CallWave and Hawaiian Telcom Announce Agreement to Offer VoIP Enhanced Services to Hawaiian Telcom Wireless Customers
BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sept. 19, 2005 -- Hawaiian Telcom Seizes Opportunity to Pioneer Landline-Wireless Convergence and Deliver Desktop VoIP Software to Its Customers
CallWave, Inc. (NASDAQ: CALL), a leading provider of VoIP enhanced services, and Hawaiian Telcom today announced a groundbreaking agreement to deliver mobile convergence to mainstream telecom customers. Under the terms of the agreement, Hawaiian Telcom will license CallWave's fixed mobile convergence VoIP software to provide VoIP-based convergence applications, which include branded desktop software, to its customers.
Hawaiian Telcom subscribers will soon have the ability to screen live mobile calls and move these calls between their cell phone and landline. Hawaiian Telcom will also offer a branded version of CallWave's proprietary desktop VoIP software, where consumers can preview calls, listen to voicemail and direct incoming cell phone calls - all from their internet-connected PC.
In addition to introducing innovative, high-value features to Hawaiian Telcom subscribers, this agreement has broader significance. Hawaiian Telcom becomes one of the first carriers to bring the power of a desktop application to enhance everyday calls on cell phones and landlines. This move expands the domain of desktop voice applications beyond peer-to-peer calling to include PC management of, for example, incoming cellular calls.
By delivering VoIP applications to enhance traditional phone calls, Hawaiian Telcom is responding to customers' demand for relevant, real-world solutions to managing their existing stream of calls through a simple, but powerful desktop application.
"Carriers can now compete with Portals for VoIP applications on the desktop, and Hawaiian Telecom is a pioneer in this area. They are leading the way in leveraging their call volumes and large caller communities to win the desktop," said David Hofstatter, president and CEO of CallWave. "There is a narrow window of opportunity for carriers to surround customers with powerful, carrier-branded desktop VoIP software that enriches both their wireless and landline offerings."
Through this partnership, Hawaiian Telcom is responding to customer demand for enhanced features from their wireless telecom provider, with CallWave's proprietary software seamlessly bridging their landlines, wireless phones and PCs and providing unique caller services.
Hawaiian Telcom's wireless customers will gain access to CallWave enhanced VoIP service features, including:
-- Call Preview, which allows users to listen to voice messages in real time and, if they choose, interrupt the message to take the call.
-- Call Transfer, which lets users instantly transfer a live cell phone call to a home or office phone.
-- Follow Me Home, which allows customers to automatically receive calls destined for their mobile phone on a designated landline when their mobile phone is either turned off or out of the coverage area.
-- CallWave's desktop software enables customers to preview calls by hearing messages in real time, and easily manage and move calls from their home phone to another convenient device, such as their cell phone. It also serves as a flexible desktop tool, offering playback, storage and email of voice messages. To enhance privacy, Hawaiian Telcom's customers can also block telemarketer calls and monitor landline calls on their mobile phones.
Hawaiian Telcom's service will be called Call Choice(SM) and will be offered on a monthly subscription basis. A service trial is scheduled to launch in mid-October 2005, with the full roll-out in the first quarter of 2006.
"Hawaiian Telcom's goal is to provide innovative, relevant services to our customers, and we're proud to be the first carrier to offer CallWave's VoIP platform to deliver on that promise," said Michael Ruley, CEO of Hawaiian Telcom. "By gaining access to these 'CallWave-powered' features, our subscribers can take advantage of VoIP's benefits without having to sacrifice the reliability and convenience of their landline or mobile line."
At a time when the telecom industry is becoming increasingly competitive, CallWave offers carriers a unique ability to enhance their existing networks with value-added VoIP applications. Unlike other VoIP solutions, CallWave's versatile VoIP platform can be easily and cost-effectively deployed throughout a carrier's entire network and can rapidly evolve to meet particular market needs.
With CallWave, carriers gain a strategic advantage, as they can quickly deploy valuable new services and features that can help them retain and attract customers, differentiate themselves in the marketplace and stay ahead of mounting competition. Carriers instantly gain the inbound call management features of desktop-enabled VoIP, and compete with companies adding voice elements to their desktop programs.
In a separate announcement today, CallWave unveiled its CallWave Rewards prepaid cell phone, the first pay-as-you-go program in which subscribers can earn rewards for getting calls. For more information or to purchase the CallWave Rewards phone, please visit
Hawaiian Telcom is the state's leading telecommunications provider, offering a wide spectrum of telecommunications products and services, which include local and long distance service, digital subscriber line (DSL) broadband for Internet use, wireless services, and print directory and Internet directory services. For more information, please visit
CallWave (NASDAQ: CALL) is a leader in VoIP enhanced services for the consumer and business markets. The company provides VoIP application services on a subscription basis that add features and functionality to both the landline and wireless telecommunications services used by mainstream consumers and businesses. CallWave's proprietary VoIP software allows subscribers to get more out of their existing personal communications networks -- landline, mobile, and IP -- by adding desktop call management software and VoIP-based call-handling features, and by bridging all three networks to help subscribers get their important calls. Founded in 1998, CallWave is headquartered in Santa Barbara, Calif. For further information, please visit