Vertical Equips Reseller Channel with New Solution Selling Resource

'Seminar-in-a Box' Program Provides Vertical Partners with
Turn-key Program to Help Local Businesses Cut Communications Costs
CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(Business Wire)--
Recognizing that seminar selling is one of the most effective ways
to produce qualified opportunities and build credibility as experts in
local markets, Vertical Communications, a leading provider of
next-generation IP-based phone systems and voice applications, today
introduced its new 'Seminar-in-a-Box' program to its reseller channel.
U.S.-based Vertical Wave(TM) resellers and Internationally-based
Vertical Wave distributors can leverage the free 'Seminar-in-a-Box'
resources to host a successful seminar in their area - from planning
the event, sending invitations and tracking responses, executing the
event, and managing post-seminar follow-up. The seminar program, which
focuses on ways small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs) can cut
communications costs, was developed to make it easier for partners to
offer solutions to their customers instead of competing simply on the
traditional feature/function/price approach.

"We've found that holding seminars for local businesses has been a
great way to build awareness and win new customers," said Karen
Schneider, Executive Vice President and co-founder of Voice Systems, a
25-year old MA-based telephony integrator and Vertical business
partner. "Vertical's new 'Seminar-in-a-Box' program makes it easy to
manage seminar activity because it gives us all the easy-to-use
resources necessary to convey professionalism and help us project that
we are the company to turn to for business communication solutions."

'Seminar-in-a Box' is the latest valuable addition to Vertical's
new V-Connect (http://vconnect.vertical.com) dealer website introduced
earlier this week. V-Connect allows dealers to directly connect to
critical information and people related to Vertical products and
business activities through an easy-to-use and highly interactive
Web-based system. Like V-Connect, the 'Seminar-in-a-Box' program was
developed in collaboration with Vertical partners.

The 'Seminar-in-a-Box' program provides the tools required to host
a seminar along with complete step-by-step instructions to help
certified Wave partners to be successful with seminar selling,
including:

-- An account with RegOnline(TM), a 3rd party event management
tool that gives partners the ability to create a customized
online event registration page with a unique URL. RegOnline
manages online registration, confirmation, e-mail reminders,
and follow-ups - automatically.

-- Three unique e-mail invitations to send to prospects.

-- An illustrated Seminar Success Guide that helps anyone,
regardless of experience, plan and execute a successful Wave
seminar; the guide includes information on all aspects of
event management, from selecting a location to sending
invitations to planning a budget, and more.

-- Seminar Planning Worksheet - just enter the target event data
to see what needs to be done and when.

-- A new "5 Ways to Cut Communications Costs with Vertical Wave"
solution-oriented presentation and new live demo guidelines.

-- Publicity templates to help promote the seminar to a partner's
local press outlets.

-- Sample attendee evaluation form for seminar feedback.

"We're extremely pleased to be delivering one of the industry's
most comprehensive sales and marketing tools, again developed in
partnership with our dealers," said Dick Anderson, Executive Vice
President and General Manager for Vertical Communications. "The key
message of this seminar program is timely given today's economic
climate because it offers very specific ways that businesses can
immediately cut their communications costs by slashing monthly carrier
costs using SIP trunking, and substantially improve employee
productivity through the use of "next generation" telephony
applications, while minimizing hardware and software acquisition and
ongoing management costs with an integrated VoIP solution." He added,
"We will continue to invest in and deliver programs to our partner
channel that provide value, address techniques for increasing sales
success, improve business operations, and entice customers to invest
in new converged/VoIP technology solutions."

About Vertical Communications

Vertical Communications is one of the largest telephony vendors in
North America and a global leader in next-generation IP-based voice
and data and digital communications systems for business, with a
current installed base of over 200,000 customers. Vertical combines
voice and data technologies with business process understanding to
deliver integrated IP-PBX and application solutions that enhance
customer service and business productivity. Vertical's customers are
leading companies of all sizes, from small to large and distributed,
and include CVS/pharmacy, Staples and Apria Healthcare. Vertical
delivers its solutions through a worldwide network of over 1800
business partners. With headquarters in Cambridge MA, Vertical has
sales, engineering and operations facilities in Charlottesville VA,
Phoenix AZ, Santa Clara CA, Sarasota FL, Munich Germany and Hyderabad
India. For more information about Vertical, please call 877-VERTICAL
or visit our Website at www.vertical.com.

"Safe Harbor" Statement under the Private Securities Litigation
Reform Act of 1995

This document contains forward-looking statements based on current
expectations or beliefs, as well as a number of assumptions about
future events, and these statements are subject to important facts and
uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially
from those described in the forward-looking statements. The
forward-looking statements in this document address a variety of
subjects, including, without limitation, statements about the benefits
of certain of the Company's products, including, without limitation,
the improved cost and customer service benefits for the Company's
business partners and customers; the Company's assumptions about the
future performance of 'Seminar-in-a-Box' program; the Company's
ability to enhance its revenue opportunities in the IP-PBX
marketplace; the Company's ability to continue providing products to
the IP-PBX marketplace; the Company's ability to continue to certify
additional Internet Telephony Service Providers in the IP-PBX
marketplace and others. The following factors, among others, could
cause actual results to differ materially from those described in
these forward-looking statements: the risk that the Company may fail
to achieve the anticipated benefits from 'Seminar-in-a-Box' program,
including, without limitation, failing to obtain the desired benefits
for the Company's dealers and customers; the risk that the Company's
assumptions about the future performance of 'Seminar-in-a-Box' program
may prove to be incorrect; the risk that the Company may be unable to
become a significant player within the IP-PBX telephony market; the
risk that the Company will not be able to certify its products with
additional Internet Telephony Service Providers and other risks and
assumptions detailed in the Company's filings with the Securities and
Exchange Commission, including the most recent filing of the Company's
Form 10Q.

Trademark Information

Vertical Communications and the Vertical Communications logo and
combinations thereof are trademarks, and Vertical Networks and Vodavi
are registered trademarks of Vertical Communications, Inc. All other
brand and product names are used for identification only and are the
property of their respective holders.

Vertical Communications, Inc., Cambridge
Craig Morgan, 408-330-5460
cmorgan@vertical.com

Copyright Business Wire 2008