Toll Free Directory Assistance

CWA Communications and Technologies Website

February 27, 2001

TO: Locals Who Represent AT&T Employees

RE: Toll Free Directory Assistance

Please review the following announcement from AT&T.

It is in regards to AT&T’s change from Volt Delta to Tellme Networks and going to a new platform later this year.

The Company doesn’t anticipate a drop in call volume or any impact to employees.

In Unity,

R.G. Richhart
Admin Assistant to Vice President

RGR:tf
OPEIU:AFL-CIO #2

Subject: AT&T partnering with Tellme Networks to automate calls to AT&T’s Toll Free Directory Service
2/27/01

AT&T recently decided to partner with Tellme Networks using Tellme’s Voice Portal service to automate calls to AT&T’s Toll Free Directory Service. This means that AT&T plans on migrating the current automation technology to Tellme’s platform. We anticipate this migration will occur later in 2001. As you know there are two components to the TFDA technology platform:

(1) original TFDA platform which provides the operator workstations and the TFDA database

(2) automation platform (sometimes referred to as TFDAA) which was recently implemented providing voice recognition.

The change is associated only with the automation platform. AT&T will continue to maintain our strong partnership with Volt Delta on the original TFDA platform, as well as during the transition of the automation platform.

Why is AT&T making this change?

This change will allow us to expand our offerings to our customers, providing linkages into Tellme’s Voice Portal Services. Voice Portal Service allows customers additional choices for receiving information and provides additional revenue generation opportunities. We also expect to increase the recognition rate performance and this combined with the volumes we expect to deliver through our operators, should enable us to meet the anticipated demands for our service.

What will change and what won’t change with this project?

What will change: The automation platform will migrate from current technology to the Tellme platform and customers will have additional services available to them through this platform.

What will not change: There will be no changes to how operators, SAs, coaches, Center managers, Facilities/Database Support and Work Center Support teams do their jobs. The operator workstations and the other equipment in our centers stay the same. The manner in which our customers and our operators interact with the automation platform (e.g. store and forward whisper, etc) will not change. AT&T continues to be responsible for providing TFDA service as the Industry Provider.

When will this change in the automation platform occur?

A project team is being formed now to partner with Tellme in implementing this new automation platform. Current projections indicate an initial implementation later in 2001. As we did with the implementation of the previous automation platform, we will use the SWAT (Success With Automation Technology) communication process to share updates and project status.

Does this change TFDA’s business plans for 2001?

No. The only thing this new project will require is some redirection of resources within the TFDA team to support the project implementation. There are no changes to our 2001 planning or commitments. These planned enhancements to our service reinforce AT&T’s commitment to providing TFDA service. It is up to us to be accessible to our customers and deliver the highest quality call. Increased call volumes provide for increased revenue opportunities.

What about beyond 2001?

Planning beyond 2001 has not begun, but the current view indicates that given the projected demand for TFDA service, combined with increases in recognition performance provided by Tellme, we expect our resource needs to remain about the same as they are today.