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Wednesday, September 2, 2009

Cbeyond Unveils Platform Partner Program

LOS ANGELES, Sep 02, 2009 (BUSINESS WIRE) -- Cbeyond Inc. (NASDAQ: CBEY), (www.cbeyond.net), a leading provider of communications and IT solutions to over 46,000 small businesses across the country has announced a new program designed to make the most innovative voice and data solutions available to small businesses. The Cbeyond Platform Partner Program aligns Cbeyond with leading IP PBX equipment manufacturers to certify the equipment as interoperable with Cbeyond's core voice and data services offering: BeyondVoice with SIPconnect(R). In addition, the program aligns Cbeyond and manufacturers across sales, marketing, training, technology and support groups within the organizations to bring a seamless end-to-end experience to customers through innovation and service excellence.

BeyondVoice with SIPconnect allows small business customers to operate like enterprise businesses by easily adding pure digital voice lines, access to a wider array of rich, configurable features and eliminating expensive gateway equipment. This solution enables features such as DID (direct inward dialing), simultaneous ring, sequential ring, click to dial from a PC, and anonymous caller ID rejection - features that previously were cost-prohibitive for the small business market segment.

"We created the Platform Partner Program to put our SIPconnect service into the hands of more small businesses because the productivity, functionality and cost benefits are compelling," said Jason Walker, product manager for Cbeyond's SIPconnect service. "By aligning both our marketing and our technology development efforts with the leading IP PBX providers and equipment manufacturers, we can bring the most advanced technology to small businesses at a price they can afford - making their lives easier and increasing their productivity. We welcome partners to join the program who have similar goals of serving the needs of the small business entrepreneur."

"Cisco and Cbeyond have been working together to deliver reliable and easy to use small business solutions for many years," said Mark Monday, vice president and general manager, small business solutions business unit, Cisco. "Through the Cbeyond Partner Platform Program, small businesses will benefit from the combination of Cisco's small business IP PBX solutions and Cbeyond SIPconnect services."

Cisco IP PBX solutions include Cisco(R) Unified Call Manager, Cisco Unified Call Manager Express and Cisco Unified Communications 500 series.

In addition to integration with Cbeyond's BeyondVoice with SIPconnect service, IP PBX and equipment manufacturers that opt into the program and complete interoperable certification with Cbeyond's network also benefit from channel sales support and joint marketing programs. Designed to increase demand within the indirect channel sales community, Cbeyond's sales and marketing programs will assist partners with sales, deployment and support. Cbeyond's technical support teams will be trained and ready to ensure small business customers receive customized support based on their specific technology configurations.

"We see tangible value in expanding our work with Cbeyond because the company's focus on supporting small businesses parallels our own, and the support model is similar to Digium's for working with companies using open source Asterisk¹," said Steve Harvey, vice president of worldwide sales for Digium.

The Cbeyond Platform Partner Program allows Platform Partners to choose their level of involvement in working with Cbeyond - and having Cbeyond match that effort. Cbeyond has organized this program into three partnership tiers, organized according to mutual marketing and technical support investment criteria.

Eligibility

This program is open to IP PBX and Equipment Manufacturer who are:

• Interoperable or interested in becoming interoperable with Cbeyond's BeyondVoice with SIPconnect(R) service;
• Interested in developing a long-term business development relationship with Cbeyond based on a joint sales and marketing plan and roadmap; and/or
• Developing an indirect channel dedicated to serving the small business customer market segment.

About Cbeyond's SIPconnect Service

Since 2005, Cbeyond has led the charge into SIPconnect services for small businesses. Working with industry leaders to develop an open-source SIP trunking specification, Cbeyond and this team formed a working group which authored the first, industry-accepted SIP trunking standard. As a result of this collaboration, customers may interconnect leading IP PBXs and Cbeyond's BeyondVoice through a recognized standards-based approach to SIP trunking services. Cbeyond's Platform Partner Program is the next logical extension of these efforts and provides a focused effort to deliver innovative solutions and best in class customer support for small businesses.

Cbeyond makes this program available to current interoperable PBX manufacturers and will be reaching out to these partners in September and October 2009. Cbeyond expects to open its waiting list late October.

For more information, go to www.cbeyond.net/platform to download the program PDF and access the online application.

About Cbeyond

Cbeyond, Inc. (NASDAQ: CBEY) is a leading provider of IT and communications services to more than 46,000 small businesses throughout the United States. Recently named as the sixth fastest growing technology company by Forbes magazine, and added to Standard & Poor's Small Cap S&P 600 Index, Cbeyond offers more than 30 productivity-enhancing applications including local and long-distance voice, broadband Internet, mobile, BlackBerry(R), broadband laptop access, voicemail, email, web hosting, fax-to-email, data backup, file-sharing and virtual private networking. Cbeyond delivers these services over a 100 percent private all IP network. For more information on Cbeyond, visit www.cbeyond.net.

¹Asterisk is a software implementation of a telephone private branch exchange (PBX) originally created in 1999 by Mark Spencer of Digium. Like any PBX, it allows attached telephones to make calls to one another, and to connect to other telephone services including the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services.

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SOURCE: Cbeyond, Inc.

Cbeyond
Shana Keith, 678-522-3559
shana.keith@cbeyond.net

Copyright Business Wire 2009