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SMART-s Telephone Communication Is Rolling Along Smoothly Thanks to Toshiba-s IPedge Business Telephone Systems

IRVINE, CA — (Marketwired) — 05/21/13 — Toshiba America Information Systems Inc., Telecommunication Systems Division (Toshiba — ) has helped Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART — ) exceed its communication goals with a new business telephone system. The IPedge system processes more than 250,000 incoming calls each month and is expected to save more than $400,000* in the first five years of use.

Created in 1967, SMART is Southeast Michigan-s only regional bus system. Helping people connect to work, school, medical appointments, shopping centers, entertainment and cultural events, SMART provides 11 million rides annually and operates 234 Fixed Route buses on 43 routes with more than 5,000 stops, seven days per week, 22 hours per day. Through its Connector Service, SMART also provides 1,100 rides per day for seniors and people with disabilities who can-t access SMART-s regular Fixed Route service. SMART also partners with 75 municipalities and organizations to support local transit service.

SMART-s IT manager, Mel Evans, identified SMART-s communications objectives, which include:

Improving communication with SMART-s community of riders, many of whom use the Connector Service and need to call to reserve rides;

Setting up a Call Back feature for the contact center to help avoid long wait times for callers while ensuring their needs are met;

Creating a feature-rich contact center with call reporting, call recording and call management applications to improve customer, agent and supervisor experiences;

Delivering Unified Messaging to deliver email, voice and fax messages to a single inbox;

Enabling SMART-s IT team to handle some of its own system administration to save time and money; and

Providing a reliable business telephone system that was affordable while delivering cutting edge technology features with a fast return on investment.

Sue McGill and Ric Dorman, sales representatives at CTS Companies () of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., recommended Toshiba-s IPedge. “We knew that Toshiba-s IPedge would exceed SMART-s objectives,” McGill said. CTS Companies has been an Authorized Toshiba Dealer since 1980. CTS Companies is Toshiba-s longest-standing dealer.

Installed and serviced by CTS Companies, SMART-s IPedge system consists of:

Four systems, including one IPedge EM at SMART-s terminal in Troy, Mich., where IT administration is located; two IPedge ECs located at SMART-s other two bus terminals; and one additional IPedge EC located at SMART-s Detroit headquarters;

A fifth location (transit center) with just IP telephones;

More than 350 and 13 ;

to connect users- smartphones as extensions on the new systems;

Toshiba , which include TASKE reporting, OAISYS Tracer call recording, and Tapit call accounting;

Toshiba-s unified communications solution;

, delivering a single inbox for email, voice and fax messages; and

for simple, browser-based administration and remote management of all locations.

“SMART service provides a critical link for people in their daily lives, helping them get to work, medical appointments, and everywhere else they need to go. Toshiba and CTS Companies exceeded our expectations, giving us exactly what we wanted so we could easily communicate with our customers using an affordable, IP business telephone solution with robust contact center plus saving us hundreds of thousands of dollars,” said Mel Evans, IT manager, SMART.

“With Toshiba-s IPedge, SMART-s users are empowered to communicate more effectively, be more efficient, and have greater access to their customers, partners and each other,” added Ric Dorman, sales rep, CTS Companies.

Toshiba-s IPedge met SMART-s requirement for an affordable, richly featured business telephone system that helped improve communication both internally and externally. Unified Messaging delivers a huge time savings by helping users stay connected with all email, voice mail and faxes coming into a single inbox.

Toshiba-s ACD system includes Call Manager, a unified communications solution that empowers agents to Chat with supervisors for support while they are on a call and allows supervisors to easily manage agents from their computers. The TASKE contact center reporting, Tracer call recording and Tapit call reporting applications help ensure the system is supporting the 250,000+ monthly incoming calls.

With Toshiba-s browser-based Enterprise Manager, the SMART IT team can remotely make moves, adds, changes and global updates to all the IP telephones on the system quickly and easily from their desktop computers.

Toshiba-s IPedge IP business telephone systems exceeded SMART-s communications objectives, including delivering an expected cost savings of more than $400,000 over the first five years. Bottom-line benefits include:

Smooth handling of 250,000+ incoming calls per month;

Improved internal and external communications with unified messaging and mobility capabilities;

Robust contact center capabilities; and

More than $400,000 in anticipated cost savings in the first five years of use.

Toshiba-s IPedge business telephone system delivers multiple unified communications applications on a single Linux server, including call processing, voice mail and unified messaging, Call Manager unified communications, , native SIP line and SIP trunk support, mobility, networking with other IPedge and/or systems, centralized administration, survivability, and feature-rich telephone endpoints. It also includes Toshiba-s client application, delivering single-number reach to Apple® and Android smartphone devices for both incoming and outgoing calls.

For more information on Toshiba-s IPedge, visit .

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Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. Telecommunication Systems Division is one of the three business units of Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. (TAIS) and offers business communication solutions for SMB enterprises and enterprises with multi-site or regional locations. Toshiba-s VIPedge cloud-based business telephone solution supports up to 500 users, and the IPedge and Strata CIX systems support from 8 to 1,000 users and offer Voice over IP, voice mail and unified messaging, conferencing and collaboration, unified communications applications, networking, mobility and more. Together with Toshiba-s PCs, tablets, copiers, and surveillance video cameras/recorders, Toshiba-s Telecommunication Systems Division helps enterprises maximize business efficiency in communications and mobility. For more information, visit .

Headquartered in Irvine, Calif., TAIS is an independent operating company owned by Toshiba America Inc., a subsidiary of Toshiba Corporation, a world-leading diversified manufacturer, solutions provider and marketer of advanced electronic and electrical products and systems. Toshiba was founded in 1875 and today operates a global network of more than 550 consolidated companies, with 202,000 employees worldwide and annual sales surpassing 6.1 trillion yen (US$74 billion). Visit Toshiba-s Web site at .

*According to calculations by Suburban Mobility Authority for Regional Transportation (SMART).

© 2013 Toshiba America Information Systems Inc. All rights reserved. All product, service and company names are trademarks, registered trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. Information including, without limitation, product prices, specifications, availability, content of services, and contact information is subject to change without notice.

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Teri Sawyer
T&Co.
714-801-1687