Welsh Girls U16 Coach Praises the IP Call Home System

Edina, Minneapolis – Phenomenal Networks, a Minnesota-based, Cisco Premier Partner, announced that over 2800 free calls were made in the first three days of operation of its system deployed at Blaine for the SCHWAN'S USA CUP soccer tournament. The facility is aimed at the several thousand youth players that are participating from 18 countries outside the USA to enable them to keep in touch with home without the high cost of normal telephones.

"Our team really appreciated the fact that not only they can call home at any time but it is free" said Alan Bickerstaff, coach of the Welsh under 16 girls team. "As a coach it has helped our performance on the field. The players know that they can keep in touch with their families. And after talking to home it gives them a positive attitude and peace of mind that is then taken into their next match. We thank Phenomenal for providing the phone calls and also for having such a helpful staff to work with the players"

"It is gratifying to see the teams are lining up in the morning, and in particular how the children now operate the system with little or no assistance from our We are pleased that our Cisco system is standing up well as we are now running at 1100 calls per day.

Phenomenal Networks has installed Cisco-based, IP telephony system on-site at Blaine in the activities hall and will be open from 10a.m. to 7p.m. each of the six days of the tournament. The system also has features such as International Time Zones, Team Fixtures and Results, Stock quote look-ups, worldwide weather reports that will be accessible via the IP phones displays for all participating players, coaches, parents, referees etc. Phenomenal has customized the system using Java XML so that each phone can be used for many data functions as well as for regular voice calls.

Photos of some of the players are attached showing girls from Wales and boys from Mexico and Ecuador using the system. More photos and information can be found at www.phenomenalnetworks.com

SCHWAN'S USA CUP

More than 14,000 youth soccer players from around the world will converge on the National Sports Center (NSC) in Blaine, Minnesota for the 19th annual SCHWAN'S USA CUP Soccer Tournament, July 11-19, 2003. The tournament will be the largest gathering of youth soccer teams in the Western Hemisphere, with more than 890 teams from 18 countries and 30 states participating. With an economic impact of $15.4 million, SCHWAN'S USA CUP is Minnesota's largest annual out-of-state tourism event.

In addition to the teams from North America, there will be girls' and boy's teams from Mexico, England, N. Ireland, Ireland, Scotland, Nigeria, Costa Rica, Ecuador, Colombia, Brazil, Sweden, Denmark, Russia, Iceland, Hungary, Wales, Peru, Ghana and Egypt.

July 15, 2003