March 14, 2007
Microsoft To Acquire Tellme Networks

Microsoft Corp. (Nasdaq: MSFT) today announced it will acquire Tellme Networks, Inc., a leading provider of voice services for everyday life, including nationwide directory assistance, enterprise customer service and voice-enabled mobile search. Microsoft and Tellme share a vision around the potential of speech as a way to enable access to information, locate other people and enhance business processes, any time and from any device. Combining Tellme's talented people and expertise in high-volume voice services with Microsoft's platform, resources and worldwide customer reach will inspire new and innovative solutions

"Speech is universal, simple and holds incredible promise as a key
interface for computing," said Steve Ballmer, chief executive officer of
Microsoft. "Tellme brings to Microsoft the talent, technology and proven
experience in speech that will enable us to deliver a new wave of products
and revolutionize human-computer interaction."

Tellme is a leader in voice services for the phone, including its
popular mobile search services on 1-800-555-TELL. Founded in 1999, the
privately held company answers millions of calls every day for information
such as finding local businesses, driving directions, sports scores, stock
quotes, weather, news, movie show times and more. Businesses use Tellme's
voice services and platform to provide customers with voice-access services
ranging from banking to package tracking. These services are built on
Tellme's voice platform that analyzes caller requests to continually
improve the system's accuracy and overall caller experience.

Potential areas of development resulting from the deal will range from
hosted voice-enabled customer service solutions that complement Microsoft's
existing unified communications offerings to voice user interfaces in
existing Microsoft products to search services on mobile phones that
integrate with Live Search for mobile offerings. In addition, developers
and partners will be able to build new speech-based solutions on top of a
scalable, standards-based voice-enabled applications platform. "We've made great strides in speech technologies, but have only scratched the surface of what is possible," said Jeff Raikes, president of the Microsoft Business Division. "The acquisition of Tellme will bolster Microsoft's existing speech capabilities, bringing both immediate and longer-term value to our customers and partners."

"Tellme was founded with the idea that anyone should be able to simply
say what they want and get it from any device, starting with the phone,"
said Mike McCue, co-founder and CEO of Tellme. "Now, with Microsoft, we'll
be able to extend that vision to millions of businesses and consumers
around the world."

This acquisition will mark an important step forward in Microsoft's
strategy for delivering software plus services that put people at the
center of technology solutions in the office, at home and on the go. For
more than a decade, Microsoft has enabled speech, handwriting and touch as
forms of natural user input, making computing and digital devices easier to
use. Combining Tellme's technologies with Microsoft's existing and future
products and services will help improve the way people use voice to find,
use and share information

Financial terms of the acquisition were not announced. The deal is
expected to be completed in the second quarter of 2007. Tellme, which has
more than 320 employees, will continue to operate from its Mountain View,
Calif., headquarters as part of the Microsoft Business Division. Following
the closing of the acquisition, the Tellme business is expected to be
maintained, and members of the Tellme executive team and staff are expected
to join Microsoft.