Buying innovation

GoBeam acquisition means enhanced voice
and data communication for Covad business customers

Look for special offers and discounts later this year on voice service offered exclusively to our valued customers. If you are interested in Covad voice service, go to www.covad.com/voip/existingcustomerinterest and we'll let you know when service is available in your area*.

As a Covad business customer, you’ll be able to integrate your local and long distance calling with your Internet and email services over the same broadband connection. Plus you can purchase a host of features that allow you and your customers to communicate more efficiently, effectively and conveniently. Thanks to our recent acquisition of GoBeam, you can get all these services and features from one trusted source: us.

“Covad’s acquisition of GoBeam means our business customers can purchase a full set of communication services from one vendor,” says Prakash Nagpal, a senior product manager at Covad Communications. ”Since Covad owns and operates its own network and voice infrastructure, we can control and manage the quality of these services, resulting in improved productivity and an integrated, more efficient network.”

On March 3, 2004, Covad signed an agreement to acquire GoBeam Inc., which had been a privately-owned provider of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) services. The deal with GoBeam, headquartered in Pleasanton, Calif., closed on June 8th.

Covad’s voice services and communication management features are now available in Chicago and throughout California, but will be expanded nationally and fully integrated into Covad’s business services in the very near future. Residential customers will be able to take advantage of these new offerings next year, says Nagpal. For more information, go to www.covad.com/voip.

Nagpal says adding GoBeam’s VoIP expertise and infrastructure onto Covad’s nationwide broadband network results in a powerful combination that will significantly enhance the way Covad’s business customers communicate. VoIP enables local and long distance calls to be transmitted over a broadband Internet connection. As a subscriber to Covad’s voice services, your calls will be transported over our proprietary network and terminated through the regular Public Switched Telephone Network (PSTN). You’ll also enjoy enhanced integrated voice and data capabilities, and a number of optional, value-added management features, such as:

• A single phone number that “follows” you wherever you go, and forwards your calls based on the business rules you specify.
• The ability to call anyone in your contact list by simply clicking on the phone number.
• Visual voice mail that allows you to pick up and save phone and fax messages in your Web browser.
• Conferencing capabilities that can be managed from the Web.
• Online call logs that display missed, incoming and outgoing calls.
• Integration with Microsoft Outlook.

Depending on your business needs, you can choose from a comprehensive range of solutions, including:

• A do-it-all, big-business solution for solo enterpreneurs who are always on the move. If you are a one-person enterprise, then you’ll appreciate these powerful communication options, which are typically associated with larger operations.
• A virtual PBX solution, which delivers feature-rich, advanced communication that combines local, long distance and Internet as a fully managed service, without having to fork out big bucks for a PBX system.
• Integrated local, long distance and Internet, over one managed network connection, that works seamlessly with your PBX equipment. So you can preserve your existing investments and continue to use familiar business applications, while reducing costs and enjoying a superior level of service.

These solutions, says Nagpal, not only improve communication but also increase productivity. At the same time, Covad’s business customers won’t have to worry about changing the channels through which they communicate.

“The avenues you use to communicate today will work exactly as they do now,” says Nagpal. “You’ll still pick up the phone as you did before, get on the Internet through your computer as you always have, use your fax machine, and work exactly like you always have. You will not notice the difference from having voice and data converge on the same broadband pipe. But you will notice – and appreciate – the cost savings and the additional features and functionality you now have at your fingertips.”

Businesses with legacy PBX or Centrex-based services will certainly appreciate the quick set-up of a VoIP-based communication system, says Nagpal. Typically, setting up a new employee on a PBX or Centrex-based system requires the attention of technicians from IT and the local phone company.

“With VoIP services, all you need to do is have the receptionist or administrator log on to your company’s communication site and create a new user on the administrative interface,” he says. “Within a few minutes, you can plug in a phone at the new person’s desk and it will be up and running.”

“Covad’s new voice services will truly transform our ability to stay connected and to control when and where we want to communicate and with whom we want to communicate,” says Nagpal. “It will help people centralize and manage all the different types of communication they receive from so many different sources.

“We are very excited about our acquisition of GoBeam, and I think our customers will be, too.”

* Service not available in all areas. Current voice services require a new T1 connection. Voice services that run on existing TeleSpeed SDSL and TeleXtend T1 lines are expected to be available in the third quarter of 2004. Voice services over TeleSurfer ADSL are expected to be available in Q4 2004. For additional information, please contact 1-866-462-3269.

Home work help

Tips for setting up a home office with winning results

The small office/home office has become an integral part of the American business landscape, with more than half of all small business owners working in the same spaces where they and their family live. Whether you're running your enterprise completely out of your home, or using a home office as an extension of your commercial headquarters, it’s important that you have all the components in place to ensure that your at-home business headquarters operates efficiently, safely and legally. Here are some tips and resources that can help you go S.O.H.O. with winning results.

Make sure you're in the zone
Before you hang that shingle on the front door, find out first if your community’s zoning laws allow you to operate a business out of your home. Failure to do this could spell legal problems for you down the road, even foreclosure of your business. To learn more about the issues surrounding zoning ordinances, visit the Home Based Business Council. For a quick primer on the topic, read this article on how to research, comply with and change your local home-based business zoning laws.

Build a network
If more than one person works out of your home office, then it makes sense to set up a network that will link up all of your computers. This also allows you to access your Covad Internet service through only one connection. If you're a one-person office, having a wireless network gives you the option of working from any computer in the home. To learn more about home networking, visit the Covad/Linksys wireless networking site. Keep in mind that, if you purchase your wireless products through this site between now and June 30, 2004, we'll cover your shipping costs!

Furnish for success
In an ideal home office, furniture is selected and arranged to encourage efficient workflows, present a professional image to client and colleagues, and fit comfortably within the allocated space and budget. For help in creating your ideal home office space, drop into Ikea and select Workplace Furniture and Accessories from the pull-down menu. In addition to online shopping, the Ikea site features office planners, lighting tips and work space storage ideas. For more home office furniture ideas, check out OfficeFurniture.com and Home Office Direct.

You may also want to look into buying or leasing used office furniture and equipment. The directory at Recycle.net provides a comprehensive listing of vendors that offer previously owned furniture and equipment, including computers, printers and photocopiers.

Make the right call with your phones
Depending on the volume of calls your business receives and the number of people working in your home office, your phone requirements could best be satisfied by a telephone with a number of value-added features – such as hold, mute and intercom – or by a more sophisticated system that may include an auto attendant, call parking and music-on-hold. Explore your options at Hello Direct and Telcom & Data. For cordless headsets that let you talk anywhere in the house – a fitting complement to your wireless computer network – check out the latest innovations at Plantronics.

Don’t forget your health and safety
Protect yourself and your team from work-related injuries by ensuring that your home office is ergonomically sound. For a wealth of resources, including ergonomic products and consultants, click on Ergoweb and Ergosolutions Magazine. It’s also a good idea to get in touch with the U.S. Department of Labor’s Occupational Safety and Health Administration division for small business and set up an on-site safety assessment of your office. Another valuable safety resource is the Institute of Business and Home Safety, where you can download brochures on such topics as protecting your business and disaster planning.

Don’t go S.O.H.O. without insurance
Still wondering if you should take out in-home business insurance, professional liability insurance, or both? Although your homeowner’s policy may provide some coverage for business equipment, chances are the coverage won’t be enough to protect your business assets in case of a fire, flood or some other disaster. And it certainly will not cover you for the loss of important documents, accounts receivable, off-site business property and loss of income resulting from an interruption in business. To learn more about the different types of insurance for home-based businesses, visit the Insurance Information Institute. While you're on-site, be sure to download the business insurance checklist.

Join the club
Tap into the knowledge and networks of like-minded entrepreneurs by joining S.O.H.O.-focused organizations such as the Home Based Business Council or SOHO America. For a big-picture perspective on the trends and issues facing small businesses today, visit the United States Small Business Administration, a federal agency with a mandate to help and protect the interests of small business.

The decision to go S.O.H.O. brings with it many practical advantages and a few business and logistical challenges. But with the right tools - including your Covad DSL - knowledge and resources, and a plan that puts all these elements to good use, your S.O.H.O. could be just the right home for your growing business.

Hosting Services Enhancements

Covad making service improvements for your business

As part of our goal to bring you the very best Internet services for your business, we recently enhanced our email and Web hosting solutions to make them even better—and at no additional cost to you.

By enhancing our email services, we hope to make it easier and faster for you to get business done, whether you’re in your office or traveling cross-country. Covad’s enhanced services include:

• EasyMail, a new quick and easy way to manage all of your covad.net email accounts in SMART
• PersonalMail, which allows employees to manage their own email accounts without accessing SMART
• An improved Webmail service, with a choice of three interfaces for accessing email while you’re away from your desk
• An enhanced SPAM filtering interface, which allows you to set your own SPAM filters in EasyMail or PersonalMail, and to quarantine SPAM messages to the mail folder of your choice

Do you have a custom domain? We’ve introduced Website OS, a new tool for managing your custom domain email service and Website. Website OS includes EasyMail, SPAM filtering, EasySite Wizard, PersonalMail, Webmail and an increased mailbox size (40MB) for each of your email addresses.

Learn more about these enhancements at [insert URL]. Any questions? Please get in touch with us at our Online Support Center. We hope these enhancements help to make your life a little easier.

SMART Account Manager Login
http://www.covad.net or call customer support 1-888-64-COVAD

Order New Service
http://www.covad.com or call 1-800-931-9745

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ATTENTION: "Connections" is designed to provide you with information to help you get the most out of your Covad broadband service. Covad makes no representations or warranties regarding the completeness, accuracy, adequacy, currency, or reliability of the above information and shall not be liable for any lack of the foregoing or for any damages arising from use of the above information. Descriptions of, or references to, third-party products, services or publications in this newsletter do not imply endorsement of any product, service or publication.