The Company believes that the telecommunications industry is becoming increasingly complex and that, as a result, businesses are seeking to narrow their vendor base to those suppliers who offer a broad range of products and services and can manage the complexity of the new technology. Trends in the industry include:

Growth of New Communication Products and Markets. A variety of new communication technologies have emerged over the past several years which enhance the capabilities of the traditional telephone system. A variety of manufacturers have introduced new products including call centers, automated attendants, interactive voice response ("IVR") units, video conferencing systems and voice messaging products. The 1995 NATA Telecommunications Market Review and Forecast estimates that the telecommunications equipment industry grew 16% per annum during 1990-1994. The Company expects the number of communication technologies to continue to grow.

Increased Use of "Unified Messaging" Systems. Over the past several years, multiple forms of messaging, including voice mail, E-mail and facsimile, have proliferated in the office environment. All of these forms of messaging have emerged as independent technologies, generally requiring their own dedicated hardware and their own communication protocols. As a result, office workers generally are required to manually retrieve a facsimile, pick up a telephone to listen to voice mail and log on to a computer to retrieve E-mail. To improve the efficiency of managing information, businesses are seeking ways to unify access to disparate forms of messaging. This includes providing workers access to their messages regardless of whether they are on-site or at a remote location. Computer telephone integration ("CTI") is providing an interface for managing different message types from either a desktop personal computer or a telephone. While there are numerous manufacturers of CTI hardware and software equipment, the manufactured systems need to be "customized" for an individual business.

Increasing Role of Independent Vendors. Through new technologies, the private branch exchange ("PBX") is being utilized as a multimedia "backbone" for transporting voice and data over network services. As a result, businesses are requiring increasingly complex telecommunications systems. The Company believes that it will be more cost-effective for these companies to contract the management of their communication systems to third parities. The Company also believes that the role of independent vendors such as itself will increase over time. As a result of its independence from any manufacturer, the Company has the ability to select those products which provide the best technological solution to its customers. This independence also provides the Company with the flexibility to take advantage of new technologies and products as they become available without large investments in research and development and the risk of inventory obsolescence and technological incompatibility.