�The selection of the Atreus Systems� platform follows an exhaustive search,� said Dayna L. Kully, vice president of the Everest Hospitality Group.  �To put us ahead of the competition, we knew we needed a powerful platform that would allow us to maximize the revenue potential of our broadband network by making it simple to remotely deliver and manage value-added services.  Atreus fits that bill and then some. 

�Having only recently entered the hotel market with our high-speed Internet access product, we were able to learn from the early market-share land rush where broadband companies tried to sign up every hotel with little or no regard for long-term financial viability,� said Kully.  �Giving away Internet access to the hotels at no charge has proven to be a model that has no financial payoff to the hotel, the carrier or the investor.� 

Everest�s business model is differentiated by its commitment to developing a customized win-win solution for both parties. Unlike earlier market entrants, Everest has targeted only a select group of hotels where it can form mutually profitable, long-term relationships by sharing risks and benefits. 

�We aren�t betting on unproven theories of shared advertising revenues, but on sound, hotel-specific business plans that add to the hotel�s bottom line from day one,� said Kully.  �Our goal isn�t to be the largest provider.  It�s to be the one that provides the most value and flexibility for the hotel and enhances the guest experience.�

Everest believes this win-win approach is the only business model that will ensure long-term success in the hotel industry.  Everest is stepping into the market at a time when other broadband service providers are scaling back plans and cutting back on prior commitments to hotels.

Critical to Everest�s strategy is the selection of Atreus Systems� broadband service creation platform that allows Internet service providers to maximize the revenue capacity of their broadband networks by simplifying IP service delivery and management of value-added services. 

Through the flexible Atreus-designed management platform operating at Everest�s Network Operations Center (NOC) in Fort Lee, N.J., Everest can centrally define, activate, bill, and manage high-margin broadband applications to multiple properties over a Wide Area Network (WAN).  Locally, at the hotel, the Atreus platform is housed in an easily installed, laptop computer-sized server. 

The Atreus platform features a custom-designed hospitality portal with an easy-to-use registration process, through which hotel guests may access a comprehensive range of data networking services:  Internet access, e-mail, file printing, FTP and local virtual LAN; on-line scheduling and billing for meeting rooms; and flexible payment options.  In addition, the platform provides the hotel with flexible rate structures (within a single hotel and/or group of hotels), full back office capabilities, as well as firewall, intrusion detection and other security features.

�With this technology, we have accelerated the launch of value-added hotel IP services,� said Andrea Baptiste, vice president of sales and marketing at Atreus Systems.  �Our flexible platform easily upgrades and customizes applications and services and can remotely change portal-specific information, including local information, event-specific promotions, service bundles and advertising, for a group of related hotels or an individual hotel, even down to a single room. 

�As a result, Everest can continuously update content and deliver new services based on market demand without having to physically return to the hotel to install new software or features,� continued Baptiste.  �Through our unique approach, we provide a centralized platform that will extend to every hotel in the Everest system.  This is truly a breakthrough advantage for the hotel industry.�

The Atreus technology has the power to recognize individual guests as they travel from room to room throughout a hotel�s system. 

�We believe this tailored approach will improve the guest experience and build greater loyalty, which positively influences both occupancy and room rate,� said Kully.  �That revenue goes directly to the hotel�s bottom line and is the core of our business strategy--to build hotel profits.�

Atreus Systems specializes in the development, marketing and sales of the Atreus xLINK, Broadband Service Creation product suite and Atreus StartSmart Professional Services to telecommunications carriers, CLECs, BLECs, ISPs and ASPs globally.  Founded in October 1998, Atreus Systems Corporation is a privately held company financed by leading telecommunication venture capital firms, Blueprint Ventures of San Francisco and Skypoint Capital Corporation of Kanata, Ontario. 

Everest Broadband Networks provides high-speed Internet, applications and long-distance telephone service to hotels and multi-tenant commercial and residential buildings.  To building tenants and guests, Everest provides advanced Internet applications such as E-mail, build-your-own-Web site tools, Web-hosting services, e-commerce software and virtual private networks.  Everest Broadband Networks is headquartered at One Executive Drive, Fort Lee, N.J.