Foehn Deploys First Ever `Skype for Asterisk` Enterprise Solution

LONDON--(Business Wire)--
Foehn Ltd, a UK-based systems integrator, today announced its first ever
enterprise deployment of `Skype for Asterisk` into the London offices of the
Symbian Foundation. `Skype for Asterisk` - the integration of one of the world`s
most popular Internet communications software with the most globally used open
source PBX, was officially released last week.

By the owners of Asterisk, Digium`s `Skype for Asterisk` software module,
enables businesses to take advantage of Skype`s low-cost calling to landlines
and mobile phones and free calling to more than 400 million registered Skype
users around the world. The module allows businesses to receive Skype calls into
their PBX and to handle them with Asterisk features such as call routing,
conferencing, phone menus and voicemail.

Foehn turned this innovation into reality in just six weeks at the London
headquarters of the Symbian Foundation. The Symbian Foundation`s own mission is
to enable an open ecosystem that collaborates to create complete and rich user
experiences for mobile devices.

"Skype is widely used at Symbian - for some employees, it`s their main form of
communication," explained Ian McDonald, Head of IT for the Symbian Foundation,
who is responsible for the communications system at the company. "As a
non-profit organisation, Symbian needed a solution that would allow flexible,
easy communication whilst being able to control our costs."

The system now gives inbound callers the freedom to contact Symbian via Skype
for free, in addition to the traditional methods of mobile, fixed line and
email. Foehn`s Asterisk-based PBX system then routes the call to the recipient
depending on their individual preferences, including their own Skype account,
mobile or desk phone. This works for internal or outbound calls too - providing
the unified communications solution the organisation was looking for.

"We can now be much more cost effective by using Skype. A Symbian employee based
in Japan can call via Skype to speak to our legal counsel in London on her desk
phone. It doesn`t matter how long they are talking for - since the call is
delivered over Skype, it`s essentially free." said McDonald.

James Passingham, Technical Director at Foehn Ltd said: "Symbian now has a
system that lets its employees communicate how they want, and for how long they
want without the problem of escalating costs for the company. Foehn simply could
not have designed such an effective system using any technology."

Passingham sees tremendous potential for the new innovation. "We have been
designing and implementing enterprise Asterisk solutions for over five years. We
use Asterisk because of the level of flexibility and innovation we can design
into our solutions using this open source platform. `Skype for Asterisk` is a
great example of this."

About Foehn

Founded in 2000, Foehn Ltd is a UK-based IT professional services company
specialising in networking and IP solutions. Foehn`s advocacy for Digium
Asterisk is based on a philosophy of deploying only technologies with proven
extensibility, agility and effectiveness for its clients.

Foehn has successfully deployed large-scale Asterisk solutions, with integration
references in call centres, financial services, higher education, online media
and charity industry verticals across the UK and also in Portugal, Spain and
Costa Rica.

Foehn`s team of Asterisk experts regularly contribute to the Asterisk eco-system
and Foehn is a Digium Asterisk Premier Solutions Partner and Reseller.

For more information please visit www.foehn.co.uk and speak to Foehn through
Skype at london.foehn.

About Symbian Foundation Limited

The Symbian Foundation is an independent, non-profit organisation whose mission
is to enable an open ecosystem that collaborates to create the most complete and
richest user experiences for mobile devices. Symbian maintains the code for an
open source software platform based on Symbian OS and software assets
contributed by Nokia, NTT DOCOMO, and Sony Ericsson, including the S60 and
MOAP(S) user interfaces. Portions of the platform's source code have already
been moved to open source, under the Eclipse Public License. By mid-2010 this
process will be complete, making the platform code available to all for free.

The foundation software licensing model and governance structure has been
designed to secure transparency, encourage contribution and maintain platform
consistency. The foundation promotes collaboration, contributions and active
participation, and operates as a meritocracy.

For more information please visit www.symbian.org.

Legal Disclaimer

Skype is not a replacement for traditional telephone services and cannot be used
for emergency calling. Skype for Asterisk is meant to be used as a complement to
existing traditional telephone services used with corporate PBXs, not as a
stand-alone solution. Skype for Asterisk users need to ensure all calls to
emergency services are terminated through traditional telephone services.

Schwartz Communications
Deepika Bharadwa
07950 448442
dbharadwa@schwartz-pr.com

Copyright Business Wire 2009