MCIP Mci (MM)

- Company to Offer Additional Continuity of Operations Solutions - ASHBURN, Va., Aug. 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- MCI, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCIP) today announced it has expanded its Disaster Recovery capabilities for government customers to include back-up voice services that will restore incoming communications within minutes. In addition, MCI is expanding its business continuity solutions for its fastest growing service, Private IP, to include a comprehensive suite of options, enabling customers to better prepare for unforeseen events. MCI has introduced its Voice Continuity solution, offered in conjunction with TeleContinuity, Inc., to help federal and state government agencies meet Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP) requirements. In the event of an equipment failure, natural disaster or building evacuation, the MCI Voice Continuity solution can reroute calls to maintain telephone service. Calls can be delivered to any location and to any device including phones, computers and PDAs. "Disaster Recovery planning is an integral part of a successful business plan," said Jerry Edgerton, senior vice president of MCI Government Markets. "MCI works closely with government agencies to provide advice and guidance to help build an effective strategy that ensures their operations run continuously." With enhancements to MCI's MPLS-based VPN Private IP, customers can take advantage of redundancy at the physical circuit level, within the network routers and at the provider-edge routers to ensure continuous network uptime. Diverse access options also contribute to a more robust solution and include dial, DSL and cable back-up via Secure Interworking Gateway, and access via Frame Relay, ATM and Satellite. Government agencies lacking preparedness may face vulnerabilities to router/hardware failures, cable cuts, power and network outages, natural disasters and terrorism among other weaknesses. Helping to ensure systems operate continuously, President Bush issued an Executive Order in June of this year requiring government agencies to "initiate a review of its telecommunication capabilities in the context of planning for contingencies and continuity of operations (COOP)." According to the order, "Each agency is responsible for ensuring in the context of contingencies and COOP situations, the continued availability of its mission essential and national security/emergency preparedness telecommunication services." To help customers minimize downtime, MCI works closely with government agencies to understand their networking and IT infrastructure needs, identify potential risks and exposures, examine and weigh costs/benefits and test the solution. As a result, customers are able to reduce the duration of an outage by carrying out a prepared response. MCI also offers other solutions to aid government agencies in meeting their disaster recovery goals, including helping organizations to colocate network, server and voice equipment at secure, off-site facilities such as MCI Smart Centers and Premium and Advanced Data Centers located throughout the U.S. For managed Enterprise Hosting customers, MCI's Smart Centers feature redundant IP connectivity, options for rapid recovery using mirrored drives and parallel builds, clustered server configurations, database replication, and site fail-over, which allows agencies to maintain their primary site while MCI manages a scaled-disaster recovery site at one of its Smart Centers. MCI's Voice Continuity and Private IP Services will be added to its suite of disaster recovery solutions including the Big Blue emergency mobile communications fleet and MERIT Team (MCI's Emergency Response Incident Team). The Big Blue fleet, which can arrive at any continental US location within 24 hours, is equipped with portable satellite uplinks enabling free Internet, telephone, wireless hotspot and fax capabilities to the public when other communications are unavailable. Big Blue has been utilized to provide communications in the aftermath of disasters including September 11, the Oklahoma City bombing, the California wildfires and tornadoes in the Midwest. MCI also deployed its emergency mobile communications centers to Florida last year during Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan and Jeanne. MCI's MERIT team, the telecommunication industry's first and most experienced hazardous and biological response team, is prepared to respond and perform in nearly every type of chemical and biological atmosphere. The MERIT team was instrumental in reestablishing communications at "Ground Zero" on September 11 and has responded to HAZMAT train derailments and Anthrax contaminations using self-contained and specialized equipment. MCI's continuity of government services suite is available to agencies of all sizes via numerous contract vehicles. MCI will be demonstrating its Voice Continuity solution at the GSA Network Services Conference on August 15-18 at the Hilton Chicago Hotel (Booth 501). About MCI, Inc. MCI, Inc. (NASDAQ:MCIP) is a leading global communications provider, delivering innovative, cost-effective, advanced communications connectivity to businesses, governments and consumers. With one of the most expansive global IP backbones and wholly-owned data networks, MCI develops the converged communications products and services that are the foundation for commerce and communications in today's market. For more information, go to http://www.mci.com/. DATASOURCE: MCI, Inc. CONTACT: Janet Brumfield or Natasha Haubold, both of MCI Public Relations, 1-800-644-NEWS Web site: http://www.mci.com/

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