls in real-time.
Global Village service is offered worldwide. Customers
using credit cards will be charged in dollars, UK pounds,
or euros,
depending on their country. Pricing and Availability
The X5v Model 5565 is available in the U.S. and many other
countries from computer products retailers and Internet
service providers. The estimated retail price for the U.S.
model
is $99. About Zoom Technologies
Zoom Technologies, Inc. designs and produces Voice over
IP Gateways, ADSL modems, cable modems, dial-up modems, Bluetooth
products, and other communications products under the Zoom,
Hayes and Global Village brands. Zoom is headquartered
in
Boston, and its European sales and support center is in
the UK. Zoom markets its products in over forty countries,
and
provides multi-lingual support from its offices in Boston,
Florida, and the UK. For more information about Zoom and
its products, please see: www.zoom.com. Forward Looking Statements
This release contains forward-looking information relating
to Zoom’s plans, expectations and intentions, including
statements relating to Zoom’s introduction of new VoIP
products and services, and the characteristics, advantages
and potential success of such products and services. Actual
results may be materially different from those expectations
as a result of known and unknown risks, including uncertainty
of new product development and introduction, including the
risk that newly introduced products and services may contain
undetected errors or defects or otherwise not perform as
anticipated, and other delays in shipments of products; Zoom’s
dependence on one or a limited number of suppliers for certain
key components; rapid technological change; competition;
Zoom’s sample orders for VoIP products may not be indicative
of future sales; regulatory risks; and other risks set forth
in Zoom’s filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission. Zoom cautions readers not to place undue reliance
upon any such forward-looking statements, which speak only
as of the date made. Zoom expressly disclaims any obligation
or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions
to any such statements to reflect any change in the Zoom’s
expectations or any change in events, conditions or circumstance
on which any such statement is based. |
