For Earth Day, Verizon Business Helps Customers ’Go Green’

BASKING RIDGE, N.J. -- Verizon Business is making it even easier for global companies, government agencies and other organizations to “go green.” In celebration of Earth Day, Verizon Business is teaming with Computershare and American Forests to plant a tree for each customer that chooses electronic billing over paper.

The program will launch on April 22, Earth Day, and is modeled after Verizon’s successful eTree program for shareholders who opt for electronic versions of annual reports, proxies and other shareholder communications materials.

“We all can be conservationists throughout the year by actively taking steps that protect the environment and also make good business sense,” said Nancy Gofus, senior vice president and chief marketing officer for Verizon Business. “E-billing helps save trees by replacing massive paper bills, while providing more valuable billing information to our customers. Eco-friendly virtual meetings and tools such as e-mail and instant messaging can reduce the need for business travel while enhancing an organization’s overall collaboration.”

In addition to e-billing, Verizon Business already helps protect the environment every day by offering its customers global collaboration services -- voice, Web and video conferencing, as well as secure e-mail and instant messaging -- that conserve natural resources, improve productivity and thereby help raise the world’s standard of living.

These same customers now will have an opportunity to help restore the nation’s forests while enjoying the benefits of electronic billing. U.S.-based Verizon Business customers can choose among the company’s award-winning Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Direct Data Billing Services, Bill Manager or the Online Billing to make the switch from paper to e-bills.

Online Billing is available via the Verizon Business Customer Center, an online portal to help Verizon Business customers worldwide manage their communications services. With Online Billing, customers can realize immediate advantages in the form of electronic invoice data that can be analyzed and reported in various formats to meet individual customer requirements. Verizon Business customers can tap into a wide range of Web-based applications available on the portal, including order provisioning, trouble ticketing and managing voice, data and IT services to help save time, money and environmental resources while improving their overall business operations.

In addition to helping to reduce harmful carbon dioxide emissions associated with business travel, use of collaboration technology along with a positive emphasis on collaboration within a corporate culture can achieve positive results for the environment and affect the bottom line. Collaboration is a key driver of business performance, according to “Meetings Around the World: The Impact of Collaboration on Business Performance,” a study conducted by Frost & Sullivan and sponsored by Verizon Business and Microsoft Corp. For more information about the study, visit http://newscenter.verizon.com/kit/collaboration.

Eco-Friendly, Virtual-Work Tools

Verizon Business helps some of the world’s largest businesses as well as federal, state and local government agencies effectively collaborate through a comprehensive suite of conferencing and collaboration services:.

* Enterprise Mobility supports corporate teleworking with a complete suite of services that enable professionals to access their corporate networks when they are traveling or working remotely.

* Audio conferencing lets people communicate immediately via telephone and supports small to large meetings with a single global reservation, bill and report. Today’s audio conference is not your mother or father’s conference call. Users can integrate an audio conference with a Web conference. Conference leaders also have more tools to manage their calls themselves -- including the power to mute, disconnect or monitor attendance for an audio conference or the audio portion of a Net conference.

* Net Conferencing is Verizon Business’ fastest-growing conferencing service. Colleagues and clients can view materials or presentations via the Internet while participating in an audio conference via telephone. Net Conferencing provides a dynamic, multimedia conferencing experience that enables participants to share documents, presentations and even a live Web site, featuring streaming video. Net Conferencing can also be used for corporate distance-learning and e-training programs.

* Video Conferencing can bring small or large groups of people together for face-to-face meetings without ever having to leave the office. Organizations can video conference across multiple locations around the world -- from a small, impromptu two-person video conference to a Verizon Business fully managed global, corporate event with thousands of participants.

* Telepresence is the next-generation virtual meeting service that goes beyond video conferencing by creating the impression that everyone is assembled face-to-face in a single conference room. Working with the industry’s leading Telepresence equipment manufacturers, Verizon Business provides the ideal Telepresence platform through its Private IP and Ethernet offerings.

* Secure Instant Messaging (IM) enables end users to communicate instantly with each other. Verizon Business offers a managed solution that provides high levels of enterprise security.

* Managed Email Services help business customers manage one of their most critical and pervasive business tools to help ensure security when collaborating in an electronic messaging environment.

* VoIP -- Verizon Business continues to pioneer the development of unified communications for customers to leverage their VoIP investment along with instant messaging, e-mail and conferencing services to achieve immediate collaboration and results.

Verizon Business is a leading provider of conferencing and collaboration solutions globally, featuring a wide range of audio, video and Web conferencing offerings, IP-based services and some of the most advanced meeting tools available. With more than 30 years of experience delivering conferencing services, Verizon Business today handles millions of virtual meetings each month.

About Verizon Business
Verizon Business, a unit of Verizon Communications (NYSE: VZ), is a leading provider of advanced communications and information technology (IT) solutions to large business and government customers worldwide. Combining unsurpassed global network reach with advanced technology and professional service capabilities, Verizon Business delivers innovative and seamless business solutions to customers around the world. For more information, visit www.verizonbusiness.com.