AT&T announces that Forrester rated it as one of the strongest performers in a thorough evaluation of enterprise-class Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) service providers in The Forrester Wave: US Enterprise-Class VoIP Services, Q1 2007 report. One of the earliest providers of a managed WAN- based VoIP offering, AT&T leads all other providers in planned IP Telephony and VoIP feature enhancements for 2007.

In extensive evaluations of leading telecommunications services providers, AT&T's VoIP offerings secured leadership rankings on many of the most important attributes expressed by enterprise buyers, including breadth of offering, IP PBX product and feature enhancements, flexibility (particularly for VoIP interoperability with key PSTN features), hosted VoIP and IP Centrex services, managed IP PBX; VoIP conferencing; SIP Trunking and managed services.

AT&T continues to play a leading role in defining the future of the VoIP market, placing heavy emphasis on bringing to market the advanced business services that enterprises need, as they continue to evaluate the productivity and cost-savings benefits associated with VoIP.

In evaluating AT&T's current offerings and strategy for U.S. enterprise- class VoIP services against over 120 criteria, Forrester concluded that AT&T provides the greatest breadth of managed IP PBX services among competitors. AT&T also scored highest in Forrester's evaluation of SIP Trunking capabilities and hosted VoIP. Moreover, Forrester concluded that AT&T is the only provider that supports all three of the major IP PBX vendors today: Avaya, Cisco and Nortel. This multi vendor support is a critical consideration for enterprises that want to realize the many advantages of VoIP while protecting the investments they have already made in voice calling systems.

Forrester also noted that AT&T leads all other providers in planned feature enhancements for 2007. And Forrester found that AT&T is the only provider currently building a third-generation VoIP service based on IMS, which allows users to move seamlessly between their homes, offices and the road while connected to a call or an application.

To prepare The Forrester Wave: US Enterprise-Class VoIP Services, Q1 2007, Forrester conducted primary research to develop a list of vendors that met its criteria to be evaluated in the VoIP market. Vendors were selected according to product and service fit, customer success and Forrester client demand. Forrester then evaluated the lead vendors according to criteria it had developed after examining user needs and conducting vendor and expert interviews.

"We are pleased to be recognized as a strong performer in The Forrester Wave," said Peggy Sexton, vice president, Business VoIP, AT&T. "We continue to work very hard to deliver the most sophisticated VoIP solutions in the industry that drive real value for all of our customers: from small and midsized companies to multinational enterprises."