Bell Atlantic Presents Telamon Corporation With Supplier Excellence Award

Bell Atlantic Presents Telamon Corporation With Supplier Excellence Award

Receives High Marks for Reliability and On-Time Delivery

June 12, 2000

NEW YORK - Telamon Corporation of Carmel, Ind., has won the Bell Atlantic Supplier Excellence Award for outstanding customer service.

Telamon Corp., a minority-owned business that provides equipment, network design and integration, technical support and broadband deployment, is among five winners selected from some 6,500 Bell Atlantic suppliers. Telamon Corp. supplies Bell Atlantic with telephone equipment that the company in turn loans to its residence and business customers whose equipment is malfunctioning.

Telamon Corp. President Albert Chen will accept the award at the company's headquarters at 11 a.m., Wed., June 14. Bell Atlantic Vice President, Voice Products Debra Swann will present the award. Telamon will be holding a press conference and luncheon following the presentation.

(Editors note: Members of the media interested in attending should call Cassie Sylvester at 317-818-6703.)

"Our suppliers play a vital role in Bell Atlantic's mission to care for our customers, anticipate their needs and provide them with outstanding service," said Swann. "Telamon consistently-more than 99 percent of the time-provides us with on-time service and reliable products. The Supplier Excellence Awards program enables us to recognize such companies for their dedication to excellence."

Telamon also demonstrates flexibility to help Bell Atlantic meet its needs. In an effort to reduce the number of times Bell Atlantic technicians are sent out to deliver loaner phones, Telamon agreed to trial of drop shipping telephones directly to some customers. In six months, Bell Atlantic reduced technician dispatches for loaner set delivery by more than 42 percent.

"We at Telamon are honored to receive Bell Atlantic's Supplier Excellence Award, said Chen. "We know that excellence is achieved through the hard work and dedication of our employees and the strong and valued business relationship we have with Bell Atlantic. Together this has been an unbeatable combination, which we look forward to continuing for years to come."

The suppliers were judged on key performance attributes-including quality, responsiveness, delivery and customer satisfaction-for the products and services they provided to Bell Atlantic.

The annual Supplier Excellence Awards program enables Bell Atlantic to thank the winners publicly for their hard work and dedication to excellence, which help Bell Atlantic maintain its position as a market leader. In addition, the award encourages other suppliers to raise their level of performance.

The other winners of this year's Bell Atlantic Supplier Excellence Award are:

• Office Depot, Delray Beach, Fl.

• JBA Consulting, Inc., Greensboro, N.C.

• Premium Electric, Inc., Clifton, N.J.

• The Resource Connection, Middleton, Mass.

Telamon Corporation is the premier technology deployment partner of broadband communications, providing turnkey solutions and life-cycle support to carriers, Internet Service Providers and Original Equipment Manufacturers in delivering video, voice, data, multimedia and web solutions to their customers. Telamon solutions encompass network design, integration, installation, distribution, assembly, sales and 24 X 7 technical support.

Bell Atlantic is at the forefront of the new communications and information industry. With more than 44 million telephone access lines and more than 20 million wireless customers worldwide, Bell Atlantic companies are premier providers of advanced wireline voice and data services, market leaders in wireless services and the world's largest publishers of directory information. Bell Atlantic companies are also among the world's largest investors in high-growth global communications markets, with operations and investments in 23 countries.