AAA Chooses AT&T to Stay Connected With Its 45 Million Members

ORLANDO, Fla., June 24 -- AAA today announced a $138 million contract with AT&T for networking services that will help AAA make its roadside assistance and travel services easily accessible to its 45 million members on the road and around the world.

Under the three-year agreement, North America's largest motoring and leisure travel organization will use AT&T's long-distance, local, toll-free, teleconferencing, frame relay, Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), hosting and Internet services.

"Travelers count on AAA for quality, reliability and fast, helpful service," said Satish Mahajan, AAA chief information officer and vice president of Information Services. "We can't afford to be out of touch with our members for even a moment. That's why AT&T was the obvious choice for our communications services. AT&T has the reach, service, reliability and stability that we need to support our business operations."

When travelers require emergency roadside assistance, they want their call for help to be answered quickly. In support of AAA's commitment to 24x7x365 emergency assistance, AT&T's Toll-Free Advanced Features give the association the flexibility to route calls to the appropriate call center, based on the time of day, day of the week and location of the member's club. To enhance communication between the AAA National Office and clubs nationwide, AAA will use AT&T frame relay and ATM services as the backbone for ClubLink®, the association's internal data network.

For a century, AAA has served its members well by providing outstanding personal service. To remain an industry leader for the next 100 years, AAA is incorporating innovative technologies to deliver new services to its members.

For example, members now can access AAA travel services in the way that's convenient to them, whether it be online, on the telephone, or in-person. Using the Internet, members can search AAA TourBook® guides, order maps and TripTik® routings; instantly learn about road conditions; book hotels, cruises and flights; and secure a rental car and insurance.

AAA and the majority of its clubs use AT&T Managed Internet Service for dedicated, high-speed member access to the AAA Web site. The Web site -- http://www.aaa.com -- is hosted at the AT&T Orlando Internet Data Center, which provides direct access to AT&T's high-performance Internet backbone network.

In addition, AAA has selected AT&T Managed Router Service to help ensure maximum performance and availability of its data and Internet connectivity. Some AAA clubs are also using AT&T Virtual Private Network (VPN) services to contact towing companies more quickly and effectively. Using AT&T's remote-access solutions, employees working at off-site locations will be able to dial into AAA's data network securely and connect with field service representatives for insurance and automotive services.

The agreement also provides AAA clubs the opportunity to purchase AT&T local services at competitive prices under a nationwide contract. By purchasing a range of communications services from AT&T, AAA is bundling its purchasing power and offering additional value to its clubs.

"AAA has been meeting the needs of motorists for a century, and AT&T is proud to stand by AAA's side as it plans its communications needs for the next 100 years," said Ken Sichau, president of AT&T Business Sales. "AT&T's communication services help form the backbone of AAA's pledge of reliability and service to its members."

AT&T also provided the video streaming for AAA's centennial celebration, which was launched in March to approximately 38,000 AAA associates in 80 clubs in the United States and Canada. AAA President and CEO Robert Darbelnet used his centennial message to reinforce "Seated, Safe and Secure," AAA's national campaign to help reduce the leading cause of death for children, ages one to 15. Darbelnet's video message was carried via AT&T's Intelligent Content Distribution Service, which helps deliver Web content more rapidly and efficiently.

About AAA

As the nation's largest motoring and leisure travel organization, AAA provides its 45 million members in the U.S. and Canada with travel, insurance, financial and automotive-related services. Since its founding in 1902, the not-for-profit, fully tax-paying AAA has been a leader and advocate for the safety of all travelers.