NextWest, Inc. Announces Appointment of Richard De Soto as Vice-President, Sales and Marketing

Tucson, Arizona-- August 24, 2004– NextWest, Inc., the leading provider of IP-based business telecommunications and contact center systems, today announced the appointment of Richard De Soto as Vice-President of Sales and Marketing for NextWest, Inc.

In his role, De Soto will oversee all of NextWest’s Sales and Marketing efforts, including managing worldwide sales channel revenue objectives, identifying strategic direction, and engaging the sales and marketing team in identifying new business opportunities in key market segments.

De Soto has over 20 years experience in the telecom and Internet communications industry. He has held positions as a marketing and sales executive with Nortel Networks, US WEST (now Qwest) and a variety of successful startups including AltiGen, Entera, and FreeGate.

“Richard has a wealth of experience developing and executing targeted sales and marketing strategies, and we’re very excited to have him on board,” said Sarah Hightower, CEO of NextWest. “With his results-oriented attitude and demonstrated record of success, we have the greatest confidence that NextWest has gained a strong leader that can take our team to the next level.”

De Soto’s startup track record includes successful IPO’s and acquisitions ranging from $25M to $440M. As Senior VP at AltiGen, a leading IP PBX company, De Soto led the company through continual revenue growth in spite of the economic downturn of 2001- 2003. As a direct result of that revenue growth AltiGen was named as the 111th fastest growing company in the U.S. by the Deloitte Touché Fast 500 Program and as the 8th largest IP PBX Company in the world by IDC.

“My goal here is clear,” DeSoto remarked. “I will position our company to be the leading IP PBX and Contact Center company marketing to small to mid-size enterprises.”

De Soto holds a bachelor’s degree in Marketing and Public Relations from San Jose State University is a graduate of the Cambridge Information Technology Center and successfully completed the MBA equivalency program at MIT. He has been a designated speaker at number of telecommunications forums, radio and television interviews and broadcasts and is widely considered an industry expert.

About NextWest, Inc.

NextWest, Inc., headquartered in Tucson, AZ., is a leading manufacturer of IP-based business telecommunications and contact center systems. Our rock-solid, fully-integrated, IP and converged communications systems help small to mid-sized businesses, government agencies and other institutions to meet their growing telecommunications needs.

With cost-effective solutions that are flexible, scalable, reliable and easy to manage, NextWest delivers uncompromising quality and features resulting in the some of the fastest ROI times in the industry.

NextWest’s award winning PCXi and NextContact Call Center Solutions are backed by the world class service and support of NextWest Certified Engineers.

For more information about NextWest Business Phone Systems, IP Phone Systems, Advanced Voicemail, Conferencing Solutions, ACD, Reliable VoIP ( Voice over IP ), Advanced IP Predictive Dialers, IP Telephony, Blended Call Center Solutions, VoIP Call Center Systems, VoIP Phone Systems, IVR, Auto Attendants, CTI, Advanced PBX Features, NextWest PCXi, NextContact or any of our industry specific solutions call 1-877-I-GO-NEXT (446-6398), or visit our website at http://www.nextwest.com .

Note: NextWest products and services are only available through NextWest Authorized Resellers.