NYNEX Joins Staples The Office Superstore and InteliData To Market Telephone Features and Equipment

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March 3, 1997

CONTACT:

NYNEX........Jack Hoey, 617 743-3677
Staples .....Jean Papagni, 508 370-8468
InteliData...Rob Borella, 703 834-8555

NYNEX Joins Staples The Office Superstore and InteliData
To Market Telephone Features and Equipment

BOSTON, Mass.--Next time a Massachusetts small business owner walks
into a Staples store to buy a computer, fax machine, paper clips or -- well,
staples -- they also can purchase a set of NYNEX calling features, or even
a NYNEX-branded telephone system.

NYNEX is the first telecommunications company in the nation to trial
market several of its network-based vertical calling services aimed at the
small business market through Staples, a leading nationwide office supplies
superstore. The vertical services being sold include Caller ID, Call Answering,
Call Forwarding, Call Waiting, RingMate (a NYNEX service that provides distinctive
ringing for different lines), and additional lines.

Although aimed at the small business market, the stores can take
residential orders for the vertical services as well.

In addition, Staples is selling in its stores two NYNEX-branded telephone
products: a three-line, eight-station, and a four-line, 16-station PBX (private
branch exchange) call management system, for handling calling volumes in
any small business; and a 4-line telephone with paging, intercom, and speakerphone
capabilities. Staples is offering the equipment line in conjunction with
InteliData (Nasdaq: INTD), a Herndon (Va.)-based manufacturer and distributor
of telecommunications products.

The NYNEX vertical services and NYNEX-branded products have been
on sale at 34 Staples stores in Massachusetts and one in Salem, N.H, since
Feb. 1, when the trial began.

NYNEX is providing training to Staples personnel so they will be
able to assist shoppers in the basics and how to order the NYNEX services.
The orders will be collected by InteliData and then turned over to dedicated
NYNEX service representatives, who will process the orders. Signage in store
windows and throughout the stores direct shoppers toward the NYNEX services
and branded equipment, which are located in high-visibility shelf positions.
A co-op advertising campaign is set to kick off March 4 across Massachusetts.

"Small businesses don't have the telecommunications staffs that
large companies have," said Carol McCullough, NYNEX director for Small
Business Markets. "It makes sense to make telecommunications services
available to them in the same place where they purchase their other standard
day-to-day office supplies. It's a very natural fit to market our services
along with Staples' virtually unlimited stock of office equipment.

"From NYNEX's point of view, we have our network services and
NYNEX-branded equipment on display in a high-traffic, very targeted retail
location. For Staples, our products add to their mix, and position them
as, literally, a one-stop-shopping location for all your office needs."

"Every partner in this co-marketing arrangement benefits,"
said Timothy R. Welles, executive vice president of InteliData's Consumer
Telecommunications Division. "NYNEX increases its distribution channels,
gains a national brand presence and enters the retail channel as a way of
providing a full telecommunications solution. Staples increases its position
as a total home office, small business provider. And InteliData benefits
by coordinating the network services, equipment distribution and retail
marketing efforts between NYNEX and Staples."

McCullough noted that the small business market in the Northeast,
which NYNEX defines as those businesses with 1-6 lines, is growing at a
13-percent rate annually. In addition, those businesses are migrating quickly
from traditional voice telephone services to data transmission, such as
electronic payment processing to faxing bank transactions.

"All these new customer requirements mean new demands for additional
lines from NYNEX," said McCullough. "And judging from the initial
returns we are getting from the first set of Staples stores in New England,
the response has been fantastic. The shoppers love the convenience."


NYNEX is a global communications and media corporation that provides
a full range of services in the northeastern United States and high-growth
markets around the world, including the United Kingdom, Thailand, Gibraltar,
Greece, Indonesia, the Philippines, Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.
The corporation is a leader in telecommunications, wireless communications,
directory publishing and video entertainment and information services. NYNEX
is also managing sponsor of FLAG -- Fiberoptic Link Around the Globe --
the world's longest undersea fiber optic communications cable.

NYNEX news releases are now available on the Internet at http://www.. You can also receive fax
copies of recent NYNEX news releases, free of charge, 24 hours a day, by
calling 1-800-331-1214. An automated system will provide you with instructions.

Staples, Inc., headquartered in Westborough, Mass., and founder of
the office superstore industry, currently operates 553 office superstores
across the US and in Canada as well as a mail order catalogue division and
contract office product distributors serving medium- to large-size corporations.

InteliData is a technology leader in the fast-emerging smart telephone
business and in the design, distribution and service of Caller ID-based
telecommunications devices for regional Bell and other telephone companies.
InteliData's Consumer Telecommunications Division's products are available
through both retail outlets and telephone companies and include a full line
of Caller ID-based telecommunications devices and the Intelifone(tm) and
the Telesmart(tm) series smart telephones.

go to news archive

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